Santa Cruz County

The Summit Fire was a wildfire that started on May 22, 2008, in the Santa Cruz Mountains, near Corralitos, California, United States. The fire was fully contained on May 27, 2008. No injuries or fatalities occurred, with the exception of twelve firefighters who received minor sprains, cuts and strains.

Universal Audio is an American company that designs, imports, and markets audio signal processing hardware and effect pedals, audio interfaces, digital signal processing, virtual instrument, and digital audio workstation software and plug-ins.

The Aptos Open is a defunct tennis tournament that was played on the Grand Prix tennis circuit in 1973 was co-valid as the U.S. Hard Court Championships . The event was held in Aptos, California and was played on outdoor hard courts at the Seascape Racket Club. Jeff Austin won the singles title while Jeff Austin and Fred McNair partnered to win the doubles title.

The Quarry Amphitheater is a 2,800 capacity outdoor events and concert venue located on the campus of University of California Santa Cruz. First used as a major supplier of limestone in the 1800s, the quarry would be repurposed as an amphitheater during the construction of UC Santa Cruz in the early 1960s. Since then, it has gone through a major reconstruction in 2017 and has become home to a number of campus events as well as hosting major musical acts as the largest outdoor venue in Santa Cruz County. Acts who have performed include Chicano Batman, Carla Morrison, and Orion Sun.

Rancho Aguajito (Villagrana) was one of the smallest Mexican land grants, a triangular parcel bordering a creek known as Arana Gulch, measuring 44.32-acre (0.1794 km²) in area. The eastern boundary of the parcel is the creek, which is part of the eastern border of present-day Santa Cruz, California. The grant was given in 1837 by Governor Juan B. Alvarado to Miguel Villagrana.

Allegro Heights es un área no incorporada ubicada en el condado de Santa Cruz en el estado estadounidense de California.​

Branciforte Creek is a 5.8-mile (9.3 km) long watercourse in Santa Cruz County, California, United States. Branciforte Creek rises on the western slopes of the Santa Cruz Mountains and discharges to the San Lorenzo River, which in turn empties into the Pacific Ocean. Within the State of California Branciforte Creek is classified within the Central Coast Basin. As of the year 2002, the State of California has designated Branciforte Creek as impaired with respect to turbidity and pathogens. The Branciforte watershed consists of 6,231 acres (25.22 km²), approximately 70 percent of which is covered with mixed evergreen forest, conifer forest and other undisturbed habitats.

The San Lorenzo River (Spanish: Río de San Lorenzo) is a 29.3-mile-long (47.2 km) river in the U.S. state of California. The name San Lorenzo derives from the Spanish language for "Saint Lawrence" due to its reported sighting on that saint's feast day by Spanish explorers. Its headwaters originate in Castle Rock State Park in the Santa Cruz Mountains and flow south by southeast through the San Lorenzo Valley before passing through Santa Cruz and emptying into Monterey Bay and the Pacific Ocean.

State Route 9 (SR 9) is a rural and mountainous state highway in the U.S. state of California that travels 35 miles (56 km) from SR 1 in Santa Cruz to SR 17 in Los Gatos, passing through the San Lorenzo Valley and the Saratoga Gap in the Santa Cruz Mountains.

Camp McQuaide is a former United States Army camp located near the city of Watsonville in Santa Cruz County, California, USA. After it was closed, it redeveloped into the Monterey Bay Academy and the airfield was reopened as the Monterey Bay Academy Airport.

The Rancho San Andrés Castro Adobe is a historically and architecturally significant house located in the Pájaro Valley, California. The two-story Rancho San Andrés Castro Adobe is a historic rancho hacienda that was built between 1848 and 1849.

Free Radio Santa Cruz (FRSC) is an unlicensed radio station in Santa Cruz, California, United States. Founded by activists Skidmarkbob Bob, Phil Free and Dennis Davey. The station has been on the air since Spring, 1995; its broadcast content is a mix of daily news, music, and cultural programs, produced both locally and nationally.

Eccles, California is a ghost town in Santa Cruz County, near Felton, east of Ben Lomond. It was near where Lompico Creek flows into Zayante Creek.

The Cowell Lime Works, in Santa Cruz, California, was a manufacturing complex that quarried limestone, produced lime and other limestone products, and manufactured wood barrels for transporting the finished lime. Part of its area is preserved as the Cowell Lime Works Historic District, which was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2007. In addition to the four lime kilns, cooperage and other features relating to lime manufacture, the Historic District also includes other structures associated with the Cowell Ranch, including barns, a blacksmith shop, ranch house, cook house and workers' cabins. The 32-acre (130,000 m2) Historic District is located within the University of California, Santa Cruz campus, to either side of the main campus entrance.

