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The Coastal Rail Trail Segments 10 and 11 Project is an approximately 4.5-mile ADA-accessible bicycle/pedestrian path that generally extends along the Santa Cruz Branch Rail Line (SCBRL) corridor, from 17th Avenue in Live Oak to State Park Drive in the Seacliff neighborhood (see maps above). The trail will provide a safe and beautiful experience for recreation, active transportation, and environmental and cultural education along the Monterey Bay. Joggers, bicycle commuters, wheelchair users, kids walking/biking to school, families with strollers, and walkers will all be able to enjoy the paved asphalt surface. These two segments of the Coastal Rail Trail connect to 10 schools, 18 parks, 13 public beaches, 2 community centers, and multiple residential neighborhoods and commercial areas through some of the densest portions of Santa Cruz County.
For more information, please visit: www.santacruzcountyca.gov/railtrail
Santa Cruz County is developing a resiliency plan to address sea level rise impacts along a 0.5-mile stretch of East Cliff Drive where it crosses Schwan, Corcoran, and Moran Lagoons. Funded by the State Coastal Conservancy, the project will explore nature-based adaptation strategies to protect coastal resources, maintain public access, and improve infrastructure resilience. Work includes beach and lagoon surveys, hydrologic monitoring, and conceptual modeling to predict how these systems will respond to rising seas. Extensive community, stakeholder, and tribal engagement will inform the selection of preferred strategies for each lagoon, which will guide future design, environmental review, and permitting phases.
The renovated play area at Floral Park features vibrant new playground equipment set atop a rubberized surface inspired by the nearby Pleasure Point tide pools. To improve accessibility, the pathway from the street was redesigned to meet ADA standards, ensuring safe and inclusive access for all visitors. A central feature of the renovation is an interactive public art installation that supports the department’s natural resource management goals through education. The piece introduces children to the unique tide pool ecosystem, including species names in both English and Spanish, fostering environmental stewardship while promoting equity and welcoming members of our diverse community. Surrounding the playground, new pollinator gardens have been planted throughout the landscaped areas. These gardens not only enhance the park’s beauty but also provide vital habitat for pollinators, advancing the department’s ongoing commitment to ecological sustainability.
A Ribbon Cutting for the improvements at Floral County Park was held on December 13, 2024.
Freedom Lake, a cherished natural resource for both wildlife and the community, has faced challenges from invasive species that disrupt native habitats and diminish water quality. In a series of upcoming workday events, dedicated teams from Watsonville Wetlands Watch and the California Conservation Corps will work side by side to remove invasive trees and plants that are impairing native habitat and obstructing the open viewing and access routes of park users. Consistent with best practices for riparian habitat and vegetation management, willow trees will be pruned and limbed up to reduce hazards for park users and enhance lines of site and the feeling of openness to enhance park user safety. Following winter rains approximately 100 native understory plants and shrubs will be planted within the Acacia removal areas in order to increase diversity of native plants growing on site and improve the park user experience.
County Parks received a grant from the State Coastal Conservancy to fund the planning, environmental review, and preliminary design work for this exciting project. The project entails building an environmental education center at Greyhound Rock. The environmental education center is planned to include simple, rustic cabins for overnight coastal accommodations, a communal restroom facility, trails, outdoor gathering areas, interpretive elements, the conversion of existing unused structures for environmental education programming, and the restoration of coastal bluff habitat. When not being used for environmental education programming, the cabins will be available for use by the public and will provide much-needed low-cost overnight accommodations along the Central Coast.
As part of the second phase of renovations at Hidden Beach Park, a permanent ADA-accessible prefabricated restroom was installed between the playground and the parking lot, providing essential facilities for both beachgoers and playground visitors. To improve wayfinding, bilingual directional signage was added to guide users between the beach and the restroom. A highlight of the new restroom is a mural created by a local artist, featuring iconic elements of the Hidden Beach landscape and adding a vibrant, place-based identity to the structure. The same artist also designed the bilingual signage, integrating art and function to enhance both the beauty and usability of the park. In alignment with the department’s natural resource management goals, surrounding areas of unused turf were replaced with native plantings that support habitat restoration and ecological sustainability.
A ribbon cutting ceremony was held on May 8, 2025.
