Stearns Wharf, Historical wooden pier in Santa Barbara, United States.

Stearns Wharf is a wooden pier at the end of State Street in Santa Barbara, California, built on dark timber pilings. At its far end stands a two-story white building with a gray gabled roof and a covered lower deck; beside it, an open deck holds rows of small flags above a boarding area. A wooden railing lines the deck.

The pier was built in 1872 by John P. Stearns, giving Santa Barbara a direct link to maritime trade at a time when roads in the region were poor. Over the following decades it shifted away from commerce and became a place where people came to walk, fish, and eat.

The pier's name honours John Peck Stearns, the local lumberman who built it in 1872. Its 17 public businesses include restaurants, souvenir shops, an ice cream parlour and a candy store, and the water taxi Lil' Toot runs tours between the wharf and Santa Barbara Harbor.

The pier sits at the end of State Street and is easy to reach on foot from downtown Santa Barbara. Weekdays and early mornings tend to be quieter, which makes walking to the end and back more comfortable.

Stearns Wharf was the longest deep-water pier between Los Angeles and San Francisco when it opened in 1872. A railroad spur once ran onto the wharf to carry lumber to John P. Stearns's yard and the Southern Pacific Depot; damaged by storms, it was abandoned in 1923. The 1998 winter fire destroyed the last 150 feet of the pier, including the Moby Dick Restaurant, and rebuilding took over two years.