About
Jack and Laura Dangermond Preserve Public Access Programs include expert-led tours, naturalist walks, and public-led hikes and events. Activities also include whale watching and bluff walks, oak woodlands walks, Jalachichi Ridge walks, birding walks, sunset walks, and community events. The program also offers volunteer days, community bioblitz events, coastal cleanup days with bluff walks, dune headland restoration, K–12 environmental education, higher education trips, and research activities.
• Schedule: Ongoing visitation opportunities include K–12 environmental education, public-led hikes and events, volunteer days, and other community-based events.
The Nature Conservancy purchased the property in December 2017. The Nature Conservancy states that its first responsibility is to build a nature preserve capable of protecting this collection of natural and cultural resources for the benefit of future generations. The leadership team includes Director Dangermond Preserve Moses Katkowski, Outreach Manager Dangermond Preserve Lorren Butterwick, and Media Contact Marlene Cardozo. The preserve is described as a living laboratory and one of the last remaining wilderness areas along the Southern California coast, and it covers over 24,000 acres. The preserve is closed to the public except for use by approved research, educational, and guided activities, and ongoing visitation opportunities include K–12 environmental education, public-led hikes and events, volunteer days, and other community-based events.
Jalama County Road, a public access road to Jalama Beach County State Park, is open to the public year-round, and visitors to the county park drive through a majority of the Dangermond Preserve. In 2021, The Nature Conservancy transferred 36 acres of the historic Bixby Ranch, now the Dangermond Preserve, to Jalama Beach County Park, more than doubling the park’s size. Biological surveys of the beaches in the past five years show they are some of the most biodiverse in the state. Stewards are volunteer leaders who guide naturalist walks and volunteer days, support community events, and help students learn in the field. The Dangermond Preserve remains an active working ranch and uses its cattle operation as a large-scale land management tool, and through targeted grazing and science-based pasture rotation, the cattle reduce fuels and fire risk, reduce invasive species, increase biodiversity, and support restoration and endangered species. The Preserve works closely with partners including University of California Santa Barbara, UC Natural Reserve System, ESRI, Gaviota Coast Conservancy, and Santa Barbara Land Trust.
Last updated July 18, 2026.
• Schedule: Ongoing visitation opportunities include K–12 environmental education, public-led hikes and events, volunteer days, and other community-based events.
The Nature Conservancy purchased the property in December 2017. The Nature Conservancy states that its first responsibility is to build a nature preserve capable of protecting this collection of natural and cultural resources for the benefit of future generations. The leadership team includes Director Dangermond Preserve Moses Katkowski, Outreach Manager Dangermond Preserve Lorren Butterwick, and Media Contact Marlene Cardozo. The preserve is described as a living laboratory and one of the last remaining wilderness areas along the Southern California coast, and it covers over 24,000 acres. The preserve is closed to the public except for use by approved research, educational, and guided activities, and ongoing visitation opportunities include K–12 environmental education, public-led hikes and events, volunteer days, and other community-based events.
Jalama County Road, a public access road to Jalama Beach County State Park, is open to the public year-round, and visitors to the county park drive through a majority of the Dangermond Preserve. In 2021, The Nature Conservancy transferred 36 acres of the historic Bixby Ranch, now the Dangermond Preserve, to Jalama Beach County Park, more than doubling the park’s size. Biological surveys of the beaches in the past five years show they are some of the most biodiverse in the state. Stewards are volunteer leaders who guide naturalist walks and volunteer days, support community events, and help students learn in the field. The Dangermond Preserve remains an active working ranch and uses its cattle operation as a large-scale land management tool, and through targeted grazing and science-based pasture rotation, the cattle reduce fuels and fire risk, reduce invasive species, increase biodiversity, and support restoration and endangered species. The Preserve works closely with partners including University of California Santa Barbara, UC Natural Reserve System, ESRI, Gaviota Coast Conservancy, and Santa Barbara Land Trust.
Last updated July 18, 2026.
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