State Parks

I have a day to spend around San Jose, and noticed there are some state parks. Which would be the best park for some hiking, and photography. Also, how long a drive is it from downtown to the coast, and are there any light houses in the area.

Thanks

State Parks

Downtown to Santa Cruz beach is about an hour. There just so happens to be a lighthouse a few miles north. There is a small town that your will drive through. There are a bunch of trails that start literally a mile from the freeway exit. To keep from driving all over you could make a nice day trip of it easily. The highway that you will be taking is 17. You can park on the bridge that you will drive under and ask some of the joggers or bikers to point you in the right direction. It is not a state park but nice none the less. Search for the Los Gatos Garden Inn to get an idea of where to park, and a map from 17. There is also a Ferrari dealership right next door if you like that kind of photography.

State Parks

I guess it wasn%26#39;t obvious but the town is called Los Gatos, and makes a nice stop. You will also find many turn of the century Victorians as well to photograph.

Well, there%26#39;s a whole complex of parks along Hwy 35 (Skyline Boulevard), about 2500 feet above San Jose. This includes Castle Rock State Park, and several county parks and regional open space preserves (OSP). This map has links to several park maps, and the maps have links to qtvr 360 degree views of lots of sties in the parks.

virtualparks.org/regions/sc-mtns-mid-qtvr-ma鈥?/a>

Russian Ridge OSP has open panoramic views of Silicon Valley and the southern SF Bay to the east and the ocean to the west. A short hike brings you to Borel Hill, the highest point in the park, but you can get much the same view from the middle parking area along Hwy 35 on the map:

virtualparks.org/parks/russian-qtvr-map.html

From Russian Ridge, you could take Alpine Road to the Heritage Grove redwoods in Sam McDonald County Park, but it is a very narrow road, with only one lane for both directions in places, and steep dropoffs with no guardrail. But the grove is right on the road, although not very big, about a five minute walk.

virtualparks.org/parks/mcdonald-text-list.ht鈥?/a>

This has the advantage that you can continue to the coast on Pescadero Road, seeing more old growth at Memorial County Park, not as impressive as Heritage Grove, though, then to Pescadero and Duarte%26#39;s restaurant where you should have the artichoke soup and the ollalieberry pie.

Before you reach Heritage Grove, the road to Portola State Park branches off at the bend in Alpine Road, but there are mostly second growth redwoods there, the old growth is a long 15 mile round trip hike skirting around private property to reach the Peters Creek Grove.

Big Basin has the largest and tallest redwoods south of San Francisco, at the park Headquarters on Hwy 236.

virtualparks.org/parks/bbrsp2-qtvr-map.html

This is the most extensive old growth redwood forest south of San Francisco, you could hike to a view of the ocean at Mount McAbee, but this is an all day affair, if you want to return to San Jose.

There is a lighthouse at Pigeon Point south of Pescadero along Hwy One.

How long it takes to get to the coast would depend on where you stop and what route you take, but a couple of hours with minimal stopping would do it. With a short hike of a mile or two, allow four or five hours. If you hike to Mount McAbee, you%26#39;ll never make it in one day.

Wow.

What confusing info.

If you have a day, come over to Santa Cruz on Hwy 17.

Henry Cowell Redwoods State Park is about 7 miles north of town on Hwy 9.

Nicene Marks State Park is the hiking place. It is above Aptos, just 5 miles or so (?) south of Santa Cruz. Trails go all the way up to the summit.

Natural Bridges State Park is right in Santa Cruz, at the north end of West Cliff Drive. The Monarch Butterflies have arrived to over-winter and they are a sight to be seen. The tide pools here, at low tide, are wonderful.

Wilder Ranch State Park is just a few miles north of Santa Cruz on Hwy 1...old timey farm buildings and house, etc.

For more photography get yourself up to the University of California at Santa Cruz for drop-dead views of Monterey Bay. Then wander around the paths between the colleges and lecture halls where you will cross ravines and be in more redwoods. Don%26#39;t miss the opportunity to photograph the ranch buildings, limestone kilns, and limestone quarries, which have been preserved from the old Henry Cowell Ranch, 2000 acres of which the University bought in the %26#39;60s to build this campus. One of the quarries regularly holds ceremonies, with its added seating on the south face.