The Santa Cruz Civic Auditorium is an event and convention venue located in downtown Santa Cruz, California. It is owned by the City of Santa Cruz and is located at 307 Church Street. Opened in 1940, it was built in what was described as, "Mission-style in architecture with a modern touch and an arrangement of open porches on the corners and sides." Its style has also been described as Art Deco. It is the home of the Santa Cruz County Symphony as well as other concerts, expos, conferences, and sporting events. A carillon was installed in 1963.

Santa Cruz Breakwater Lighthouse, is a lighthouse in California, United States, in the Santa Cruz Small Craft Harbor in Santa Cruz, California.

Santa Cruz Skypark was an airport located in Scotts Valley, California, within Santa Cruz County.

The San Lorenzo Valley is in the Santa Cruz Mountains in Santa Cruz County, California and was once a logging industry center of California especially during the rebuilding of San Francisco after the 1906 earthquake. Now it is home to over 35,000 people. Home to millions of Sequoia sempervirens, or redwood trees, the valley includes the census designated places of Ben Lomond, Felton, Brookdale and Boulder Creek, which lie along the winding, two-lane and outer areas of the valley and Highway 9.

Seacliff is an unincorporated community in Santa Cruz County, California, United States that includes Seacliff State Beach. It is identified as one of several small communities with a combined population of 24,402 forming the unincorporated town of Aptos by the local Chamber of Commerce along with:

The Society of Abidance in Truth (SAT) is a spiritual nonprofit organization (501(c)(3)) consecrated to the teachings of Advaita Vedanta, especially as revealed by Ramana Maharshi.

Saint Francis Central Coast Catholic High School is a Catholic school in Watsonville, California. The school was named after Saint Francis of Assisi and Saint Francis de Sales, and is operated by an independent corporation that is a partnership between the Salesian Society and the Diocese of Monterey.

Santa Cruz Metropolitan Transit District (SCMTD), or simply Santa Cruz METRO, provides bus service throughout Santa Cruz County, California. In 2024, the system had a ridership of 4,110,800, or about 15,800 per weekday as of the second quarter of 2025.

The Scotts Valley Unified School District is a public school district located in Santa Cruz County, California, U.S. which operates four schools educating about 2,700 students.

Loma Prieta Joint Union Elementary School District is a public school district based in Santa Clara County, California, United States.

Monsbey College is a private vocational college offering over 15+ programs, including Certified Nursing Assistant, Home Health Aide, Pharmacy Technician, Medical Assistant, and Medical terminology . Its main campus is located in Watsonville, California. The college opened in 2008. As is true with most vocational colleges, the a majority of its students attend part-time. A main attraction to the college is the low cost and efficient training under those with years of experience. The college had its programs approved by: California Dept. of Public Health (CDPH, American Red Cross, Pharmacy Technician Certification Board (PTCB), National Healthcareer Association (NHA)and Work Force Investment Board (California's Eligible Training Provider).

Monterey Coast Preparatory (MCP) Middle & High School was a private, independent middle and high school in Scotts Valley, California, United States. It focused on using a UDL-modified Universal Design for Learning curriculum for gifted & talented students, including those with learning differences such as ADHD, dyslexia, and autism spectrum disorders. Founded in 2010 by parents and teachers from another private school, its enrollment numbered thirty five total in 2018, with classes varying from 5 to 8 students each, in grades 6 through 12. The school utilized laptops, software, and assistive and adaptive technology for LD students.

Laurel is a ghost town in Santa Cruz County, California, United States, in the Santa Cruz Mountains. It is in a valley at an elevation of 900 feet (270 m) above sea level.

The Military Vehicle Technology Foundation was a large collection of military vehicles located in Portola Valley, California. It was founded in 1998 by Jacques Littlefield, and closed in 2018, with its collection being distributed to other museums. Many of its vehicles are now part of the American Heritage Museum run by the Collings Foundation in Stow, Massachusetts.

The maritime coast range ponderosa pine forests, also known as ponderosa sand parklands and ponderosa pine sandhills, are a rare temperate forest community consisting of open stands of a disjunct population of ponderosa pine growing on sandy soils in the Santa Cruz Mountains of north central coastal California. Limited to approximately 200 acres (81 ha), the only two known occurrences of this type are near the towns of Ben Lomond and Bonny Doon in Santa Cruz County.

State Route 236 (SR 236) is a state highway in the U.S. state of California. It is an approximately 18-mile (29 km) C-shaped loop route of State Route 9 in the Santa Cruz Mountains that serves Big Basin Redwoods State Park. SR 236 begins in the community of Boulder Creek and ends at Governor's Camp in Big Basin State Park near the Waterman Gap.

State Route 152 (SR 152) is a state highway that runs from east to west near the middle of the U.S. state of California from State Route 1 in Watsonville to State Route 99 southeast of Merced. Its western portion (which is also known as Pacheco Pass Road and Pacheco Pass Highway) provides access to and from Interstate 5 toward Southern California for motorists in or near Gilroy and San Jose.

