Chumash Painted Cave State Historic Park
The Park is currently OPEN.
Please check the hours of operation.Alaxuluxen, the Chumash name for the Chumash Painted Cave State Historic Park, a small cave located in present day Santa Barbara that remains an important touchstone to Chumash culture and heritage. The walls of the cave are covered in Chumash paintings highlighting the significance of this place for Chumash people historically and today. With support from the California State Parks Foundation Park Improvement Grant, CyArk has collaborated with CA State Parks and Chumash elder Ernestine Ygnacio-De Soto to utilize existing 3D data of the cave captured by CyArk in 2015 to create a freely accessible virtual Tapestry experience. Today, the cave paintings are protected by a metal gate to combat many decades of vandalism. The educational Tapestry experience provides virtual access to this portion of the cave and opportunities for a broad audience to learn about and connect with Chumash history and heritage.
Click here to access the Chumash Painted Cave State Historic Park Tapestry.
For more information, visit CyArk Chumash Painted Cave Project.
The walls of this small cave carved from towering sandstone boulders contain some of the finest remaining rock art created by Chumash Native Americans. A steep path leads to the cave entrance, which is protected by heavy iron grillwork. Anthropologists estimate that the paintings date to the 1600's and earlier. The meaning of these enigmatic images has been lost.