Skip to main content

Ballard Canyon Road

By

Ballard Canyon Road is an approximately seven-mile-long rural highway located in the Santa Ynez Valley region of Santa Barbara County.  The roadway traverses the namesake Ballard Canyon from the outskirts of Los Olivos southwest to California State Route 246 in Buellton.  Ballard Canyon Road is named after the Santa Ynez Valley community of Ballard and was once part of Rancho San Carlos de Jonata.  The original purpose of Ballard Canyon Road was to connect to the Foxen Canyon Road with the Lompoc Road. 




Part 1; the history of Ballard Canyon Road

Ballard Canyon Road is aligned through the namesake north/south canyon which itself is a larger part of Santa Ynez Valley.  The lands comprising Ballard Canyon were once part of Rancho San Carlos de Jonata.  The Rancho was granted in 1845 by then Alta California Governor Pio Pico to Joaquin Carrillo and Jose Maria Covarrubias.  The land grants of Carrillo and Covarrubias were later honored by the American Federal government when California became a state after the Mexican-American War.  

Ballard Canyon itself is named after the community of Ballard.  Ballard is the oldest community in Santa Ynez Valley and was founded in 1880 by William Ballard as a Wells Fargo stage station.  The community itself was located on the stage road from San Marcos to Santa Maria Valley via Foxen Canyon.  Ballard can be seen on the 1882 Bancroft's Map of California.  


Ballard Canyon Road can be seen on the 1905 United States Geological Survey map of Lompoc.  The roadway is seen connecting through Rancho San Carlos de Jonata from the Foxen Canyon Road near Los Olivos southwest to the Lompoc Road (currently California State Route 246) near the current site of Buellton.  Rancho San Carlos de Jonata would be subdivided in 1911 and would be used for the town plot of Solvang next to Mission Santa Ines. 


Ballard Canyon Road can be seen in greater detail on the 1959 United States Geological Survey map of Los Olivos.  



Much of Ballard Canyon Road now part of the Ballard Canyon Agricultural Viticultural Area (AVA).  The AVA was declared during October 2013 and is comprised of 7,800 acres.  Ballard Canyon is considered ideal for wine making given the soil conditions being more uniform than the floor of Santa Ynez Valley.



Part 2; a drive on Ballard Canyon Road

Southbound Ballard Canyon Road begins in the outskirts of Los Olivos at the intersection of Foxen Canyon Road and Steele Street.  


Southbound Ballard Canyon Road makes a rapid ascent to the rim of Ballard Canyon.  At the beginning of the ascent traffic is advised that the road ahead is curvy for the next 7 miles.  












Ballard Canyon Road reaches the rim of Ballard Canyon and hairpins sharply.





Ballard Canyon Road continues south and intersects Chalk Hill Road.  Traffic wishing to access Solvang can by continuing straight on Chalk Hill Road.  Buellton bound traffic is required to take a right hand turn to continue on Ballard Canyon Road towards California State Route 246.






















Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Crescent City Connection (New Orleans, LA)

By
The Crescent City Connection is a massive dual-span steel truss bridge that spans the lower Mississippi River at downtown New Orleans, about 95 river miles upstream from the mouth of the great river at the Head of Passes Light. If counted as a single bi-directional highway bridge, the parallel spans combine to form the single busiest bridge on the Mississippi River and its importance as a linchpin in the region’s transportation network cannot be overstated. While there have been various schemes over the years to construct bridges downriver from Algiers Point, this bridge has been the southernmost bridge on the Mississippi River since its initial construction in the 1950s. The years immediately following the end of World War II were a transformational period in the history of New Orleans. Already one of the great economic and cultural centers of the American Deep South, it was recognized at this time that major changes and improvements to the city’s transportation infrastructure would b...
Post a Comment
Read more

Old US Route 99 through Tipton, Tulare, and Tagus Ranch

By
This summer I had a look into the alignment history of US Route 99 through the Tulare County communities of Tipton, Tulare, and Tagus Ranch.  While this slab below might seem like much it is one of the few remaining reminders of how US Route 99 was during the 1920s in Tulare County. This blog is part of the larger Gribblenation US Route 99 Page.  For more information pertaining to the other various segments of US Route 99 and it's three-digit child routes check out the link the below. Gribblenation US Route 99 Page Part 1; the history of US Route 99 in Tipton, Tulare, and Tagus Ranch Tipton and Tulare were both founded in 1872 as sidings of the Southern Pacific Railroad.  The Southern Pacific Railroad laid the groundwork for development of southern San Joaquin Valley.  Previous to the Southern Pacific Railroad travel via wagon or foot in Central California tended to avoid San Joaquin Valley in favor of the Stockton-Los Angeles Road.  The Stockton Los Ange...
Post a Comment
Read more

Former US Route 101 and California State Route 41 through Paso Robles

By
Paso Robles is a city located on the Salinas River of San Luis Obispo County, California.  As originally configured the surface alignments of US Route 101 and California State Route 41 converged in downtown Paso Robles.  US Route 101 originally was aligned through Paso Robles via Spring Street.  California State Route 41 entered the City of Paso Robles via Union Road and 13th Street where it intersected US Route 101 at Spring Street.  US Route 101 and California State Route 41 departed Paso Robles southbound via a multiplex which split near Templeton.   Pictured above is the cover of the September/October 1957 California Highways & Public Works which features construction of the Paso Robles Bypass.  Pictured below is the 1935 Division of Highways Map of San Luis Obispo County which depicts US Route 101 and California State Route 41 intersecting in downtown Paso Robles.   Part 1; the history of US Route 101 and California State Route 41 i...
Post a Comment
Read more