hiking

Five Fall Santa Cruz Mountain Hikes

The Fall Creek Trail runs right next to the creek covered in lush greenery. © California State Parks.

Enjoy the changing colors of the leaves and the serenity of hiking in the Santa Cruz Mountains. Oh, and a chai recipe to warm you up!

San Vicente Redwoods

Finished trail with oak regrowth and cleared hazard trees. Brian Homberger for Land Trust Santa Cruz County

Trails and Future Trails in Resilient Redwood Forest

Visit the Newest Trails in Santa Cruz at San Vicente Redwoods!

Vista Point at San Vicente Redwoods, photo copyright Mike Kahn.

Beyond Santa Cruz: Explore Portola Valley for hiking, food, and wine tasting

Sunrise from Windy Hill overlooking San Francisco Bay, copyright Eleanor Raab.

A Bouquet of Nature at Russian Ridge

Tidy tips are recognized by their white outer edges.

A "Bouquet of Flowers" hike at Russian Ridge includes spring wildflowers, birds, butterflies and all the best parts of nature.

Rock Solid Map App

Austin Riba made GraniteMaps Santa Cruz for fun. Some 1,300 apps were downloaded within a few weeks of its launch.

GraniteMaps is a clear and reliable way for mountain bikers and hikers to explore Wilder Ranch and UCSC's upper campus.

Pescadero Creek County Park: Brook Trail Loop

Redwoods on the Brook Trail. Pescadero Creek does "misty forest" very well.

A satisfying half-day hike featuring long valley views, skyscraping redwoods and a delightful mini-gorge complete with a waterfall built to scale.

Whitehouse Ridge Trail

The view of Point Ano Nuevo from the Whitehouse Ridge Trail. Allison Titus photo.

There's more to Año Nuevo than elephant seals.

Ridge Trail–Fall Creek Trail

Fall Creek Trail, just north of the junction with South Fork Trail. Hilltromper photo.

Looking for a quick getaway or workout? This lollipop satisfies with a good 500-foot climb to a lofty redwood-lined ridge before descending to picturesque Fall Creek and following it back to the start of the loop.

McNee Ranch

The view from Montara Mountain at McNee Ranch: not too shabby. Photo by Eugene Kim on Flickr.

A steep trail and epic views just outside Half Moon Bay.

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