Santa Barbara Museum of Natural History

The huge whale skeleton by the entrance whets the appetite for the city's natural history museum. The usual dioramas of stuffed animals are on display in dimly lit rooms (the bird collection is especially good on local species), but the joy of this place is that once you've learned about nature inside, you can head outside to the 'Museum's Backyard', a trail through woods by a creek, and engage with the real thing.