What a fun place! The Loose Caboose looks like an ordinary fruit stand along the endless highway, but inside are treasures to delight the young at heart! It is a museum, zoo, and emporium with antiques, garden pottery, local jellies, train calenders and much more. It is also an historical landmark. It includes pools of koi and turtles, an aviary with various birds and shaded areas for potted plants. If you look around, you'll find an old caboose. There are also free restrooms. I look forward to my next visit. read more

See all

Amazing selection! Fair pricing! And great wonderful staff. Definitely stop by for some of the freshest produce you can find and absolutely beautiful yard decor. Easy to find just find the signs on right side of East 126 hwy of the outskirts of Santa Paula. Definitely recommend and will continue to return for my produce. read more

The Loose Caboose - Fresh strawberries!!! - Nurseries & Gardening Near Me - Santa Paula, California

Truthfully, this was not a fun place to visit for holly-jolly experiences! Five of us boarded the train to visit what we thought was a "holiday market"....only to find mud, ratty displays, overpriced plastic trinkets, and a few very sad and very COLD animals behind cages. Maybe this place is great at other times of the year, but not in November-December. What a let down! We immediately got back on the train (which was ALSO extremely disappointing) and left. We need a GREAT lunch at Hozy's to shake off the disappointment! read more

See all

Dinosaurs! Birds! Hot sauce! Honey! It's a fruit farm stand with unexpected extras. Great stop if you have kids. Fun little details. The fresh fruit is fresh, locally sourced and at a good price. The best part? The beehive. A real working beehive with hundreds of bees. They come in and out through a pipe that leads out to the back of the shop. The queen bee is from Hawaii and they are not the aggressive type of bee. It makes sample g honey an even sweeter experience. Not just bees. There is an avery with a variety of birds. There are beautiful koi fish. Lots of things from kitschy to locally handmade. Quirky, slightly offbeat, but lots of fun. Fun, especially if you have restless kids who need a break. read more

See all

Not a great selection. The store has coolers but nothing fresh. I felt the items were overpriced and the store is in need of some repairs and updates. We did try some of the snacks which were good but not better quality than what we could find at a gas station. read more

The Loose Caboose - Nurseries & Gardening Near Me - Santa Paula, California

See all

We stopped here because I've been wanting to stop here for years as it looked like a pretty extensive fruit stand when it was Yamaguchi's. Now, it's more Emporium than fruit stand, and holds quite an eclectic collection of items. They carry landscape items including some plants & trees. Koi and Koi pond items. There are goats - 3, to be exact - and there's a machine you can buy feed from to feed the goats, and you'd better believe the goats know the sound of that quarter plunking! You can feed the koi too. Same setup. There's a handful of red cabooses - the reason for the name of the place I'm gathering and some very cool shade trees with seating underneath. THAT was cool. Inside they have birds... doves, parakeets, chickens, Russian pheasants... Wait. What? A room with 'antiques', which some of them may be, but most of it looks like people have left their yard sale items with hopes they'll sell as kitsch. Lots of toys. And there's a room with local culinary delights like salsas, jellies, loose nuts and the like. All in all an unexpected compilation of odd things - fun to look through - some local items of interest - but not a place I'll return to. read more

See all

The place is run down and has nothing but overpriced useless products. The employee told us there is no restroom because they are on a septic system. That answer is for stupid people. The better answer would be that you don't have a restroom for your customers. Here are my thoughts on this place: there is nothing fun here, the staff blatantly lies thinking the guests are stupid. My conclusion: just avoid it and don't waist your time . read more

I enjoyed this place as one of those odd off the beaten path roadside shops. Yes, it does have a very odd mix of things to see, but that's what makes it fun. I have to say the coolest part of the store for me were the koi fish. They actually have a lot of them. Everything from really big ones to little babies they are nursing, which was cool. You can feed them, too. They have birds, not a lot, but the prices for them seem very reasonable. I don't know anything about birds, but they looked cool. They have an upside-down forest, which is kind of neat. They are like trees standing on their branches with their roots growing up in the air. They have other stuff for your garden like sculptures, local honey, produce, lots of other stuff, too. The place does seem to be run by a friendly family. read more

See all

Here's an interesting place for a pit stop... Part general store, part museum, the Loose Caboose is appealing to all ages. They have an aviary! They have koi ponds! They have an upside-down forest! They have seasonal produce. A very nice, family-run business. If you're in the area stop by and take a look! read more

The Loose Caboose - Pit stop palace!! - Nurseries & Gardening Near Me - Santa Paula, California

Rotten Strawberries, Almost half of the strawberries that I bought were rotten I usually buy them in Oxnard but I stopped here just to regret it. If you're looking for strawberries stop in one of the many places that sell fresh strawberries in Oxnard read more

