Everyone loves tasting the local cuisine when they visit somewhere new. Vacation, after all, is the perfect excuse to indulge and sample the variety of food and beverages a region
The combination of tranquil redwood forests and soothing California coastline almost commands that you slow down and smell the clean ocean air, but sometimes we all need a little help
By Molly Ressler
One of the best things about yoga is that you can strike a pose almost anywhere. All you need is a flat space to roll out your mat and before you know it, you’re breathing deep through your third round of sun salutations. If you’re looking to stretch out while breathing in the salty ocean breeze or fresh mountain air, Santa Cruz County has plenty of Namaste-worthy open-air ‘studios’ for you to choose from. Find the perfect place to roll out your mat under the redwoods, overlooking the Pacific, or poolside with hotel luxuries at your fingertips. (Added perk, the Santa Cruz County dress code encourages spending the rest of the day in your active wear.)
By Molly Ressler
When you think of backpacking in California, the Santa Cruz Mountains isn’t usually the first place that comes to mind. There’s a healing serenity, however, found beneath the towering coastal redwoods that protectively enfold our sunny stretch of well-loved coastline. A quick day trip from the metropolitan hustle of the Bay Area, the Santa Cruz Mountains are an accessible, much-needed antidote to the frenzy of modern life.
By Molly Ressler
It happens every spring, but the transformation of a green hillside to a bright carpet of orange, purple, or golden blooms never gets old. The fields bordering Highway 1 north of Santa Cruz turn bright yellow with sour grass and mustard. Cheery orange California poppies pop up along the San Lorenzo River and striking spires of lupine create varying brush strokes of amethyst, violet, and fuchsia along the coast and in the mountains.
Whether you’re brand new to the sport or you grew up shredding singletracks, there’s a trail for you in Santa Cruz.
When the ground is well saturated, you don’t have to look hard to spot Santa Cruz’s favorite slimy gastropod, the banana slug.
A bubbly brunette with a background in fashion, Jaclyn Bridges of Queen of Succulents (@queenofsucculents) hated dirt when she received her very first succulent from a friend’s mom. “I wasn’t
By Molly Ressler
Discovering a mural or a mosaic down a hidden alley or behind a hair salon is a thoroughly satisfying experience. It can generate that same rush of excitement you feel when you stumble upon a great new lunch spot or a rope swing in the middle of the forest. It’s these small surprises that keep everyday life interesting and leave you itching for your next adventure.
By Molly Ressler
Eating out in Santa Cruz County is about so much more than fueling up for the next adventure. The nation’s organic food movement took root here in our county’s fertile soil and we banned plastic bags, straws, cutlery and styrofoam take-out containers long before green-living and zero-waste lifestyles came into vogue.
As summer comes to an end, most of us look forward to stunning displays of fall foliage, pumpkin patches, corn mazes, and drinking our fill of pumpkin spice lattes. But there’s another reason to get excited for shorter, crisper days and less persistent fog banks. Fall is migration season along California’s Central Coast, and one of the top places for birds to get some much-needed R&R before they continue their long flight south is right here in Santa Cruz County.
Perched atop one of the highest ridges in the Santa Cruz Mountains, Castle Rock State Park offers expansive views of the San Lorenzo Valley. Miles of forested peaks stretch out below, fading from chartreuse and emerald green to sage, the furthest peaks a hazy blue that meet the fog-shrouded Pacific. Although not as famous as its neighbor, Big Basin State Park, Castle Rock has its own grove of redwoods, a 75-foot waterfall, miles of hiking along open ridges and through shady forests, and a playground of sandstone rock formations attracting both world-class climbers and amateur scramblers.