Carpinteria Salt Marsh Nature Park

Carpinteria Salt Marsh Nature Park

Carpinteria, California 93013

Tips for Birding

Visitors to the Carpinteria Salt Marsh Nature Park, including birders, are required to stay on public trails.

Parking is available along Ash Avenue. The site is best birded from the trail that starts near the restrooms at the south (ocean) end of Ash Avenue, then wraps around the edge of the marsh until it crosses the Franklin Creek channel via a footbridge. From there one can continue along the trail that skirts the northern edge of the marsh through the parcel owned by the Land Trust of Santa Barbara County. That trail ends near the Santa Monica Creek channel near Sandyland Cove Road, a private road that leads to the restricted-access Avenue Del Mar.

The part of the marsh beyond (west of) the Santa Monica Creek channel and Sandyland Cove Road is part of the University of California natural reserve system. See the separate entry for the "Carpinteria Salt Marsh Reserve (restricted access)" hotspot for information on the ongoing bird survey program there.

Birds of Interest

Waterfowl, shorebirds, and wading birds, including Yellow-crowned Night-Herons. Marsh Wren. Breeding population of Belding's Savannah Sparrows.

About this Location

The Carpinteria Salt Marsh is owned by a number of different entities, and is managed as a whole for its habitat value by the University of California. The portion of the marsh covered by this hotspot includes the public-access Carpinteria Salt Marsh Nature Park (owned by the City of Carpinteria) and the portion of the marsh between the Franklin Creek channel and the Santa Monica Creek channel (owned by the Land Trust of Santa Barbara County).

Features

  • Roadside viewing

Content from John Callender