Heritage Tourism

Travel Blog

Santa Cruz Lime Kiln Hikes

Tucked away in the mountains and dotting the landscape of the UC Santa Cruz campus stand the ruins of a once prosperous industry that helped put Santa Cruz on the map.

The London Nelson Story

Mission Street circa 1880 shot roughly from the area where London Nelson had lived and farmed two decades earlier, looking up toward Mission Hill. The handsome white building in the

Big Basin on the Mend

Resilience of Big Basin Redwoods State Park:  Even 2020 can’t defeat a forest that has survived ice ages, wildfires and logging sprees People the world over are looking to 2021

8 Things You Probably Didn’t Know About Santa Cruz History

Burly lumberjacks, Hawaiian princes, and a protester who wore a dress made from hot dogs are just some of the fascinating characters that fill Santa Cruz’s rich history. Below, we’ve listed a few of our favorite historical stories as well as the spots to experience them firsthand. Yep, we love getting lost in Wikipedia too, but local history is best explored in person thanks to the following museums and cultural institutions.