See all

What the fuck is this place? And why is the train stopping here? Has there ever in the history of the universe been someone who clambered off the train here, bought a two foot koi, then carried it around in a giant water filled baggie for the remaining 4 hours of the train's itinerary? Hmm, they sell birds too...alrighty then. Actually, I would've been happy to give this place 3 stars if only they sold something for my headache. Dramamine, check. Antacids, check. 400 pound marble fixtures for your garden, check. Disappointing fruit (this being in the middle of the richest agricultural area in southern California, mind you), check. Honey with flakes of red pepper in it, check. Pain reliever, eeh not so much...that's not something people need too often. It's like someone with only the vaguest notion of what a tourist trap is decided to build a tourist trap. Scary. read more

My friend and I always stop here when we are going down this freeway. They always have lots of interesting things for sale. But make sure you check out the back- they have tons of koi fish that you can feed (food provided with a quarter vending machine) and turtles. This little area is almost always empty and is a wonderful place to spend some time thinking and watching the fish. I highly recommend grabbing some licorice on your way out too! read more

My wife and I were driving down Highway 125 from Ventura when The Loose Caboose caught out eye, so we pulled over to have a look. It is definitely an unusual roadside stop. Lots of produce, as you'd expect, including 40-pound boxes of oranges. Inside, they have lots of curios and a variety of food oddities that you see at places like this. The woman working there was super nice, and that's always a big plus at places like this. Even if your aren't interested in the other things they are selling on the property, it's worth a stop--koi ponds, goats, an aviary, fruit trees, The Upside Down Tree Forest--lots of stuff to see and it's all free to look. If you want to buy a goat or two, you're set! read more

See all

Expensive, unimpressive and no bathroom. Don't waste your time. The staff are ok but I wasn't very impressed. Shoppers are funding the building rent. There are better options just a little further down the road. read more

This place is really cute and eclectic! The staff all were very friendly and helpful, too. I highly recommend stopping here whenever you're in the area. read more

I'd have to agree with the two previous reviews. The Loose Caboose is indeed interesting for the variety of products they have for sale, depending on what you're looking for. But in the context of a much-anticipated stop while riding the Fillmore & Western steam train, The Loose Caboose is a little awkward. Nonetheless, as a family-run business, their intent as merchants is sincere, friendly and down to earth, which is something I can appreciate, regardless of what they're selling. read more

This place is great. It's eclectic, charming, with some unusual treats (watermelon licorice, ostrich jerky, etc...). The animals are a trip: There are some goats that are, let's say, unusual. Turns out they are born with some aberrations. This place not only feeds them, but spoils them! They also have a permanent koi pond and koi for sale. Doves, pigs, turtles. Lots of fun and varied souvenirs, including metal art and antiques. Fresh local strawberries as well. You have to work your way around to find all the treasures. The folks inside were kind enough to show us the animals and what was for sale; thankfully, they weren't pushy at all. Very friendly and down-to-earth. You get a hometown feel, which is a nice contrast to the antiseptic shops in other areas. read more

Cute shop and very authentic for the area. Lots of great little things plus it's an experience to walk through. There are koi fish and other animals around. Very old school and great to see something like this still around. They bring in fresh fruit regularly and have themes for each holiday. Customer service is great and have some nice people working there. Overall awesome place of the highway. read more

Mehhhhh. This was the first fruit stand on the highway. Turned in to see what kind of goodies there are. There was a nice selection of fruit and veggies, but nothing that I HAD to have. Lots of other random things--honey, hot sauce. There are lots of other fruit stands on the highway after passing this one. I didn't stop at the others since I assume they're all pretty much the same. read more

This little place is a nice stop if you are out meandering about aimlessly on a Sunday afternoon. There are turtles, fish, goats, birds, antiques, hot sauces, special honey, fountains and other yard deco for sale. read more

The Loose Caboose - Nurseries & Gardening Near Me - Santa Paula, California

I first stopped here because I saw that they sold produce. Its produce is okay, but wait if you walk just a little you will see some very interesting things: such as the biggest Koi fish I have ever seen, beautiful water turtles, cute little birds and baby chicks. My kids love it here, and its a very nice and relaxing stop. read more

I love this place, during the summer I go here just to go feed the fish. The place is adorable, with it's funky little gifts and animals. I like the fresh fruit stand too. When I go I end up spending at least a hour there loving everything in there. The benches made of wood outside are beautiful. The bridge overlooking the big beautiful koi fish is relaxing. The birds singing and sometimes seeing little eggs just hatched is great! Love this place, I will always go there. The staff is always nice too. read more

Very friendly service and they have the coolest things there! They have a whole bunch of different animals here! I loved going to look at all their koi ponds. They also had turtles, goats, peacocks, etc. If you go into the shop they have this cool case with a whole bunch of bees in there too! It's really quite awesome! read more

This is a fun a cool place! You can get fruit and veggies here, out door decorations, cool wood storage buildings or play houses. The neatest thing is the Koi ponds with very large Koi and Koi for sale in smaller sizes. They have pond supplies and food too. Lots of nice gift things and local honey too boot. read more