Ben Lomond Mountain is an American Viticultural Area (AVA) in Santa Cruz County, California located on the coastal edge of the Santa Cruz Mountains. It was recognized on January 8, 1988 by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms (ATF), Treasury after evaluating the petition submitted by Mr. Michael R. Holland to establish a viticultural area to be known as "Ben Lomond Mountain." It lies within the boundaries of the multi-county Central Coast and the Santa Cruz Mountains viticultural areas. Ben Lomond Mountain viticultural area encompasses approximately 38,400 acres (60 sq mi) where nine separate vineyard operations were established with approximately 69.5 acres (28.1 ha) under vine. In addition, two other vineyards are in the development stages with a proposed planting of 330 acres (134 ha).

Glenwood, California, is an unincorporated area of Santa Cruz County. It is located at coordinates 37°6′29″N 121°59′8″W, and is 891 feet above sea level.

The Godfrey M. Bockius House (better known locally as the Bockius - Orr House) is an Italianate—Victorian style house in a historic district in Watsonville, California. It was built in 1870 by Judge Godfrey M. Bockius, and was inhabited later by descendant Frank F. Orr, former editor of the Register-Pajaronian. Today the historical district contains the house itself, headquarters of the Pajaro Valley Historical Association and on the National Register of Historic Places, along with the Volck Museum and Alzora Snyder Archive.

KOMY (1340 AM) is a radio station broadcasting a news/talk format. Licensed to La Selva Beach (Santa Cruz County), California, United States, the station serves the Monterey Bay Area. KOMY was originally licensed to nearby Watsonville for many years. Damage occurred to KOMY's original transmitter site as a result of the October 17, 1989 Loma Prieta earthquake, and subsequently, new owners moved the facilities to the Santa Cruz area.

KZSC (88.1 FM) is a college radio station broadcasting from the campus of the University of California, Santa Cruz in Santa Cruz, California. It is a student-run, community, non-commercial college radio station that serves as a training ground for UC Santa Cruz students interested in broadcasting, media promotions, music, and journalism, as well as an outlet for many members of the Santa Cruz community.

Paradise Park is a census-designated place (CDP) in Santa Cruz County, California. Paradise Park sits at an elevation of 92 feet (28 m). The 2020 United States census reported Paradise Park's population was 550, which is up from 389 people in the 2010 census.

KAPU-LP (104.7 FM) is a radio station broadcasting a Hawaiian music format. Licensed to serve Watsonville, California, United States, the station is currently owned by Ohana De Watsonville. Starting its broadcast in September 2004, KAPU-LP claims to be the only radio station on the U.S. mainland broadcasting a Hawaiian music format 24 hours a day.

The January 2008 North American storm complex was a powerful Pacific extratropical cyclone that affected a large portion of North America, primarily stretching from western British Columbia to near the Tijuana, Mexico area, starting on January 3, 2008. The system was responsible for flooding rains across many areas in California along with very strong winds locally exceeding hurricane force strength as well as heavy mountain snows across the Cascade and Sierra Nevada mountain chains as well as those in Idaho, Utah and Colorado. The storms were responsible for the death of at least 12 people across three states, and extensive damage to utility services as well, as damage to some other structures. The storm was also responsible for most of the January 2008 tornado outbreak from January 7–8.

KFER (89.9 FM) is a radio station broadcasting a Religious format. Licensed to Santa Cruz, California, United States, it serves the Santa Cruz area. The station is currently owned by Santa Cruz Educational Broadcasting Foundation. It goes under the branding of Aware FM.

El Área Estadística Metropolitana de Santa Cruz-Watsonville, CA MSA como la denomina oficialmente la Oficina de Administración y Presupuesto, es un Área Estadística Metropolitana que solo abarca el condado de Santa Cruz, en el estado estadounidense de California.^[2]​ El área metropolitana tiene una población de 262.382 habitantes^[1]​ según el Censo de 2010, convirtiéndola en la 175.º área metropolitana más poblada de los Estados Unidos.^[3]​

Rancho Cañada del Rincon en el Rio San Lorenzo was a 5,827-acre (23.58 km²) Mexican land grant in present-day Santa Cruz County, California given in 1843 by Governor Manuel Micheltorena, and confirmed in 1846 by Governor Pío Pico, to Pedro Sainsevain. The name means "valley on a corner on the San Lorenzo River". The grant was north of present-day Santa Cruz on the San Lorenzo River.

Rancho Carbonera was a 2,225-acre (9.00 km²) Mexican land grant in present-day Santa Cruz County, California given in 1838 by Governor Juan B. Alvarado to William Buckle (Bocle). The grant was north of present-day Santa Cruz between the San Lorenzo River and Carbonera Creek, (a tributary of Branciforte Creek). The southern section of Henry Cowell Redwoods State Park is within the Rancho.

