The complex balance of humans and nature on the San Lorenzo River is prominently seen in the ongoing conversation about how to manage the river lagoon. Protection of enda...
Depending on when you visit the river mouth, the river may or may not be flowing out to the bay. The interplay between sand moved by ocean currents and the river creates...
Today, the Swift Street Courtyard area, in combination with the adjoining businesses off of Ingalls Street, has become a nexus for locals who like fresh local products, c...
The Kitchen Brothers epitomized the popular saying “Keep Santa Cruz Weird” through their strange architectural designs and mystical leanings more than 50 years before the...
Located near the west entrance to UC Santa Cruz, Cave Gulch has many charms. The majestic redwoods are the most obvious one and they set the stage. Their thick tall trunk...
In the late 1800s you could take a street car to Santa Cruz’s West Cliff Drive and then gamble, dance and stay in a hotel—all right there! The station was built in...
Wilder Ranch has just about everything to provide the quintessential California coast experience. It is a large (7,000-acre) park with trails for hikers, bikers, and hors...
In Santa Cruz from the mid-1850s to 1940, the general vision was to be a “Great Seaport.” Use and development of all available resources was the default think...
“Mountain Charley” McKiernan had finally met his match. Face to face with a 1,000 pound grizzly bear, standing almost ten feet tall on her haunches, McKiernan was acutely...
Most of the ice plant you see in California is all the same species: Highway ice plant (Carpobrotus edulis). As the common name indicates, it has been widely planted in C...