County Parks, in partnership with the Santa Cruz County Sanitation District and a consulting team of arborists, biologists, and entomologists is updating the 2010 Moran Lake Monarch Butterfly Habitat Management Plan (MBMHP) to reflect the latest science and guidance from the Xerces Society and others on overwintering monarch habitat. The plan will be used to guide ongoing and upcoming management activities in the park, including drainage improvements, tree management, and tree planting.
Learn how County Parks is using wind data to protect monarch habitat while managing tree safety at Moran Lake.
A community meeting to review a draft of the updated MBHMP was held in July 2024. In response to community feedback in July 2024, the team completed a wind study in April 2025. The goal of the wind study was to identify tree management actions that could be taken to reduce the risk of tree failure while protecting monarch habitat. The wind study analyzed how the existing tree canopy surrounding the Lode Street Facility and Moran Lake County Park protects the Monarch overwintering habitat from wind impacts, and how those conditions would change under various tree management scenarios. The wind study found that the tree canopy surrounding Moran Lake County Park (areas A1, A2, B, and C in the graphic below) could be removed or reduced in height without impacting overwintering habitat, and that trees within the critical windbreak along Placer Street (area H in the graphic below) could be reduced to an 80-foot-height without impacting overwintering habitat.
Wind Study - Moran Lake Monarch Butterfly Habitat and Tree Management Assessment June 2025
A community meeting to present the findings of the wind study and proposed tree/habitat management strategies based on the wind study was held at 5:30pm on Tuesday, June 24, 2025, at the Live Oak Community Center, 979 17th Avenue, Santa Cruz.
Slides from June 24, 2025 Community Meeting
The MBHMP will be updated to include a summary of the wind study. Chapter 5.3 will be updated with the additional tree/habitat management strategies that were presented during the June 24, 2025 community meeting. The full content of the wind study will be included as an appendix to the MBHMP.
Based on the wind study data, County Parks is planning to conduct trimming of all the trees along the north and west banks of Moran Lake (North and South Lakeside, areas B and C) in Summer 2025 to reduce their overall height and risk of failure. Parks also recently completed removal of all the remaining trees on the 40 Moran Way Parcel (area A1). This work is expected to improve public safety and reduce the risk of tree failure while protecting the long-term viability of monarch habitat. A contract with Lewis Tree Service to conduct the work was approved by the Board of Supervisors for approval on May 6, 2025 and amended on June 24, 2025.
The upcoming tree work is part of our ongoing science-based approach to protect monarch habitat at Moran Lake and increase climate resilience. Any trees removed will be replaced with native tree species that strengthen local biodiversity and monarch habitat, similar to the 64 native trees that were planted in December 2024.
Replacement tree planting will happen in Fall/Winter 2025 after the onset of winter rains.
The County is working with a finite budget for tree management and is prioritizing trimming of the trees in the North and South Lakeside areas (areas B and C) and removal of the remaining trees on the 40 Moran Way parcel (area A1) because trees in those areas are closest to recent failures in February 2024 or have been recommended for trimming or removal by the County’s consulting arborist. The critical windbreak along Placer Street (area H) is not included in this summer’s tree management work because many of the trees in this area were trimmed by the Santa Cruz County Sanitation District in Summer 2024. Additional tree management work is planned for next summer and is expected to include the Placer Street edge.
County Parks’ proposed long-term plan for Moran Lake County Park is to eventually phase-out the non-native blue gum eucalyptus trees that surround Moran Lake and replace them with more suitable native tree species that strengthen native biodiversity, enhance riparian habitat in addition to monarch habitat, are resilient to climate change, and do not grow as tall as the blue gum eucalyptus. The eucalyptus grove surrounding the Lode Street Facility where the monarchs overwinter is much more sensitive to disruption and will not be modified. To support the proposed long-term transition away from eucalyptus, County Parks hosted a volunteer tree planting day on December 7, 2024. Approximately 30 volunteers helped to plant 64 native trees (53 Monterey Cypress and 11 White Alders). The trees were planted along the north and southeast banks of Moran Lake, in areas identified for tree planting in the current 2010 and past versions of the Monarch Habitat Management Plan, as well as the recent draft update. Additional native trees will be planted this fall and in future years.
The current draft update of the Moran Lake Monarch Butterfly Habitat Management Plan can be viewed or downloaded below:
This work is partially funded by a grant from the US Fish and Wildlife Service.