Rancho Bolsa del Pajaro was a 5,496-acre (22.24 km²) Mexican land grant in present-day Santa Cruz County, California given in 1837 by Governor Juan B. Alvarado to Sebastian Rodríguez. The name means "pocket of the Pajaro". Pocket usually refers to land surrounded by slough—in this case the Watsonville Slough. The grant extended from Monterey Bay to present-day Watsonville with the Pajaro River as its southern boundary.

Rancho San Andrés was an 8,911-acre (36.06 km²) Mexican land grant in present-day Santa Cruz County, California, given in 1833 by Governor José Figueroa to José Joaquín Castro. The grant on Monterey Bay extended from La Selva Beach on the north to Watsonville Slough on the south. Rancho Aptos, belonging to Castro's son Rafael Castro, formed the north boundary of the grant.

Rancho Soquel was a 1,668-acre (6.75 km²) Mexican land grant in present-day Santa Cruz County, California given in 1833 by Governor José Figueroa to María Martina Castro y Amador. In 1844, Martina Castro was granted by Governor José Figueroa a further 32,702-acre (132.34 km²) grant known as the Soquel Augmentation. The Rancho Soquel grant along Monterey Bay includes present-day Soquel and Capitola. Rancho Aptos of her brother Rafael Castro formed the south boundary of the grant. The much-larger Soquel Augmentation grant lay inland from both of these, and comprised mainly mountain watershed land.

Rancho Arroyo del Rodeo was a 1,473-acre (5.96 km²) Mexican land grant in present-day Santa Cruz County, California, USA, given in 1834 by Governor José Figueroa to Francisco Rodríguez. The grant extended from the Pacific Ocean between Rodeo Creek Gulch on the west and Soquel Creek on the east, encompassing portions of several present-day communities: eastern Live Oak, western Soquel and western Capitola.

The Redwood Grove of Henry Cowell Redwoods State Park, which is located in Santa Cruz County in Northern California, is a grove of Coast Redwoods with trees extending into the 1400- to 1800-year-old range. This grove allows for the use of self-guided tours of the flat, 0.8-mile (1.3 km) loop trail which is easily accessible (within 150 feet (46 m) of a vehicle parking lot). Dozens of large, Redwood trees are located within a few feet of the walking trail.

Rancho Agua Puerca y las Trancas was a 4,421-acre (17.89 km²) Mexican land grant in present-day Santa Cruz County, California given in 1843 by Governor Manuel Micheltorena to Ramón Rodríguez and Francisco Alviso. "Agua Puerca" is a combination of "water" and "pork, or pig", and probably refers to the stagnant water in the lagoon formed at the outlet of the stream at Davenport Landing, the original southern boundary. "Las Trancas" means "the bars" (obstacles or difficulties) and may refer to the sand bars which naturally form at many California coastal creek outlets, forming stagnant lagoons just behind the beach.

Rancho San Agustin was a 4,437-acre (17.96 km²) Mexican land grant in present-day Santa Cruz County, California given in 1833 by Governor José Figueroa to José Antonio Bolcoff. The grant was bounded by the San Lorenzo River on the west and Rancho Carbonera on the south, and encompassed present-day Scotts Valley.

Rancho Tres Ojos de Agua was a 176-acre (0.71 km²) Mexican land grant in present day Santa Cruz County, California given in 1844 by Governor Manuel Micheltorena to Nicolás Dodero. The name translates literally as "three eyes of water" (springs). The grant was located on both sides of present-day High Street around its intersection with Spring Street, in Santa Cruz.

Rancho Aptos was a 6,686-acre (27.06 km²) Mexican land grant in present day Santa Cruz County, California given in 1833 by Governor José Figueroa to Rafael Castro. The grant on the Monterey Bay was immediately downcoast of his sister, Martina Castro's Rancho Soquel, and upcoast of his father, José Joaquín Castro's Rancho San Andrés. Rancho Aptos stretched from the area just to the west of Aptos Creek to parts of Nisene Marks and Day Valley in the north, and Rio del Mar to the east, including present day Aptos.

Rancho Zayante was a 2,658-acre (10.76 km²) Mexican land grant in present-day Santa Cruz County, California. The grant, measuring one league by one-half league (2,658 acres), straddled Zayante Creek and the San Lorenzo River. It included most of the present-day communities of Felton, Mount Hermon and Olympia, along with parts of Ben Lomond, Quail Hollow and Brackney, but not Zayante.

Rancho Los Corralitos was a 15,440-acre (62.5 km²) Mexican land grant in present-day Santa Cruz County, California given in 1823 by Governor Luis Antonio Argüello, with a confirmatory grant in 1844 by Governor Manuel Micheltorena to José Amesti. "Los Corralitos" means "the little corrals" in Spanish. The grant extended along Corralitos Creek north of Watsonville, and encompassed present-day Corralitos and Amesti.

