Ojai Valley Spa & Pink Moment Sunset

The Spa Ojai at the 1923 Ojai Valley Inn occupies a 31,000-square-foot facility that opened in 1997 and has consistently been ranked among the top destination spas in North America. The signature 'Kuyam' treatment — a communal Chumash-inspired mud, heat, and inhalation experience — is unique to this property. The outdoor mineral pools and the eucalyptus-grove setting establish the relaxed rhythm of the Ojai day.

An Ojai institution for organic California cooking — the kitchen sources almost entirely from its own farm in the Ojai Valley, and the daily-changing menu reflects what's actually ready to harvest. The wood-fired pizzas, the seasonal grain bowls, and the fresh-squeezed juices have made this the most trusted restaurant in the valley since 2001.

The world's largest independently owned outdoor bookshop, established in 1964 on Matilija Street in central Ojai. After-hours customers are trusted to take books from the shelves outside the wall and leave what they think fair in a slot by the door — a system unchanged since founder Richard Bartinsdale started it. The garden interior houses 150,000 books organized by subject across a labyrinthine courtyard.

A working olive press and tasting room on McAndrew Road outside town — the estate-grown Mission, Arbequina, and Manzanilla olives are cold-pressed within 24 hours of harvest, a freshness level that most California olive oils don't achieve. The tasting flights compare varieties and explain the polyphenol chemistry that makes fresh-pressed oil different from what's in most bottles.

A meditation center and garden on the ridge above Ojai at 2,500 feet, open to the public daily from sunrise to sunset. The garden faces east toward the Topa Topa range; in the 15 minutes after sunset, the mountains transition through a sequence from gold to orange to rose that the valley's east-west orientation makes uniquely visible from this ridge. The best Pink Moment viewing point in Ojai.

A French rotisserie restaurant on Ojai Avenue specializing in poulet rôti — the whole birds are seasoned with herbs from the surrounding hills and slow-roasted on the open spit above the dining room. The accompanying Lyonnaise potatoes and house-made mustards are the correct order; the wine list focuses on Rhône Valley whites and Santa Barbara County Syrah.