Some useful and interesting websites:

 

Places

Santa Barbara Botanic Garden - An incredible resource and treasure
for anyone interested in the flora of Santa Barbara and California in a beautiful setting.

Santa Barbara Museum of Natural History - A great place to visit to learn about plants, animals, and early human history of the area.

Web resources

Calflora.net - A labor of love by Michael Charters, this website features hundreds of beautiful photographs and an exhaustive and detailed catalog of southern California's diverse plant communities.

Calflora.org - An immense database of California wild plants.

Santa Barbara Hikes - Diane Soini's fascinating and detailed collection of photos, maps, and hiking information for Santa Barbara's front and back countries. Be sure to check out the Flowers section, and to read Diane's inspiring story in About the Author under "Gorp".

TopoZone - Free detailed topographical maps for anywhere in the country.

Books

Santa Barbara Trails - A useful website with plants, hikes and geological information.

Point Conception to Mexico - A common man kayak adventure. David's first book about paddling the California coast.