Rancho Refugio was a 12,147-acre (49.16 km²) Mexican land grant in present-day Santa Cruz County, California given in 1839 by Governor Juan B. Alvarado to María Candida, Jacinta, and María de los Angeles Castro. The grant extended along the Pacific coast from the western city limit of Santa Cruz to Laguna Creek, a border shared with Rancho Arroyo de la Laguna (not far from Davenport).

Rancho Arroyo de la Laguna was a 4,418-acre (17.88 km²) Mexican land grant in present-day Santa Cruz County, California given in 1840 by Governor Juan B. Alvarado to Gil Sanchez. The grant extended along the Pacific coast south-east from Rancho San Vicente and San Vicente Creek (which runs through present day Davenport) to Laguna Creek and Rancho Refugio.

Rancho Salsipuedes was a 31,201-acre (126.27 km²) Mexican land grant in present day Santa Cruz County, California. Two leagues (8,856 acres or 3,584 ha) were granted in 1834 by Governor José Figueroa to Francisco de Haro. Eight leagues were granted in 1840 by Governor Juan Alvarado to Manuel Casarin. The name means "go out if you can" in Spanish. Salsipuedes encompasses the mountainous area west of Gilroy, straddling the Santa Clara County - Santa Cruz County line (only about 5,400 acres or 21.9 km² are in Santa Clara County).

Rancho San Vicente was a 10,803-acre (43.72 km²) Mexican land grant in present day Santa Cruz County, California given in 1846 by Governor Pío Pico to Blas A. Escamilla. The grant extended along the Pacific coast from Molino Creek and Rancho Agua Puerca y las Trancas south past Davenport Landing to San Vicente Creek and Rancho Arroyo de la Laguna. The grant stretched from the coast back into the Santa Cruz Mountains between the two neighboring ranchos. The former Rancho San Vicente lands contain most of today's community of Davenport.

Zayante (Ohlone: Sayante) is a census-designated place (CDP) in Santa Cruz County, California. It is a residential area located on Zayante Creek. Zayante sits at an elevation of 699 feet (213 m). The 2020 United States census reported Zayante's population was 729.

Redman Hirahara Farmstead is a complex including a historic house designed by William Weeks (1897) and a vernacular barn in the Pajaro Valley, south of Watsonville, California. A Japanese American owned farm which was maintained by local citizens and watched over by family friend, attorney John McCarthy, during the internment of Japanese Americans in World War II and was returned to the Hirahara family after the war, it is on the National Register of Historic Places.The barn included a living unit prior to the war and was expanded postwar to house other returning Japanese families.

The New Teacher Center (NTC) is a national non-profit organization in the U.S. dedicated to strengthening the practice of beginning teachers. The NTC conducts research, develops and administers induction and mentoring programs for new teachers and school administrators, and consults with organizations, educational leaders, and policymakers throughout the United States on issues related to new educator support.

The Swanton Pacific Railroad Society operated an historic one-third scale, 19 in (483 mm) gauge, railroad at Swanton Pacific Ranch in Davenport, California, 15 miles (24 km) north of Santa Cruz, California. The one-mile (1.6 km)-long railroad lies along the Ocean Shore Railroad right-of-way that was to run from San Francisco to Santa Cruz. The scenic trip, through a valley in the coastal mountains, crosses Scott Creek on the Ed Carnegie Bridge, passes a Christmas tree farm, and ends at a wye where passengers observe railroad operations that turn the locomotive.

Santa's Village was a Christmas-themed amusement park from 1957 to 1979, located in Scotts Valley, California, United States.

Venetian Court, also known as the Venetian Court Apartments, is a residential seaside resort located in Capitola, California. Construction of Venetian Court, in the Mediterranean Revival, Spanish Colonial Revival, and Mission Revival architecture styles, began in 1924 and continued for several years.

Swanton Pacific Ranch is a 3,200-acre (1,300 ha) ranch in Santa Cruz County, California, outside the town of Davenport. The ranch is owned and operated by California Polytechnic State University (Cal Poly) for educational and research in sustainable agriculture. The ranch encompasses rangeland, livestock, and forestry operations for the College of Agriculture, Food and Environmental Sciences, comprises a significant part of the community of Swanton, and includes the lower Scott Creek watershed.

Steamer Lane is a famous surfing location in Santa Cruz, California. It is just off a point on the side of cliffs in the West Cliff residential area near downtown Santa Cruz, providing easy access and a good vantage point for viewing. The Santa Cruz Surfing Museum is housed in a lighthouse there. "Steamer Lane" is the preferred form of the name used by the people surfing there. Steamer Lane was named by Claude Horan while he was a student at San Jose State in the late 1930s. One flat calm day he and his friend Wes Hammond thought it would be a good idea to hire steamships to cruise back and forth to generate waves for surfing. It was at Steamer Lane that the modern surfing wetsuit and the leash were mainly developed by Jack O'Neill, who had his surf shop nearby for many years.

