Gaviota: Pass to the Seagull’s Coast

Gaviota: Pass to the Seagull’s Coast. . , An Old Route , As you wind your way through Gaviota Pass, you're following a well used route. Chumash blazed the first creekside trail, Spanish missionaries on foot followed the path, horseback riders picked their way across boulders, and stagecoaches jounced over a rough, rutted road - long before the journey you're making today. Gaviota Pass is unusual - it doesn't climb up and over a mountain range, but instead threads through a river gorge that separates the south coast from the inland valleys. , , Rails Over Arroyos , The dramatic topography which distinguishes the Gaviota Coast is characterized by numerous deep arroyos - steep canyons eroded by creeks from the coastal mountains making their way to the ocean. Tall railroad trestles like the one at Arroyo Hondo and Gaviota were built to span these ravines. , , Ranchos to Ranches , Rancho Arroyo Hondo was originally part of Rancho Nuestra Señora del Refugio , the Mexican Land grant to former Santa Barbara Presidio Commandant José Francisco Ortega. An adobe house built in 1842 by the Ortega family replaced the hacienda burned down by the privateer Bouchard. The adobe was an early stagecoach stop and later served as a bar and eatery for workers constructing the railroad and highway. , , Bypassed Bridge , The Arroyo Hondo bridge was completed in 1918 as part of the original Highway 101. It traverses 500 feet across the Arroyo Hondo ravine. The highway was realigned in the 1960s but this picturesque structure remains as a testimony to the highway’s history.