Destinations

DESTINATIONS

Cold Springs Tavern

San Ia Barbara. California

ARIDE FOR A RIDE'S SAKE IS fine, hut a ride punctuated by a good meal and good entertainment is even better, right? If you agree, if you're interested in the West's pioneer past and if you ever have occasion to ride Southern California's wealth of winding back roads, you should know about the Cold Springs Tavern, a rustic, 110-year-old former stagecoach stop just off San Marcos Pass, 10 miles above Santa Barbara on the California coast.

The Cold Springs Tavern is situ ated in a shady mountain nitch, protected from sunlight by ancient oaks and serenaded by the gurgle of a stream cascading down a rock face. In addition to lunch and dinner menus featuring venison, quail, rabbit, and sometimes duck and wild boar, owner Mark Larson serves up a healthy helping of nostalgia flavored by the ambience of this original pioneer building and by the smoke from the tavern's stone fireplace.

On sunny Sunday afternoons a band sets up outside to entertain touring and sport riders who have interrupted their journeys to sample the tavern's barbecued tri-tip sandwiches and the camaraderie of other riders feasting upon them.

We like the atmosphere and setting of this place well enough to invent excuses to ride in this area just so we can stop there. So will you.

—Jon F Thompson

Information

Cold Springs Tavern, 5995 Stagecoach Road, Santa Barbara, CA (805)967-0066