Bradbury Dam

Cachuma Lake is a reservoir in the Santa Ynez Valley of central Santa Barbara County, California on the Santa Ynez River adjoining the north side of California State Route 154. The artificial lake was created by the construction of Bradbury Dam, a 201 ft (61 m) earth-fill structure built by the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation in 1953. Its surface area covers 3,100 acres (1,300 ha), with a maximum design capacity of 205,000 acre⋅ft (253,000,000 m3), but it is currently limited to 188,000 acre⋅ft (232,000,000 m3) due to sediment accumulation. The late-December 2022 and early-January 2023 storms dramatically raised the water level in the lake, from an average of 33% full to 100% full for the first time in 12 years.

The Whittier Fire was a wildfire in the Santa Ynez Mountains, south of Lake Cachuma, along Highway 154 in Santa Barbara County, California in the United States. The fire was reported on July 8, 2017, at 1:43 pm. Upon containment on July 28, the fire had burned a total of 18,430 acres (75 km2) and destroyed 16 homes.

The Happy Canyon of Santa Barbara is an American Viticultural Area (AVA) located in Santa Barbara County, California. It was designated officially by the Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau (TTB) in November 2009 and is the smallest AVA in Santa Barbara County when measured by land under vine, covering 37 square miles (23,941 acres) with 492 acres (199 ha) of planted vine. The area comprises canyon terrain, hills, and river and creek basins to the east and south of the San Rafael Mountains, northwest of Lake Cachuma and north of the Santa Ynez River. Elevations within the AVA range from 500 feet (150 m) in the southwest corner to 3,430 feet (1,050 m) in the northeast corner, in the foothills of the San Rafael Range. It is home to six major vineyards and one active winery.TTB received the petition from Wes Hagen, Vineyard Manager and Winemaker at Clos Pepe Vineyards, Lompoc, California, on behalf of Happy Canyon vintners and grape growers, proposing the establishment of the Happy Canyon of Santa Barbara American viticultural area.

Rancho Lomas de la Purificacion was a 13,341-acre (53.99 km2) Mexican land grant in present-day Santa Barbara County, California given in 1844 by Governor Manuel Micheltorena to Agustín Janssens. The name refers to the hills of Mission La Purísima Concepción. The grant extended between the Santa Ynez Mountains and the south bank of the Santa Ynez River opposite Rancho Cañada de los Pinos, and south east of Mission Santa Inés and present day Santa Ynez, in the Santa Ynez Valley.

Rancho Tequepis was a 8,919-acre (36.09 km2) Mexican land grant in the upper Santa Ynez Valley of present-day Santa Barbara County, California. The grant extended along both sides of the Santa Ynez River at the mouth of Cachuma Creek east of present-day Santa Ynez and north/below San Marco Pass. Much of the grant is now under the waters of Lake Cachuma which was formed in 1953.It was given in 1845 by Governor Pio Pico to Joaquin Villa.

Santa Barbara County, officially the County of Santa Barbara (Spanish: Condado de Santa Bárbara), is located in Southern California. As of the 2020 census, the population was 448,229. The county seat is Santa Barbara, and the largest city is Santa Maria. Santa Barbara County comprises the Santa Maria-Santa Barbara, CA Metropolitan Statistical Area. Most of the county is part of the California Central Coast. Mainstays of the county's economy include engineering, resource extraction (particularly petroleum extraction and diatomaceous earth mining), winemaking, agriculture, and education. The software development and tourism industries are important employers in the southern part of the county. Southern Santa Barbara County is sometimes considered the cultural boundary of Southern California/Northern California.

Rancho Cañada de los Pinos or College Rancho was a 35,499-acre (143.66 km2) Mexican land grant in present-day Santa Barbara County, California. The grant extended along the north bank of the Santa Ynez River opposite Rancho Lomas de la Purificacion and encompassed Mission Santa Inés and present-day Santa Ynez, in the Santa Ynez Valley.

The Sherpa Fire was a wildfire that burned in the Santa Ynez Mountains along the Gaviota Coast in the southwestern part of Santa Barbara County, California in June 2016. In a matter of hours the fire spread to over 1,400 acres (570 ha) as the fire was propelled by downslope sundowner winds. This offshore northerly wind contrasts with the more typical onshore flow and sent the fire down the canyons towards the ocean with gusts of over 35 miles per hour (56 km/h). The wildfire resulted in evacuations at two state beach campgrounds and some residences together with intermittent interruption of traffic on a state transportation route.

Santa Ynez Airport (Kunkle Field) (IATA: SQA, ICAO: KIZA, FAA LID: IZA) is a public airport located one mile (2 km) southeast of the central business district of Santa Ynez, in the Santa Ynez Valley of Santa Barbara County, California, United States. The airport covers 125 acres (51 ha) and has one runway (08/26), measuring 2,804 x 75 ft. (854 x 23 m). The airport does not have a control tower but does offer some services, including 24-hour access to both 100LL and Jet A self-service fuel and tie-downs for transient aircraft. Santa Ynez Airport is classified as a regional general aviation airport, and averaged 83 aircraft operations per day in 2015: 55% transient general aviation, 43% local general aviation, 1% air taxi, and <1% military. There are 112 aircraft based at the airport, including 15 gliders and 6 ultra-lights; the remaining aircraft are helicopters (5), single-engine airplanes (78), and the remaining 8 aircraft are multi-engine. There are no jets based at the airport.

Rancho del Cielo is a ranch located atop the Santa Ynez Mountain range northwest of Santa Barbara, California. For more than 20 years, it was the vacation home of Ronald and Nancy Reagan. The 688-acre (278 ha) ranch's Spanish name translates to Sky's Ranch or Heaven's Ranch in English. In 1974, Reagan's family purchased the ranch, and he himself frequented the ranch throughout his presidency. The ranch is currently owned and operated by the Young America's Foundation.

The Chumash Casino Resort is owned and operated by the Santa Ynez Band of Chumash Mission Indians. Chumash is located near Santa Ynez Airport, in the Santa Ynez Indian Reservation, about 5 miles (8.0 km) east of Solvang, California.

Santa Ynez (; Spanish for "St. Agnes") is a census-designated place (CDP) in the Santa Ynez Valley of Santa Barbara County, California. The town of Santa Ynez is one of the communities of the Santa Ynez Valley. It features the Santa Ynez Airport for general aviation, with a paved 2,804 by 75 feet (855 m × 23 m) runway. The population was 4,505 at the 2020 census, up from 4,418 at the 2010 census. Santa Ynez is the archaic spelling of Santa Inés in the Spanish, meaning Saint Agnes.