There are some state beaches, as well.

It will take you less than an hour to get here, depending upon where you start in San Jose.

If you want more info, please let me know.

The lighthouse, sort of mentioned in one of the posts, is quite north of Santa Cruz, on highway 1 on the way to San Francisco. Actually, is is now closed for renovation, although I believe there are docent tours of the grounds.

Do come and try some of this out. You can%26#39;t do it in a day, of course, but it is a great place to be.

Directions to the lighthouse are near the bottom of this link.

rudyalicelighthouse.net/CalLts/鈥ntaCruz.htm

It is not far from where 17 hits the ocean.

I second the recommendations of Puter. Having lived in Santa Cruz for a short time, I can attest to the beautiful areas he mentioned.

Good photo ops are also available at the Boardwalk area in Santa Cruz along with the ever present California surfers!

Dr. Z

2Shorties link sends you to the ';lighthouse';, but it is not a working one, nor to scale. The latest working lighthouse was razed in 1948. The present structure is a memorial to a local surfer who lost his life surfing and was put up by his parents. It houses a surfing museum.

This is at Steamer%26#39;s Lane, a short way north of the Municipal Wharf on West Cliff Drive.

Highway 17 does not come into the ocean, but ends at the intersection of Hwy 1 and Ocean Street..

There is another lighthouse named the Walton Lighthouse, I believe. This is at the yacht harbor and was installed in 2001, so it is a modern structure.

I would not recommend Hwy 17 to someone wanting to see parks around San Jose, there are no parks on that highway, it is not a very scenic route, and can be a stressful drive, as it%26#39;s semi-freeway, but not really built to freeway specs. It%26#39;s the quickest route to Santa Cruz, but from there you would have to backtrack to get to Pigeon Point Lighthouse or Henry Cowell Redwoods.

I would recommend getting up to Hwy 35 and taking a drive along Skyline. Hwy 35 runs along the crest of the Santa Cruz Mountains, and as I indicated, has lots of parks with great views.

From San Jose, I would take Hwy 9 through Saratoga and up to Saratoga Gap (intersection with Hwy 35, and the site of Castle Rock State Park). From there you can go north on 35 to Russian Ridge, with views of the bay and ocean, and on to Hwy 84, which is a full size highway (unlike Alpine Road), and a far more scenic drive than Hwy 17.

Or continue on Hwy 9 to Santa Cruz, seeing Henry Cowell on the way without having to backtrack.

I would not go all the way to Nisene Marks when there are so many parks much closer to San Jose along Skyline Blvd, where you can just park your car and be at a gorgeous viewpoint without having to hike at all.

Pigeon Point Lighthouse is about 10 miles south of the intersection of Hwys 84 and One, or about 30 miles north of Santa Cruz.

www.parks.ca.gov/default.asp?page_id=533

Thanks for all of your help.

I have spent some time today trying to take in all of the good advice. More specifics of my plan are that I will fly into SJC at 12:30 next Saturday, then I have the rest of Sat and Sunday in the area. Before posting, I figured I would get a room in San Jose, but after reading the advice, I will probably get a room in Santa Cruz. It seems like a better idea. Sunset should be around 5:00. Let me tell you my rough plan and let me know what you think.

After landing, get car and drive to Santa Cruz, should arrive around 2:00. Maybe go to to Wilder Ranch and see the sights there, see some of the beaches and try to find a good place to shoot some sunset photos (maybe Natural Arches Park).

Sunday I will be up early (coming from eastern time) so I will probably go up to do a hike, maybe something at Nisene Marks Park. Then go late morning either into Santa Cruz and find a place for brunch and watch some football games, or go up to the college to find a place. Then spend the rest of the daylight hours between the college and Henry Cowell.

Again, thanks for all of your help.

One more request, please recommend a hotel in Santa Cruz, or if there are any to avoid. I don%26#39;t require anything special, just as low cost as possible and clean.

KG