Santa Cruz: Coast, Redwood Forests and Unique Nature Experiences

Santa Cruz combines impressive coastal landscapes, ancient redwood forests and unique nature experiences. Anyone looking for a vacation rental can choose the desired focus based on the excursion destinations: At Año Nuevo State Park, elephant seals are the main attraction, while redwood parks, historic sites, beaches and family attractions make for very different vacation days.

Coast, Dunes and Marine Life

The nature reserve at Año Nuevo State Park is visited every year by up to 10,000 elephant seals for mating, giving birth to their young and molting. The park encompasses coastal terrace prairie, freshwater marshes, dune fields and coastal scrubland. It also features natural history exhibits in a historic 19th-century dairy ranch.

At Natural Bridges State Beach, you can combine beach walks for shell collecting, building sandcastles and tidepooling. The adjacent Natural Bridges State Marine Reserve complements this coastal landscape. Wilder Ranch State Park also reaches the ocean coast. It extends across 7,000 acres from Ben Lomond Mountain through marshland and ancient, wave-cut terraces to the sea.

Redwoods and Trails for Active Days

At Henry Cowell Redwoods State Park, a 40-acre stand of towering old-growth coast redwoods preserves a particularly striking forest landscape. The park’s higher areas are also home to the rare Santa Cruz Sandhills habitat, with numerous endemic species. Hiking, horseback riding, picnicking, swimming and camping offer various ways to plan your day here.

Forest of Nisene Marks State Park offers dense second- and third-growth redwood forest stretching from nearly sea level into steep coastal mountains. For longer outings, it provides 30 miles of hiking and cycling trails. Big Basin Redwoods State Park is California’s oldest state park and preserves old-growth coast redwoods in the heart of the Santa Cruz Mountains. Those who want to combine nature experiences with different routes and landscapes will find several clearly distinct focuses here.

History, Culture and Family Experiences

Santa Cruz Mission State Historic Park stands on Mission Hill and offers a terrace, gardens and views of the city. It contains the only surviving building of the twelfth California mission. Exhibits and a large-format film projection convey the history of the Ohlone and Yokuts at the Santa Cruz Mission; both can be seen as part of guided and self-guided tours.

At Wilder Ranch State Park, early California ranching history is presented through an 1897 Victorian house and an 1896 water-powered machine shop. The Santa Cruz Museum of Art & History complements the cultural side of the trip with changing art and history exhibitions, public festivals and cultural celebrations.

For an entertaining family day, Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk offers rides for thrill-seekers, families and children. The Giant Dipper Roller Coaster is also a National Historic Landmark. Roaring Camp Railroads offers a different experience: authentic 19th-century steam locomotives travel through the Big Trees to the summit of Bear Mountain. Additional rides with early 20th-century Pullman cars and open excursion cars pass through a scenic river gorge in Henry Cowell Redwoods State Park to Santa Cruz Beach.

Vacation Planning and Choosing the Right Location

The parks and beaches in Santa Cruz County offer opportunities for swimming, camping, sunbathing and hiking. Other visitor activities include wineries, museums, farmers’ markets, surfing, shopping and family activities. At U-pick farms, visitors can harvest their own produce; depending on the season, this includes strawberries, olallieberries, apples and kiwis. The first construction section of Segment 7, Phase I, of the Coastal Rail Trail is a 1.2-mile paved multi-use path from Natural Bridges Drive to Bay and California streets.

Choose your vacation rental according to the vacation rhythm you want: nature observation by the sea, redwood forests, culture, beach days, train rides or a combination of several interests. For further orientation around the area, you can also explore Santa Cruz, Capitola, Watsonville, Ben Lomond, Boulder Creek, Aptos, Interlaken, Scotts Valley, Soquel, Felton, Freedom and Rio del Mar.

For the overarching travel overview: California.