The Episcopal Church of St. John the Baptist was a historic chapel in Capitola, California from 1889 to 2009.

The Grateful Dead Archive is an archive of materials related to music from The Grateful Dead. The archive was officially donated in April 2008, by band members Bob Weir and Mickey Hart.

On October 17, 1989, at 5:04 p.m. local time, the Loma Prieta earthquake occurred at the Central Coast of California. The shock was centered in The Forest of Nisene Marks State Park in Santa Cruz County, approximately 10 mi (16 km) northeast of Santa Cruz on a section of the San Andreas Fault System and was named for the nearby Loma Prieta Peak in the Santa Cruz Mountains. With an M_w magnitude of 6.9 and a maximum Modified Mercalli intensity of IX (Violent), the shock was responsible for 63 deaths and 3,757 injuries. The Loma Prieta segment of the San Andreas Fault System had been relatively inactive since the 1906 San Francisco earthquake (to the degree that it was designated a seismic gap) until two moderate foreshocks occurred in June 1988 and again in August 1989.

Pajaro Dunes is a census-designated place (CDP) in Santa Cruz County, California. Pajaro Dunes is situated at an elevation of 13 feet (4.0 m) above sea level. The 2020 United States census reported Pajaro Dunes' population was 122.

SS Palo Alto was a concrete ship built as a tanker at the end of World War I. Completed too late to see war service, she was mothballed until 1929, when she was intentionally grounded off Seacliff State Beach in the Monterey Bay, becoming part of a pleasure pier entertainment complex. Palo Alto was damaged by the sea, leading her to be stripped and used only as a fishing pier. Subsequent decades have seen her be further broken by the sea, but large sections of her wreck remain somewhat intact.

Santa Cruz Mountains AVA is an American Viticultural Area (AVA) centered on the Santa Cruz Mountains. Its territory spans three California counties, Santa Clara, Santa Cruz and San Mateo and was established January 4, 1982 by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms (ATF), Treasury. Santa Cruz Mountains AVA was among the first AVA to be defined by its mountainous topography. Based on elevation, it largely follows the fog line along the coast, extending down to 800 feet (240 m) on the eastern slope toward San Francisco Bay, 400 feet (120 m) on the western slope to the Pacific Ocean and extending along the ridge crest line at 3,000 feet (910 m) elevation plus.

The Headquarters Administration Building of Big Basin Redwoods State Park, Santa Cruz County, California, was a historic structure built in 1936 by crews of the Civilian Conservation Corps. It was built out of local materials (redwood logs and stone), and was one of the best-preserved examples of the CCC's work in the California state park system. The building continued to perform its original function, housing the park's administrative offices and serving as a contact point for park visitors, until it was destroyed by the wildfires sparked by the lightning storm of August 16, 2020. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2017, and was delisted in 2023.

The Mystery Spot is a tourist attraction near Santa Cruz, California, opened in 1939 by George Prather. Visitors experience demonstrations that appear to defy gravity, on the short but steep uphill walk and inside a wooden building on the site. It is a popular tourist attraction, and gained recognition as a roadside "gravity box" or "tilted house". The site is what is known as a gravity hill and was the first of its kind to be built in California.

Brookdale is a census-designated place (CDP) in Santa Cruz County, California. Brookdale sits at an elevation of 405 feet (123 m). It is located in the San Lorenzo Valley between Boulder Creek and Ben Lomond on Highway 9. The 2010 United States census reported Brookdale's population was 1,991.

Area code 831 is a telephone area code in the North American Numbering Plan for a small region of the U.S. state of California. The numbering plan area (NPA) comprises Monterey County, San Benito County, and Santa Cruz County. The area code was created in 1998 in an area code split of area code 408.

Bonny Doon is a census-designated place in Santa Cruz County, California. It is situated northwest of the city of Santa Cruz, considered part of the southern San Francisco Bay Area or northern Monterey Bay Area. Bonny Doon's population was 2,868, as reported by the 2020 census.

The Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk is an oceanfront amusement park in Santa Cruz, California. Founded in 1907, it is California's oldest surviving amusement park and one of the few seaside parks on the West Coast of the United States.

The Bonny Doon Ecological Reserve is a nature preserve of 552 acres (2.23 km²) in the Santa Cruz Mountains of California, United States. The reserve protects several rare and endangered plant and animal species within an area known as the Santa Cruz Sandhills, an ancient seabed containing fossilized marine animals.