Miller Property County Park is a 400-acre hidden gem in the redwoods of Boulder Creek, protecting critical habitat and part of the Kings Creek watershed. Santa Cruz County Parks is working to make this natural treasure more accessible while safeguarding its ecological value. Recent improvements include a new Welcome Point and parking area, updated entry signage, and expanded picnic amenities. These upgrades create a safer and more inviting experience for visitors while setting the stage for future projects.
A Celebration Ceremony for the improvements at Miller Property County Park will be held in August 2025.
Santa Cruz County’s North Coast has limited visitor amenities, infrastructure, and law enforcement, and high visitation levels have increasingly overwhelmed the area and threatened natural resources, public safety, and visitor experience. The intent of the North Coast Facilities Management Plan is to improve management while preserving one of California’s most beautiful stretches of coastline.
Led by Santa Cruz County Parks and funded through twin $100,000 grants from the California Coastal Conservancy and California State Parks, a group of federal, state, and local agencies are working together to identify priority coastal projects between the Santa Cruz city limits and San Mateo County line. Based on prior community and stakeholder engagement, a draft list of priority projects has been identified for inclusion in the North Coast Facilities Management Plan that aim to enhance the North Coast visitor experience, manage visitor impacts, and preserve natural resources.
In 1997, the County of Santa Cruz Department of Parks, Open Space and Cultural Services was gifted a 79.5-acre parcel known as the Pace property. For the past two decades, this land has remained closed to the public due to lack of access from the nearby Quail Hollow Ranch County Park.
The Quail Hollow Ranch County Park Trails Construction project will change that by expanding the park’s existing 4.5-mile trail network onto the Pace property. This includes building a 0.5-mile Pace Access Trail to connect the current trail system to the Pace land, as well as a 2.0-mile figure-8 Pace Loop Trail. These new trails will open up opportunities for visitors to explore and enjoy the unique sandhill ecology of the Pace Family Wilderness.
Volunteer Opportunity Available
Join us for a unique volunteer opportunity to help build new trails at Quail Hollow Ranch County Park! As part of the Trails Construction project, you’ll assist in expanding the park’s trail network onto the previously inaccessible Pace property.
Volunteers will receive training and guidance from County Parks and Santa Cruz Mountain Stewardship staff, and play a vital role in creating a lasting legacy for future hikers to enjoy. The construction includes a 0.5-mile access trail and a 2.0-mile figure-8 loop trail through diverse sandhill habitat.
For more information about volunteering with us email: volunteer@parks.santacruzcountyca.gov
Led by Santa Cruz Mountains Trail Stewardship (SCMTS), we’ve designed a new pump track for Felton’s Coverage Bridge County Park, located at the intersection of Graham Hill Road and Mount Hermon Road. The proposed track will be a paved surface with a series of rollers, jumps, and banked turns that connect in a closed loop. The track would be used for biking, skateboarding, or roller skating by both youth and adults. The proposed track would replace the volleyball court in the park and be surrounded by native drought tolerant landscaping.
Simpkins Family Swim Center has completed the 50 Meter Pool renovation, upgraded the pool lights and tile throughout the lap pool. In addition, the pool boilers were replaced, and maintenance staff resurfaced the pool deck. The renovations were funded in part by State Prop. 68 Per Capita Grant and Measure G funding sources. The pool reopened on June 13, 2022. The final phase of this plan is to replace the waterslide, and we are currently working on getting final plans and cost estimates together for that project. Anticipated completion of the installation of a new waterslide should be in early 2026.
In August 2023, the Santa Cruz Board of Supervisors unanimously approved the purchase of a 38.5 acre parcel on Whiting Road, an unused patch of low-lying woodland that sits between two agricultural fields, and adjacent to the Santa Cruz County fairgrounds. Santa Cruz County Parks completed a set of interim improvements that will allow for limited public use of the future Valle del Pájaro County Park. The initial improvements inlcude grading and improvements to the existing driveway and parking area, including 13 parking spaces, located along the northern edge of the property; installation of an ADA-accessible parking space adjacent to an existing concrete slab; installation of porta potty on the existing concrete slab; installation of two picnic tables on the existing concrete slab; construction of a half-mile tractor path that will serve as a temporary walking trail; placement of reclaimed logs (provided by the County) for informal seating, play, or visual interest.
A ribbon cutting was held on July 11, 2025 to unveil the interim improvements.
View some of our recently completed projects!
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parksinfo@parks.santacruzcountyca.gov
Our physical office is open, but staff availability is limited as most staff members are working remotely.