The Ojai Valley

Ojai is our second most common destination (after Malibu) when we feel we need a day’s drive out of town.  It’s full of people who one day decided to step off the escalator of their city lives and slow the hell down.

Ojai is all about artists and fine crafts, horse farms, Slow Food, a great farmer’s market, dappled light and friendly conversations with everyone you meet.  Even when it’s hot out, the whole town feels like a light breeze.

We tend to leave LA for Ojai around 10 am and arrive by lunch.

We have two favorite routes to Ojai:

1.  There’s the 33 off the 101, a half-hour shy of Santa Barbara.  There’s a wide open road with eucalyptus on both sides, and you meander into town down a long hill with little fanfare.  The route takes 20 minutes or so, and is perfect if your goal is to be done with driving as soon as possible so you can get to relaxing.

2.  If the journey is the destination for you, I ‘d say take the 23 to the 126 to the 150.  This route will take about one hour from the 101.

45 minutes north of LA on the 101, at the town of Thousand Oaks, is the exit for the 23.  The 23 stretches east to the late 1800s orange orchard town of Fillmore, where you pick up the 126 and head through the Victorian gingerbread town of Santa Paula to the twisty farm-and-mountain-valley path of the 150.

Early in this route you head east on the 23, past the Olsen Road exit to Simi Valley and the sweet siren call of the Ronald Reagan Library.

When you hit Moorpark, if it’s a Saturday or Sunday, you can stop off at the famous Moorpark College Teaching Zoo to see an incredible array of animals being cared for and trained for inclusion in parks and zoos.  We once saw a mountain lion rub its cheek against her handler’s palm, just like our little tabby house cat does…and thought immediately that this woman must have the best job on Earth.

Lioness at Moorpark College Teaching Zoo

The 23, after heading downhill along a twisting sandstone valley that bottoms out by a still-working oil derrick, ends at the orange-orchard mecca of Fillmore, which was originally founded in 1888. In February, the orange blossoms are at their peak, and a drive here demands the windows be rolled down and your nose be stuck far outside the car.

Here is where you pick up the 126, or West Telegraph Road.  Along this route are farms full of fruit trees and small produce stands where you can find everything from garlic stuffed olives to gargantuan avocados.

The 126 ends in the town of Santa Paula, with a main street that seems ordered from central casting, under the heading “Small Town America.”  Most of the buildings have their years of completion carved into their stone-and-brick facades, and the surrounding neighborhood is full of Victorian gingerbread homes.  You can find a very good cup of tea or something cute for your mom at Pamela’s Antiques & Tea House (861 Main Street).  There’s nothing pretentious to be found here, even at the California Oil Museum, which offers a complete picture of this valley’s past in the thrall (grip?) of Union Oil.

The 150 snakes its way out of the far end of Santa Paula, traveling a sulfurous (read: stinky) creekside route past an old Franciscan monastery and then rising into the small mountains surrounding the Ojai Valley.  Coming down the other side, through twists and turns best taken at a lazy pace, you’ll see the agricultural valley stretch out below, and in springtime, every other paddock will feature a foal or two at play with their mothers.  Ojai begins at the very bottom with a few B&B’s and suddenly, you’ve arrived in a small, peaceful town where people are happy to see you.

Orange orchard in Ojai

For some history on Ojai, check out the town’s official website. It’s amazing what one guy with money can create.

Our favorite things to do in extremely compact Ojai town are all within walking distance of each other:

• Stroll by the fountain in the central Libbey Park
• On Sundays, visit the glorious Ojai Farmer’s Market
• Poke around artisanal craft stores on Ojai Avenue
• Hang at the shaded newsstand at Bart’s Books
• Check out ceramic animals at Firehouse Pottery
• Eat glorious tapas at Azu
• Grab a salad, sandwich, pie or all three at the Cafe Emporium
• Linger over a glass of wine and some conversation with the bartender at Movino
• Or, drive back a few blocks before the main drag, and visit the beautiful garden setting of Suzanne’s Cuisine. Stop here for lunch, brunch, or dinner, and if heat permits, sit out on the back patio and let the day happily pass you by.

Garden at Suzanne's Cuisine

You’d think that a world-class resort would only improve on such an a peaceful little town.  But when we visited the famous Ojai Valley Inn & Spa, our mutual thought was, “Eh.”  Yes, it was pretty, and you can get rubbed and scrubbed and play tennis and eat expensive field green salads, but for us, the magic of Ojai is how laid back and removed it is from the universe of big, expensive resorts.  The OVI&S seems like a means of bringing L.A. to Ojai, rather than a way to leave it behind.

If we do ever find ourselves staying overnight in Ojai, we’re going to try the pretty B & B, The Lavender Inn, and sign up for a class at their cooking school.  Keep you posted.

You can continue on the 33 into the moon-like landscape of Los Padres National Forestwhere it can be fun to bike or hike (as long as you bring plenty of water) but be warned: driving all the way through Los Padres will add as much as 5 hours to your journey.  You’ll end up near San Luis Obispo, a 3-hour drive from L.A.

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See also
The Best of Central California
Picturing Ojai
Indulge in a Bit of Ojai