Does the natural landscapes of Santa Cruz, such as its coastline, hills and parks, influence the real estate market in the area?
Santa Cruz offers an impressive diversity of parks, beaches, and open spaces for all to enjoy. Pause in awe at the stunning vistas from Pogonip or catch world-class surfing at the iconic Lighthouse Field. The one-of-a-kind disc golf course at DeLaveaga challenges players of all skill levels. Get air at the skate parks and pump tracks or play bocce ball and ping pong at local parks. After a stroll along the historic Santa Cruz Wharf, visit the premier beaches at Main and Cowell. For those who have yet to explore the wealth of Santa Cruz parks, beaches, and open spaces, we encourage you to embark on an adventure. To find off-leash areas for you and your dog, learn more about dog-friendly parks in Santa Cruz when looking for houses for sale in Santa Cruz.
Santa Cruz, California is a surfing paradise that beckons to wave riders from all corners of the globe. With its consistent swells, variety of breaks, and picturesque coastal setting, it's no wonder Santa Cruz is considered by many to have the best surfing in the world. From the legendary Steamer Lane, a powerful reef break that challenges even the most experienced surfers, to the gentle rollers of Cowell's Beach perfect for longboarding, there's a wave here for every level of surfer. The town lives and breathes surf culture, with board shapers, surf shops, and surf museums lining the streets. When the waves are pumping, you'll find the lineups packed with locals and pros alike putting on a show. But even on smaller days, the sun-soaked beaches and laid-back vibe make Santa Cruz an idyllic spot to just hang out and soak in the California surf lifestyle. For surfers seeking the holy grail of waves and an authentic surf town experience, Santa Cruz is the ultimate destination that should be at the very top of your bucket list.
The City has approved the Parks Master Plan 2030, which provides recommendations to enhance the City's parks, recreation facilities, open spaces, and beaches over the next 15 years. The Parks and Recreation Department partnered with the landscape architecture and planning firm Royston Hanamoto Alley & Abey to develop the plan. Together, they assessed current conditions, analyzed trends, conducted public outreach for feedback, and identified actions and funding opportunities to improve the city's parks and recreation system based on community input. The plan will guide the City's priorities and investments in parks and recreation for the next 15 years.
Parks Master Plan 2030:
City of Santa Cruz Parks Master Plan 2030 (Final Version)
Pogonip is a 640-acre open space of meadows, woodlands, and creeks with a 1-mile multi-use trail in the northernmost sector open for bicyclists and equestrians. This multi-use trail ties together Henry Cowell Redwoods State Park, Pogonip, and the campus lands owned by UC Santa Cruz. All other Pogonip Trails are closed to bicycles and horses.
Pogonip has walk-in entrances but no on-site parking. There is parking available on Golf Club Drive just west of Highway 9 and walk in at the main gate. Additional parking can be found near both the Harvey West Park entrance and near the Spring Street entrance, although there is limited residential parking in this area.
Pogonip is a natural haven that will light up so much inspiration due to its closeness to the urban center of Santa Cruz. Though not virgin wilderness, in the sense that the landscape has been radically altered in the past 150 years, this habitat nevertheless has a value all its own lying, as it does, on the edge of the city. It is a testament to the hardiness of nature that a magical sanctuary like Pogonip endures. Today, it is secured into the city's Greenbelt properties, acquired in 1988 with funds from the CALPAW State Bond Act.
Pogonip contains quite diverse wildlife. Mixed evergreen and upland redwood forests, stands of oak, and riparian woodlands create wooded areas for the Pacific giant salamanders, California newts, and banana slugs, while meadows and prairies support the natural occurrence of prairie clover, popcorn flowers, and rare Ohlone tiger beetles. Grasslands and forests are inhabited by jackrabbits, ground squirrels, deer, coyotes, bobcats, and bats. Many resident and migrating birds visit Pogonip, including owls, bluebirds, meadowlarks, chickadees, woodpeckers, and hawks. One can find in meadows and prairies reptiles such as alligator lizards, fence lizards, and garter snakes. Mountain lions do visit, but Pogonip is part of the animal haven surrounded by cities.
Pogonip has a rich history dating back thousands of years. The land was indeed first inhabited by Ohlone tribes for more than 5,000 years until the arrival of Europeans in the 1700s. Following the establishment of the Santa Cruz Mission in 1791 and the Mexican rule throughout the 1800s, the number of Ohlones rapidly declined due to diseases and harassment from settlers. Although no prehistoric sites have been discovered, Irish immigrants probably utilized ample resources available within the Pogonip area by Native Americans.
By the mid-1800s, logging operations had destroyed most of the old-growth redwoods; today, there are only three virgin redwoods left. Because the redwoods supplied fuel for limestone kilns, portions of the Rincon and Spring Trails were actually roads that served to connect the timber, quarries, and kilns. Today it is a park, but Pogonip was once part of the Cowell Ranch, which was bought for lime and timber. As resources grew scarce in the early 1900s, the land was gradually changed to livestock operations. In 1961, a portion was sold to UC Santa Cruz as part of the campus; the rest became Pogonip.
At one time, there was a golf course and polo fields—actor/realtor attractions for celebrities and champion players. Guided by Dorothy Deming Wheeler, Pogonip hosted the beginnings of coed polo. Briefly serving as a rehabilitation facility during World War II, it reopened to a private club in 1948. Rich in history, the unsafe clubhouse remains closed to the public today.
