Ojai, Calif., a laid-back town at the base of the Topatopa Mountains, some 15 miles from the sea, has long been a year-round destination for Angelenos (the larger city lies about 80 miles to the southeast), but it’s most compelling in spring, when the air is fragrant with citrus — the area’s fruit orchards specialize in the Pixie, a seedless tangerine — and the farmer’s markets are flush with strawberries, cherries and artichokes. It’s also when warmer temperatures start making the swimming holes scattered around Los Padres National Forest, just north and west of town, especially enticing.
The region’s Chumash people were the first recorded inhabitants of the valley (the name Ojai comes from the word ‘awha’y, meaning “moon”), followed by Spanish missionaries and Mexican cattle ranchers. In the late 1800s, easy access to nature helped establish the town as a wellness destination, and by the 1920s, it became something of a spiritual center after the Indian philosopher Jiddu Krishnamurti moved there to lead an order of the Theosophist Society; he later opened his own foundation and school in Ojai.
The area also grew into a creative hub, as artists moved in (among them the ceramist Beatrice Wood, who arrived in 1948) and musicians like the Russian composer Igor Stravinsky spent time in Ojai in the late 1940s and ’50s to participate in its still ongoing music festival. Hollywood stars made the trip to the Ojai Valley Inn, which expanded into a resort in 1947, attached to an 18-hole golf course.