Branciforte, formally Villa de Branciforte or Pueblo de Branciforte, was the third and last of only three secular pueblos founded by the Spanish colonial government of Alta California (the others were the El Pueblo de Los Ángeles and El Pueblo de San José de Guadalupe). The pueblo was established in 1797 on the eastern bluff of the San Lorenzo River, facing Mission Santa Cruz on the west side of the river, in modern-day Santa Cruz, California. The pueblo never prospered, and the area was annexed into the city of Santa Cruz, California in 1905.

Bethany University was a four-year private coeducational Christian university located in Scotts Valley, California, in Santa Cruz County. It operated from 1919 until closing in 2011 and was endorsed by the Assemblies of God USA, a Pentecostal denomination, and was the denomination's oldest college at the time of its closure. It was formerly called Glad Tidings Bible Institute, Bethany Bible College and Bethany College.

The Branciforte Adobe, also known as the Craig-Lorenzana Adobe, is the only remaining dwelling from the Villa de Branciforte, the settlement that was established in 1797 at the time of the Mission Santa Cruz.

Arana Gulch is a creek and landform that forms part of the southeastern boundary of the city of Santa Cruz, California. The creek begins in the Santa Cruz Mountains and flows southwest into Monterey Bay via what was once called Woods Lagoon, now the Santa Cruz Small Craft Harbor.

Casa del Rey Hotel (House of the King) was a resort hotel in Santa Cruz, California. During World War II the hotel was converted to a Naval Convalescent Hospital, Santa Cruz. The hotel was built in 1911 by Fred Swanton on Beach Street as part of a Santa Cruz Boardwalk development plan. The resort hotel had a pool, gardens, and a grand pedestrian bridge that crossed the street for access to the beach. The hotel was located at approximately 500 Beach Street and Cliff Street. In addition to the hotel, cottage apartments were also built. After the war, the hotel became a senior citizen housing facility. The 1989 Loma Prieta earthquake caused serious damage to the hotel, and it was subsequently demolished. The site is now a parking lot across the street from the Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk amusement park.

The Glen Canyon Covered Bridge, near Santa Cruz, California, was a covered bridge built in 1892. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1984. It has since been demolished.

The CZU Lightning Complex fires were wildfires that burned in Northern California starting in August 2020. The fire complex consisted of fires in San Mateo and Santa Cruz counties, including fires that had previously been separately tracked as the Warnella and Waddell fires. The firefighting effort was primarily administered by the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection (Cal Fire).

A "Black Lives Matter" street mural was painted in Santa Cruz, California, United States.

The Felton Public Library serves the residents of San Lorenzo Valley in Santa Cruz County, California in the United States. Its 8,900-square-foot (830 m²) building is located next to the post office, at 6121 Gushee St. The 2-acre (8,100 m²) Felton Discovery Park extends out from its doors.

Oakwood Memorial Park, also known as the I.O.O.F. Cemetery, is a cemetery located at 3301 Paul Sweet Road in Santa Cruz, California, and was established in 1908. On site is the Oakwood Chapel. The Santa Cruz Memorial Park Cemetery, founded in 1862, and located at 1927 Ocean Street is connected now by the same management.

The Rispin Mansion is a historic mansion, on the National Register of Historic Places, located in Capitola, California. The building was constructed in 1921 by San Franciscan Henry Allen Rispin. It was built with four stories, 22 rooms, and over 7,100 square feet (660 m²) at a time when today's City of Capitola was still the unincorporated "Camp Capitola". Described as being "cursed," Rispin Mansion was first used as a real-estate showroom, and then, at various times, as a residence, a nunnery, a SWAT practice ground, and a ghost hunting site.

The Hiram D. Scott House, at 4603 Scotts Valley Dr. in Scotts Valley, California, was built in 1853. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1977.

Valencia Hall, in Santa Cruz County, California near Aptos, California, was built around 1884 by F.A. Hihn. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1984.

Bigfoot Discovery Museum is a museum in Felton, California devoted to Bigfoot (also known as Sasquatch). The founder, Michael Rugg, graduated from Stanford University in 1968, worked in Silicon Valley until the dot-com bust, then opened the museum in 2004 or 2005. Paula Yarr is listed as a co-founder. The museum features tchotchkes from the 1970s Bigfoot boom, and the 1980s resurrection with Harry and the Hendersons memorabilia.

Camp Capitola also called the Superintendent Office, is a historical building in Capitola, California in Santa Cruz County. Camp Capitola building is a California Historical Landmark No. 860 listed on April 26, 1973. The Camp Capitola building is City of Capitola's oldest commercial building. From 1883 to 1919 the Camp Capitola building was the headquarters of F. A. Hihn's operations, called Camp Capitola. F. A. Hihn owned and ran the first seaside resort in the state of California, Camp Capitola.

