A DIY WALKING TOUR OF 12 MASSIVE OUTDOOR MURALS IN OLD TOWN LOMPOC
A TRIP TO CENTRAL CALIFORNIA ISN’T COMPLETE WITHOUT A STOP IN LOMPOC.
NESTLED IN THE HILLS OF SANTA BARBARA COUNTY, THIS QUAINT CITY HAS MUST-SEE TOURIST ATTRACTIONS WITHOUT BIG CROWDS.
Aside from wine tasting and visiting the city’s iconic La Purisima Mission, visitors love to do their own mural crawl through Lompoc’s historic Old Town.
Almost yearly (since 1990), a new mural is added to the city. Usually, the murals sprawl across the side of a building and are painted in one weekend. That’s right, the artist and community volunteers work together to finish a mural in 48 hours!
Today, there are about 40 murals spread throughout the town. The best way to see them is on a walking tour.
You’ll want to print this map before you go, but we suggest following this route to see 12 of the most popular murals:
PARK AT THE LOMPOC MUSEUM
Start your tour by parking at the Lompoc Museum and wandering around the back of the building to scope out your first mural. On the back of the building, you’ll see Lost Mission, an early rendering of what the first mission in the area looked like.
HEAD DOWN H STREET
From the museum, head to H Street. This street has five murals to see. You’ll find two murals on the Sleep Shop. One depicts Lompoc’s early days as a temperance colony while the other shows the three-story mansion of Lompoc’s first mayor.
On the nearby building, you’ll see two murals that pay tribute to the men and women who serve in our military. In the back lot, you’ll see Point Conception Lighthouse, a rendering of the lighthouse that still stands off the shore of nearby Jalama Beach.
Just down the street, Fields of Gold, shows a great picture of the California Gold Rush back in the late 1940s.
TURN DOWN ART ALLEY
Turn right on Art Alley and another quick right just before the Lompoc Fire Department. The fire department has a mural of Lompoc’s first fire chief, Charles Everett. As you wander down this side street, you’ll see two large murals, one of which shows an old horse and buggy.
The next mural is a series of doors, Flowers of the Valley, each of which represents a different flower that’s grown in the area.
The eleventh mural on your tour looks like an artist’s cottage. Fittingly, it’s actually the entrance to the Cypress Gallery; a gallery showcasing the works of 60local artists. If you’re visiting on a weekend, it’s worth stopping in to look around.
WALK BACK TO THE MUSEUM
Across the street from the Cypress Gallery is the Lompoc Museum, where you’ll find yourself back at your car. You could call it quits or you could hop in your car and drive to one more mural, Feeding Time. This giant mural is of a T-Rex running with his mouth wide open. It’s often mentioned as visitors’ favorite mural.
The Feeding Time mural is located across the street from Hangar 7, one of Lompoc’s newest restaurants. You can check out the mural and then grab a bite to eat while you’re in town.
To learn more about Lompoc murals, visit Explore Lompoc.
Download a Central Coast Visitors Map here.
Discover all of California’s Central Coast here.
September 2021
