Cold Spring Tavern

Outside of Santa Barbara, up the San Marcos Pass, there is a former stagecoach stop. The Cold Spring Tavern, built in 1868, brings one back in time to the Old West.

Cold Spring Tavern, opened in 1868.

A scenic drive led to this now popular restaurant where reservations are needed. We had lunch reservations set for 11:30 a.m., as soon as it opened.

The Cold Spring Tavern, a Wells Fargo stagecoach stop.

It sits all by itself on this old stagecoach route, on Stagecoach Road. We found parking in the rocky, rutty unpaved parking lot that held about ten cars. After the lot is full, cars line the streets for a long way…which was the case by the time we left.

The bar portion of Cold Spring Tavern.

I love eating outdoors, and this restaurant offered outdoor seating, but I thought it would be more of a unique experience to eat inside this original tavern. It had multiple, small rooms.

There are several rooms inside this tavern. We were seated in the room with the fireplace.

We were led to a room with a stone fireplace, and the fire was blazing. It was windy and cool outside so the fire felt good, and added much to the ambiance. We had the room to ourselves for a short while. We placed our order and sat back to relax in this unique and quiet setting. The food was tasty.

This outdoor space, in the back of the tavern, is used for receptions etc. The building in this picture is a road gang house, built for the Chinese road gang who built the toll road through the San Marcos Pass.
The sign for the Road Gang House.

We know friends from Northfield who were married at the Cold Spring Tavern, back in 1973. We thought of them while we were there.

The Cold Spring Tavern.

After lunch we drove another route home, through wine country and then back to Santa Barbara, along the Pacific Ocean.  

We drove further north to view the surroundings.
We drove past a few beautiful vineyards.
We stopped to look at Butterfly Beach, CA

It was fun California day trippin’.

4 thoughts on “Cold Spring Tavern”

  1. Wow, I love that little tavern! It looks like a giant step back in time. The whole area looks really beautiful!

    1. It is a beautiful part of the country!
      And the tavern was so cool, imagining the stagecoach riders…

    1. I know you would have really enjoyed the tavern, Audrey!
      And seeing the beautiful surrounding landscapes.

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