Stearns Wharf
217 Stearns Wharf
Santa Barbara, CA
Walk the weathered planks of California's oldest working wooden wharf, out over the Pacific with the mountains rising behind the town.
Stearns Wharf is the oldest working wooden wharf in California, a broad plank pier that has reached out into the Pacific at the foot of State Street since 1872. In an age before highways and reliable roads, it was the thing that connected Santa Barbara to the rest of the world, a deep-water landing where ocean steamers could tie up and unload passengers and freight at any tide. More than a century and a half later it is still here, still working, and still the most visited spot in town.
Today most people come simply to walk it. The deck runs out over the water on some twenty-three hundred old pilings, and the stroll is free, with the open ocean ahead, the harbor and breakwater to the west, and the whole red-roofed town backed by the Santa Ynez Mountains behind you. Anglers fish off the rail, sea lions bark from the pilings, and a small marine science center and a scatter of longtime eateries and shops give you reasons to linger, but the wharf itself, weathered and salt-worn and open to everyone, is the real draw.
What Guests Love
- Strolling the historic plank deck for free, with wide ocean views one way and the mountains behind the town the other
- Watching anglers fish off the rail and pelicans and sea lions work the pilings below
- Riding the little yellow Lil' Toot water taxi between the wharf and the harbor
- The hands-on Ty Warner Sea Center partway out, a favorite with families
Worth Knowing
- The wharf itself is public and free to walk; the shops, eateries, and the Sea Center on it are separate businesses you can skip or enjoy as you like
- You can drive out onto the wharf and park, but spaces are tight and it fills on sunny weekends, so walking from downtown or the beach is often easier
- It sits at the foot of State Street, an easy stroll from the harbor, East Beach, and the downtown core along the waterfront path
- Ocean wind and afternoon fog are common, so bring a layer even on a warm day
Details
Santa Barbara, CA
Learn about Stearns Wharf
The pier that connected Santa Barbara to the world
Stearns Wharf was built in 1872 by a lumberman named John Peck Stearns, with money from Colonel William Welles Hollister, to solve a problem that had held the town back for decades: Santa Barbara had no deep-water landing. The coast here shelves so gently that ships had to anchor far out and ferry everything ashore through the surf, which made the town slow and expensive to reach. Stearns drove his pilings far enough out to reach deep water, and when it opened the wharf was the longest deep-water pier between Los Angeles and San Francisco.
The change was immediate. Steamers could now tie up and unload directly, lumber and goods came in, produce and passengers went out, and the isolated coastal town finally had a proper front door to the sea. For years the wharf was the busy commercial heart of Santa Barbara, and it carried the town's trade well into the era before the railroad and the highway took over that job.
Fires, storms, and a stubborn survival
For a wooden structure standing in the open ocean for a century and a half, Stearns Wharf has led an eventful life. It was struck by a runaway Chinese junk in 1878, battered by a freak tornado the following year, and has burned more than once, most seriously in a 1973 fire and again in a major blaze in 1998 that destroyed hundreds of feet of the outer end. Each time, the town rebuilt it rather than let it go.
Ownership shifted along the way. The State of California conveyed the tidelands beneath it to the City of Santa Barbara in 1925, and the wharf has been public property ever since, managed by the city's waterfront department. That is why the deck is free to walk: it is a public landmark, not a private attraction, and the businesses on it are simply tenants. The mix of the very old and the still-working is part of the appeal, because a place that has survived collisions, tornadoes, and fires for a hundred and fifty years wears its history in every plank.
What to do out on the wharf
The simplest pleasure is just to walk to the end and back. The view opens as you go, with the ocean and the offshore Channel Islands ahead on a clear day, the harbor and its breakwater to the west, and behind you the palm-lined beachfront and the mountains rising over the town. It is a fine place to catch a sunset, watch the fishing boats come in, or spot pelicans, gulls, and the sea lions that haul out on the pilings.
Partway out is the Ty Warner Sea Center, a small hands-on marine science museum run by the Santa Barbara Museum of Natural History, where kids can touch tide-pool creatures and peer at local sea life, a good stop with children. From the wharf you can also catch the Lil' Toot, a little yellow water taxi that putters over to the harbor, a fun and easy way to see the waterfront from the water. Longtime restaurants and shops fill in the rest, so you can make it a quick walk or a whole leisurely afternoon.
Closest Boutels
The closest Boutel™ stays, so you can turn this stop into an overnight. Each is an independently owned, editorially selected place to stay.
Things to Do Near Santa Barbara
East Beach
Right at the wharf
The wide palm-lined sand stretching east from the wharf, famous for beach volleyball and a long paved oceanfront promenade for walking and biking.
Chase Palm Park
About half a mile
A public waterfront park with a lagoon, a shipwreck-themed playground, and a restored antique carousel, home to a Sunday arts and crafts show.
Santa Barbara Harbor and Breakwater
About 1 mile
The working harbor just west, with a walkable breakwater, the Maritime Museum, and boats coming and going, reachable on foot or by the Lil' Toot taxi.
Andree Clark Bird Refuge
About 1.5 miles
A quiet tidal lagoon and bird sanctuary at the far end of East Beach, with a walking and biking path around the water.