Old Mission Santa Barbara 1786 - 4 Things to Know Before Visiting

This is a 10-acre park located at the cross section of Laguna and E. Los Olivos Street and spans between Alameda Padré Serra and Mission Ridge Road. This monument to Santa Barbara was the tenth Californian Mission built by Spanish Franciscans. The grounds contain ruins of Mission Santa Barbara’s old waterworks, tannery vats, grassed areas, and the City Rose Garden and so more.

This massive Rose Garden hosts over 1500 varieties of roses and sits across from the Santa Barbara Mission and is beautiful for a wedding ceremony. Additionally, the collection hosts beds with ancient varieties, such as Gallicas, Albas, and Damasks in various states of health. Other roses maintained within the garden include Old Garden Roses, Hybrid Perpetuals originally cultivated during the 1800s.

This is a small urban forest with a year round creek. Filled with an abundance of rocks and sandstone boulders deposited there by an ancient landslide, and roofed by oak trees, the park affords a diversity of topography. The towering trees are lush and the park offers shaded picnic areas, short trails, and the area is strewn with large sandstone boulders.

Alice Keck Park Memorial Gardens is a stunning park spanning a square block in downtown Santa Barbara. There are 75 different tree and plant species and you can enjoy walking paths, picnic areas, and a picturesque Gazebo. The park also has a koi pond where you’ll find visitors feeding resident ducks.

Alameda Park is a two-block park in downtown Santa Barbara. As one of the city's oldest parks, it is home to a variety of rare trees and plants. These horticultural treasures include the soapbark tree, the white ironwood, and the bunya-bunya tree, just to name a few.

Franceschi Park is a 15.78-acre public park located at the intersection of Mission Ridge. The site hosts a small picnic area, a large patio that serves as a group picnic area, restrooms, some trails, and a parking lot; and further serves as a resource for the pioneering horticultural work undertaken by Italian horticulturalist Dr. Francesco Franceschi.