Olympia is an unincorporated community in Santa Cruz County, California, located north of Felton on Zayante Creek (a tributary of the San Lorenzo River). Olympia was established after the South Pacific Coast narrow-gauge railroad completed a line over the Santa Cruz Mountains from Los Gatos in 1880. Olympia remained a scheduled stop after the Southern Pacific railroad took over the line in the later 1880s, using it until the line shut down in 1940. A siding served a nearby sand and gravel quarry. In 1915, a post office was closed at Eccles and moved 1/2 mile to Olympia. The name survives in Olympia Station Road, a short dead-end road off Zayante Road (which parallels the creek) that crosses the tracks.

The University of California Observatories (UCO) is a multi-campus astronomical research unit of the University of California, with headquarters on the UC Santa Cruz campus. UCO operates the Lick Observatory on Mount Hamilton, and the technical labs at UC Santa Cruz and UCLA. UCO is also a managing partner of the W. M. Keck Observatory in Hawaii, and the center for the UC participation in the Thirty-Meter Telescope (TMT) project.

The International Society of Indoor Air Quality and Climate (ISIAQ) is a non-profit scientific organization seeking to advance and support the creation of healthy and comfortable indoor building environments. In 1992, the institution of ISIAQ was decided by a group of 109 international scientists and other multidisciplinary practitioners following the 5th International Conference on Indoor Air Quality and Climate (also known as Indoor Air '90) in Toronto, 1990.

KDJT-CD (channel 33) is a low-power, Class A television station licensed to both Salinas and Monterey, California, United States, serving the Monterey Bay area as an affiliate of the Spanish-language UniMás network. It is owned by Entravision Communications alongside Monterey-licensed Univision affiliate KSMS-TV (channel 67). KDJT-CD and KSMS-TV share studios on Garden Court south of Monterey Regional Airport in Monterey; through a channel sharing agreement, the two stations transmit using KDJT-CD's spectrum from an antenna atop Fremont Peak.

O'Neill Sea Odyssey is an American non-profit organization located in Santa Cruz, California (California Non-Profit Corporation ID#77-0464784). It was founded in 1996 by wetsuit innovator Jack O'Neill and provides students with hands-on lessons on marine habitat and the relationship between the oceans and the environment.

O'Neill is an originally Californian surfwear and surfboard brand, now owned by Sisco Textiles, a privately held company headquartered in Luxembourg. It was started in 1952 by Jack O'Neill in San Francisco, and was later based in Santa Cruz. The company logo symbolizes a breaking surf wave. "O'NEILL" and the "Wave logo" are trademarks registered worldwide.

American Society for Theatre Research (ASTR) is a non-profit organization established in 1956.

Deans Creek is a river in the U.S. State of California.

Santa Cruz Memorial Park is a cemetery founded in 1862 and located at 1927 Ocean Street in Santa Cruz, California. It is also known as the Odd Fellows Cemetery, and the IOOF Cemetery. The site contains a historical marker erected by the Independent Order of Odd Fellows.

Verve Coffee Roasters is a coffee roaster based in Santa Cruz, California, founded by Colby Barr and Ryan O'Donovan. Verve opened in November, 2007 in Pleasure Point, California. The company currently operates in several California-based locations, including four in Santa Cruz, four in Los Angeles, one in San Francisco, one in Manhattan Beach, one in Palo Alto, and two in Menlo Park at the campuses of Meta and SLAC. They also have four locations in Japan: one at the Shinjuku, Tokyo train station, one in the Roppongi district of Tokyo, one in Kamakura, and a cafe/roastery in the Kanagawa Prefecture. Verve earned the highest score in the coffee category at the Good Food Awards in 2013 and was also named one of the top coffee roasters in the United States by Thrillist, Complex Magazine, and Food Republic In 2018, they won the Best Espresso at the Coffee Spot Awards, and in 2021 be nominated for the cafe in Japan at the World Latitude Caffe Prize.

The American Museum of Telephony, known as the JKL Museum of Telephony, is a private telephone and telephone memorabilia museum originally located in Mountain Ranch, California. The museum was destroyed in 2015 in the Butte Fire and is now located near Santa Cruz. It is open only for guided tours by appointment.

The Hotel Metropole, built in 1908, was added to the National Register of Historical Places in 1979. It was demolished after being severely damaged in the 1989 Loma Prieta earthquake.

Younger Lagoon Reserve is a 72-acre (28-hectare) University of California Natural Reserve System reserve on the northern shore of Monterey Bay in Santa Cruz County, California. The site is owned by the University of California and managed for teaching and research. It is adjacent to Long Marine Laboratory.

The Society for Advancement of Chicanos and Native Americans in Science (SACNAS) is a nonprofit organization founded in 1973. It is the largest multicultural STEM diversity organization in the United States, with a mission to advance the success of Chicano, Hispanic, and Native American students in obtaining advanced degrees, careers, leadership positions, and equality in the STEM field. It serves a community of over 20,000 members and has 118 student and professional chapters on college campuses across the United States and its territories.