The paved multiuse path extends less than half a mile, from Agnes Street to the harbor and then to the upper harbor, where it links for hiking and biking. Several dirt hiking trails core meadows with loops from the Hagemann Bridge to the entrance of the harbor and from the entrance of the harbor to Agnes Street. Bicycling is prohibited on these dirt trails. Please stay on the designated paths to minimize impacts on sensitive habitat.
Here's your Trail Map!
Arana Gulch provides important habitat that includes: wetlands, central coast riparian scrub, central coast live oak riparian forest, and coastal terrace prairie. The reserve is about one-third wetlands—mostly confined to the Arana Creek floodplain, which forms its eastern boundary. More seasonal freshwater wetlands are sprinkled throughout the upper grasslands.
Arana Gulch is the last place left within the county for finding the endangered Santa Cruz tar plant. While local in abundance here in former times, the tar plant's populations declined along with the loss of grazing. Cooperative efforts on the part of the City of Santa Cruz, the California Department of Fish and Game, the California Native Plant Society, and a host of volunteers have made recovery of the tar plant possible in recent years.
Dogs must be leashed and are allowed on all trails except the Marsh Vista Trail. Arana Gulch has sensitive habitat areas that are easily disrupted by dogs. Be a good neighbor: pick up after your pet.
Smoking or fires, camping, alcohol, wood gathering, collection of plants or animals, archery/hunting.
ENTRANCES:
-
Frederick Street @ Broadway
-
Agnes Street @ Mentel Avenue
-
7 th Avenue @ Brommer Street.
No on-site parking
-
Agnes Street - On-street parking on Agnes Street
-
Upper Harbor - Trail entrance to Arana Gulch located along the western boundary of the harbor storage yard
The City of Santa Cruz acquired the Moore Creek Preserve, formerly known as the Bombay Property, in 1998. High-quality habitats include wildflower fields, coastal prairie, rolls of rare coast live oaks, and riparian forests. Several threatened and endangered wildlife and plant species inhabit the preserve, including the red-legged frog, Ohlone tiger beetle, and San Francisco popcorn flower. Financing for the purchase of the Preserve was provided by the 1998 Bond Measure, the City, and State grants. The Moore Creek Preserve is managed cooperatively by the Central City of Santa Cruz and the Land Trust of Santa Cruz County, the latter of which also manages a conservation easement for the State of California.
This 246-acre City greenbelt land offers hiking trails through open meadows with scenic views of Monterey Bay. Because of the sensitive resources within the Preserve, public use is limited to hiking only. Bicycles and dogs are prohibited at all times. Cattle are grazed on the Preserve to benefit native plant and animal species and to reduce fire hazards.
HOURS OF OPERATION:
Summer (April through October) Sunrise to 7 p.m.
Winter (November through March) Sunrise to 4 p.m.
Moore Creek Brochure and Trail Map
TRAILS: Trails within the Preserve are relatively limited (approximately 2½ miles round trip). Trails are open to hiking only. Dogs and bicycles are prohibited. Trails are not accessible for wheelchair use.
Moore Creek Preserve has two walk-in entrances. There is no on-site parking. One entrance is located on the north side of Highway 1, across from Shaffer Road. The other entrance is located at the end of Meder Street. There is no parking on Meder Street to the west of Western Drive.
For a copy of a trail map, contact the Parks and Recreation Department at 831-420-5270.
Dogs are prohibited at all times.
Smoking, fires, camping, alcohol, littering, wood gathering, collection of plants and animals, archery/hunting.
No on-site parking.
-
Highway 1 at Shaffer Road
Limited on-street parking on south side of Highway 1
Access to approximately 2 ½ miles of trails (round-trip) -
Meder Street
No parking to the west of Western Drive
Existing trail access very limited (one ¼ mile trail)
Neighborhood Parks
Beach Flats Park, Bethany Curve, Branciforte Dog Park, Central Park, El Portal Park, Frederick Street Park, Garfield Park, Grant Park, John D. Franks Park, La Barranca Park, Laurel Park, Lighthouse Avenue Park, Mimi de Marta Park, Mission Plaza, Moore Creek Overlook, Neary Lagoon Park, Ocean View Park, Pacheco Dog Park, Poets Park and Beach Flats Community Garden, Rincon Park, Riverside Gardens Park, Round Tree Park, Scope Park, Sgt. Derby Skateboard Park, Star of the Sea Park, Town Clock, Trescony Park, Tyrrell Park, University Terrace Park, Westlake Park, Westside Pump Track.
Community Parks
DeLaveaga Park-Lower DeLaveaga Park, George Washington Grove, Audrey Stanley Grove, DeLaveaga Disc Golf Course, and DeLaveaga Archery Range, Depot Park, Funspot Bike Park, & Scott Kennedy Fields, Harvey West Park, Ken Wormhoudt Skate Park at Mike Fox Park, San Lorenzo Park, West Cliff
Regional Park
DeLaveaga Golf Course. See the list of golf courses for Santa Cruz, Santa Clara, and Monterey County.
Open Spaces
Arana Gulch Open Space, Arroyo Seco Canyon, DeLaveaga Park Wilderness Area, Jessie Street Marsh, Moore Creek Preserve, Neary Lagoon Wildlife Refuge, Pogonip Open Space