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Santa Cruz County Parks & Recreation Overview



California Local Pin Marker Get To Know A Group

This nonprofit group supports more than 2,000 acres of Santa Cruz County parks, beaches and trails.

California Local Pin Marker Local Parks & Recreation Digest

Nature Center Mural Design Public Comment Opens

07/11/2024

Public comment is being solicited on mural designs for the Ramsay Park Nature Center in Watsonville.

Lost in the Woods for 10 Days

07/06/2024

An interview with Boulder Creek resident Luka McClish, recently rescued after 10 days lost int he Santa Cruz Mountains.

California Local Pin Marker Recent Articles

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The Aptos High School Trail and Why You Should Get Lost

If we had not gotten lost, we would have never found ourselves looking down on Aptos High School from the mountain above. Seeing the sprawling school from the mountain side made me understand what a huge pillar of this community …

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Keep Cool Cross-Training at the Best Swimming Holes and Beaches

Swimming holes and beach-swims near Santa Cruz that let you work in some exercise.

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Five Reasons Why Your Parking Fee Matters

How paying parking fees at state parks, beaches makes a bigger difference than most people think.

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Hiking Lodato Loop Trail in Scotts Valley

An old guy and a young guy are playing golf, teeing off on a dogleg that angles around a grove of tall trees blocking the fairway. The old guy hits a 2 iron safely out in the grass. The young …

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Manresa State Beach

Miles of empty beach in either direction.

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Going Forth for Beach Cleanup

The Fourth of July has long been a time of celebration in Santa Cruz County, a height-of-summer fete that draws hordes of people to local beaches to indulge in picnics, swim in the ocean and soak up the sun.

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Wilder Ranch State Park Hike

Wilder Ranch State Park is named after dairyman Delos D. Wilder, but just the word “wilder” as an adjective works for me. Henry David Thoreau nailed it with In Wildness Is the Preservation of the World.

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Tree Work Completed at Castle Rock State Park

Volunteers of the global nonprofit Dr. Shri. Nanasaheb Dharmadhikari Pratishthan completed a conservation drive at Castle Rock State Park, located along Skyline Boulevard, on June 22.

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Why Byrne-Milliron’s Closed for Sustainable Timber Harvest

Property will be closed to public access through May 1, 2025 to selectively harvest trees and maintain forest health.

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Aptos Creek Fire Road Trail Hike

A beach hike is different. Your path is a vast nowhere, and the ocean itself disappears on the horizon, showing that the earth is round. A hill, on the other hand, is inherently deceptive: a day hike among the biggest …

Featured

There are more than 300 community service districts in California.
Community Services Districts, Explained
Areas that the county overlooks can form their own local governments.
The Baldwin Hills area in South Los Angeles is one region where a state conservancy would keep open land accessible to the public.
California’s 10 State Conservancies: How They Protect Parks and Open Land
Starting in 1976, the legislature began creating agencies to buy up open land, and keep it open.
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