Santa Cruz County Parks & Recreation Digest

California State Parks and partner Friends of California State Parks are working together on a project to rehabilitate a number of dunes at Rio Del Mar State Beach to reduce erosion, increase resilience and restore wildlife habitat.

In the planning stages since 2021, a new inclusive and accessible playground opened at Skypark.

Local opposition is growing in response to a petition before the California Fish and Game Commission to establish a new marine reserve off Pleasure Point and expand an existing reserve next to Natural Bridges State Beach.

The over 2,000 page final environmental impact report for the Coastal Rail Trail Segments 10 and 11 is on the agenda for the March 26 County Supervisor meeting.

In this regular Our Ocean Backyard column, UCSC Professor Gary Griggs tells the story of the building of the Santa Cruz Small Craft Harbor.

Forbes Advisor experts have compiled a list of the 50 best places to travel.

California State Parks has recommended $6.7 million for seven local nonmotorized trail projects in various cities, including Galt and Gilroy.

One of Watsonville’s most recognizable and historic community hubs could be getting a new look as the city plans a comprehensive revitalization of its downtown City Plaza.

Disneyland’s plan to reimagine the theme park into a more “immersive” experience may require up to $2.5 billion and a plan to privatize some Anaheim streets.

Richmond Ranch in south San Jose may be preserved as open space if multiple government entities succeed in a quest to buy its thousands of acres, public documents show.

California’s projected budget deficit of close to $38 billion likely means some cuts are coming. Among them, Gov. Gavin Newsom has proposed ending the California State Park Adventure Pass, which offers free access to some state parks for fourth graders.

The land trust Sempervirens Fund has tapped Rachel Dann for its newly established director of government relations position. “Rachel is a highly esteemed political strategist, renowned for her extensive connections with regional policymakers,” said Executive Director Sarah Barth.

An estimated 100,000 pizza boxes have been removed from Yosemite’s waste stream. This is because the famed park now serves pizza on trays and puts to-go portions in compostable bags, part of a move to reduce food-related waste.

Utility giant PG&E is set to raise its rates an average of 13% on Jan. 1. That equals an extra $32.50 a month, or $390 for the year.

After nearly five years of planning, members of Cabrillo Host, Freedom Host and Santa Cruz Host Lions Clubs gathered to dedicate the new benches in honor of veterans.

With Santa Cruz County Parks at the helm, a group of state and local agencies are working to identify priority coastal projects ranging from Santa Cruz city limits to the San Mateo County line—an effort funded by a pair of $100,000 grants from the California Coastal Conservancy and California State Parks.

State and local leaders gathered in Los Angeles to celebrate a new plan that will increase access to the outdoors for all Californians, regardless of who they are or where they live.

A pilot program that allows Californians to visit many state parks for free—after checking out a pass from their local library—is helping increase access for more people of color and lower-income residents, according to research from the California State Parks Foundation.

A beachside trail connecting the communities of Morro Bay and Cayucos could finally be built after 20 years. This happened after Chevron decided to sell land needed for the trail to be built.

County Park Friends—working to raise $1 million of the anticipated $1.79 million cost for Capitola’s universally accessible playground at Jade Street Park—has good news to share.

Two theme park giants, Six Flags and Cedar Fair, announced they are merging. It could have potential impacts on California theme parks like Six Flags Magic Mountain, Knott’s Berry Farm and Six Flags Discovery Kingdom.

After weighing feedback from an October meeting, the city’s Parks and Recreation department staff and landscape architecture firm Bionic Landscape Architecture have narrowed the design options to two. A second survey will gauge the community’s preferences for the two concepts.

Representatives from California State Parks, Save the Redwoods League and the Waddell Creek Association celebrated the grand opening of the new Rancho del Oso Welcome Center, which serves as a gateway to the western coastal side of Big Basin Redwoods State Park.

Camille Dixon, the announcer for Disney California Adventure, and her husband, Bill Rogers, the voice of Disneyland, are moving on from this work. They have been at the parks for more than 40 years combined.

Through this new program, artists, culture bearers, and California Native American tribes will be eligible to receive funding to create artwork throughout state and local parks.

The council will receive a report on Rail Trail Segments 10 and 11 as well as an update on the years-long effort to form the Police Chief’s Advisory Committee.

Two new rides are coming to the Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk next year, including a new Ferris wheel and another spinning ride called “Surge.”

The Capitola City Council unanimously landed on “Treasure Cove at Jade Street Park” as the name for the new universally accessible playground.

The Biden administration is one step away from designating the first national marine sanctuary nominated by a tribe. Tribal members of the Chumash, who have lobbied for the creation of this Central Coast preserve for more than a decade, would be involved in managing it.

Castle Rock State Park expanded on Aug. 15 when the Sempervirens Fund sold six properties to the state of California for $4.21 million. Nestled on the border of Santa Cruz, Santa Clara and San Mateo counties, Castle Rock now covers more than 5,400 acres.

Some 7,000 square miles of ocean on California’s Central Coast could soon become the largest national marine sanctuary in the continental U.S. It could also make history as one of the first federal sanctuaries to be spearheaded by a Native American tribe.

Capitola leaders have kickstarted a fundraising campaign for the Jade Street Park Project, which will make the 24-year-old playground accessible to individuals of all abilities.