Chumash Painted Cave State Historic Park preserves a small sandstone cavern in the hills above Santa Barbara, 13 km up Highway 154 and a winding mile down Painted Cave Road. The cave is no more than 4 metres across, but its rear wall is covered with one of the best-preserved Chumash rock-art panels in California — circles, suns, human figures in red, black, and white.
A wrought-iron grille protects the cave. Visitors look in through the bars; you can't enter. The road is narrow and uphill — high-clearance vehicles are better. No fee, no facilities, no real signposting; come for the paintings and the quiet.