Walk – Wilder Ranch State Park Coastal

Date/Time
Date(s) - 10/16/24
10:00 am - 11:30 am

Location
Wilder Ranch State Park

Categories


Wilder Ranch State Park Coastal Walk

As part of our new COVID-19 protocols, walkers must sign up on our NEW myHPREC website in advance and supply their emergency contact information electronically.  This is necessary to avoid close contact on the day of the walk and to make sure the maximum of number of walkers for each session is 30 (including the walk leader). 

Meet at one of two places:

  1. At (car pool location) the Northside Parking Lot located on Highway 9 midway between University Avenue and Santa Cruz Avenue in Los Gatos at 9:20 am. The sign at the lot says “Free Unlimited Parking – Northside Lot.”   Take Highway 17 south toward Los Gatos.  Exit at Highway 9-Los Gatos/Saratoga and continue west on Highway 9 (approx. 1/3/mile) to the parking lot, located on your right just before Santa Cruz Avenue.

Or…

  1. At Wilder Ranch State Park at 10 am. If you drive there directly, take CA-17 south from San Jose to Santa Cruz, then CA-1 north toward Half Moon Bay.  The park entrance is on the coast (left) side of CA-1; 2 miles west of the last stoplight in Santa Cruz at Western Avenue.

Parking is $9 per car for seniors.  Leave your picnic lunch in a cooler in the car, but take water and a snack for the walk.  You may park free on CA-1 (secure your belongings), but it’s a quarter mile walk to the parking lot.  1401 Coast Rd., Santa Cruz, CA.  Open daily 8 am –  7 pm.

The walk begins at Wilder Ranch State Park at 10 am

For 100 years, Wilder Ranch was a dairy ranch, and many of the residential and working buildings have been restored as a museum.  We will take an easy walk on the Old Cove Landing Trail to a scenic overlook above Wilder Beach, a protected wildlife preserve, and bluffs overlooking the Pacific, with spur trails to Fern Grotto and Sand Plant beaches.  There are spectacular views of the ocean and backcountry; we could see harbor seals, shorebirds, raptors, deer, otters, dolphins, and humpbacks if we’re so lucky. The loop continues back to the parking lot, where we will have a picnic on the grounds of the historic 1897 Victorian home, an 1859 Gothic Revival farmhouse, an 1896 water-powered machine shop, rodeo arena, barns, and other historic buildings.

If you want to cancel your reservation/sign up:
Call or send an email message to the event leader and inform the leader of your cancellation. (grpowers@gmail.com or call Gary Powers at 801-619-0544)

 

Bookings

Bookings are closed for this event.