If you don’t have time to tour the entire state of California, we found a place that almost feels like a microcosm of the state. You have your beaches, your surfers, your redwood forests, and just an hour away, one of the largest and most cosmopolitan cities in the state.
Abandon? Try Santa Cruz. Built along one of the most scenic coastlines in the Golden State, this city offers you many of the state’s most famous attractions in an easy-to-drive area.
We were in awe, for example, when we rounded off a morning of sightseeing on the beach with a short seven-mile drive to the sleepy town of Felton. Almost instantly we were taken from a bustling seaside town into a forest so dense you could barely see through the trees. No wonder the famous “Bigfoot” was seen in the Redwoods, not far from here, and today there is a Bigfoot Museum that attracts the curious as well as the amused.
Fifteen minutes later we were back in Santa Cruz, taking in the panoramic views of the coastline and watching visitors and locals bask in the winter sun while enjoying lunch at one of the city’s many outdoor cafes. Chances are your menu options included a lot of fresh produce: apples, berries, spinach, squash, tomatoes, etc. ‘since these and other fruits and vegetables are grown near Santa Cruz. In fact, it seems that in Santa Cruz a lot of attention is paid to diet and exercise. It’s hard not to be healthy in a place where you can easily jog along dramatic ocean cliffs or hike the trails of half a dozen state parks.
If we were so inclined, and we weren’t on this particular trip, it would be a reasonable day trip from Santa Cruz to the San Francisco Bay Area. And that’s why you’ll want to set aside plenty of time for your visit—there’s something new in every direction you look.
If you get the chance, we suggest a mid-week visit to Santa Cruz. That’s what we did and while it’s not exactly a ghost town during the work week, there seems to be plenty of open space to explore with little to no concern for traffic. Santa Cruz motels and inns had vast empty parking lots during this January visit, and we’re told that all that changes on the weekends.
Our base of operations was the Hilton Scotts Valley, a good option for travelers who want to stay a little away from the bustle of the beach. Scotts Valley is only a 10 minute drive from Santa Cruz, so it’s not remote at all. However, this particular hotel offers almost double deluxe rooms with all the Hilton amenities and, might we add, some of the most courteous and helpful hotel staff we have ever met.
Driving towards Santa Cruz, you first make your way through the center of town, where it soon becomes apparent that this is a beach town in every sense of the term. Like many other coastal cities, Santa Cruz attracts down-to-earth hipsters who, for example, don’t hesitate to wear hair colors that look like they’ve been picked out of a box of crayons. Think of your worst fashion nightmare for your teenage kids, and that’s what you sometimes see on the streets of Santa Cruz, which of course is part of the charm. You don’t travel just to see places exactly like home.
On West Cliff Drive, where the views from these coastal bluffs are picture-perfect, you run into the crowds of surfers. On any given day, dozens of free-spirited surfers are paddling out to ride some of the most challenging waves in Northern California. Long, narrow concrete stairs give surfers easy access to the water not far from where the waves break. On the bright, sunny day we visited, perhaps half the pedestrians along West Cliff Drive were carrying surfboards.
In fact, this part of Santa Cruz is Surf Central. There’s even a small but informative Surf Museum where we enjoyed looking at exhibits detailing the evolution of the sport decade by decade. Housed in an old lighthouse, the Surf Museum includes many memorabilia and examples of different types of surfboards, some so big and heavy that one wonders how the original surfers ever managed to get these things to and from the beach.
About a five minute drive and we were back in downtown Santa Cruz. Just a few more blocks to the beach and we had arrived at the famous Santa Cruz beach boardwalk. The roller coaster, thrill rides and boardwalk buildings are an indelible part of the Santa Cruz skyline and visitors enjoy the nostalgia of visiting the West Coast’s only seaside boardwalk. The 75-year-old coaster is said to be as exciting as any of the newer ones, and that’s been augmented by a host of other, more modern rides. Of course there are the bumper cars, the merry-go-round, the huge arcade and, singularly, a wide and beautiful beach where you can sunbathe and, in summer, enjoy a dip in the sea.
The Malecón area is just one of the many beaches and coastal viewpoints in the Santa Cruz area. Just south of Santa Cruz, there are some scenic state beaches near Capitola and at La Selva Beach. You can spare a few hours and take a scenic drive north on the Coastal Highway, where you’ll find many more beaches, including Waddell State Beach. An exciting non-beach excursion takes you north of Santa Cruz on Highway 9 to the Roaring Camps Railroad, where you can ride a historic steam train to Redwoods.
Our own drive north on Highway 9 was short but productive. Not only did we see Henry Cowell State Park with its towering redwoods, streams, and recreational trails, but we also had a chance to stop by the inconspicuous little wooden building that now houses the Bigfoot Museum. Most days, owner Mike Rugg is guarding the shop by himself, and he’ll no doubt be more than willing to share his many Bigfoot stories with you, just as he did with us.
Understand that Mike has never seen a Bigfoot, at least not that he can say with any degree of certainty. But he became convinced of the creature’s authenticity when he did a university paper on the subject. Although the professor gave him only a “C” on the report and dismissed his research as having as much “or little” validity as a UFO sighting, Rugg was not intimidated.
Bigfoot is supposed to be an eight-foot-tall creature that resembles a gorilla and is said to roam remote mountainous regions of the Pacific Northwest, Northern California, and elsewhere. While little scientific evidence supports the claim, there are hundreds of reported sightings and one grainy home movie that Rugg is convinced is real. The Bigfoot Museum features a six foot tall enlargement of a frame from that film and Rugg has numerous footprint casts and other items on display to help convince you that he’s right. Since the museum opened its doors in July, visitors have added many more sightings to its wall-sized map of pins that shows exactly where Bigfoot has been seen.
Whether it’s furry creatures in the mountains or colorful creatures downtown, Santa Cruz offers an amazing collection of curiosities and attractions that make it a unique destination – a truly tasty slice of California.
TAKE A LOOK
WHERE: Santa Cruz is on the California coast between San Francisco and Monterey.
WHAT: A particularly scenic area offering many miles of scenic beaches, coastal paths, state parks, and various access points to Redwood forests and parks. The town itself offers the only beachfront boardwalk on the west coast.
WHEN: All year, since temperatures are usually moderate. In winter, the Santa Cruz beach boardwalk is open only on weekends. From Memorial Day to Labor Day, it’s open all week.
WHY: Santa Cruz offers many different getaway experiences and visitor attractions in an area that is easy to navigate.
HOW: For more information on Santa Cruz, contact the Santa Cruz County Conference and Visitors Council at (800) 833-3494 or visit [http://www.santacruz.org]. For more information about Hilton Santa Cruz/Scotts Valley, call (831)-440-1000 or visit http://www.santacruzscottsvalley.hilton.com.
