Hikes & Trails
By Alex V. · Owner, Beach RV Pleasure Point · Updated June 2026
Santa Cruz hiking splits into two worlds twenty minutes apart: old-growth redwoods in the hills and wave-cut bluffs on the coast. The short answer for a first visit — walk the Redwood Grove Loop at Henry Cowell, then the Old Cove Landing Trail at Wilder Ranch, and you'll have seen both worlds in one day.
This guide is written from our RV park on the East Side, with the details that actually decide a hike: current fees, what's still closed from the storm and fire years, drive times from Pleasure Point, and where your dog can legally come along.
The redwood walk to do first: Henry Cowell
The Redwood Grove Loop is 0.8 flat miles under 270-foot old-growth trees, about 20 minutes from the park and $10 to park — stroller-friendly and wheelchair-accessible. Stretch it by picking up the River Trail along the San Lorenzo, or climb to the observation deck for a five-mile loop with a view over the whole valley.
Roaring Camp Railroads sits next door if you want to pair the grove with the steam train. And if you'd rather have redwoods without the crowds, the park's Fall Creek unit a few minutes away is the quiet canyon alternative — creek crossings, ruins of the old lime kilns, and a free trailhead lot.
The coast hike: Wilder Ranch
Old Cove Landing Trail is the classic Santa Cruz bluff walk — 2.5 flat miles past Fern Grotto, harbor-seal coves, and whale spouts in season, starting from the preserved 1890s dairy ranch. Extend along the Ohlone Bluff Trail toward Four Mile Beach and you can stretch it to seven miles of cliff edge.
$10 to park, open 8 a.m. to sunset, about 20 minutes from the East Side. One catch for traveling dog owners: no dogs anywhere in Wilder Ranch.
The backyard forest: Nisene Marks
The Forest of Nisene Marks in Aptos is the closest big forest to the park — about ten minutes — and it runs on a simple formula: the farther up Aptos Creek Fire Road you go, the fewer people you see. The easy version is the flat walk to the steel bridge. The committed version climbs to Sand Point Overlook, around twelve miles round trip. In between sits the rougher hike to Maple Falls, with its bridgeless creek crossings in the last stretch.
$8 per car, and the epicenter of the 1989 Loma Prieta earthquake hides up the trail under the second-growth. Leashed dogs are allowed on the lower fire road and the picnic-area trails, which makes it the best real forest hike you can do with your dog around here.
In town: bluffs and greenbelt, no driving required
From the park itself, the East Cliff blufftop path runs the shoreline from 32nd to 41st — the everyday walk that never gets old. Across town, West Cliff Drive's paved path is 2.7 miles from Steamer Lane to Natural Bridges, fully reopened after the storm-repair years.
For dirt without a drive over the hill: Pogonip's meadow-and-forest loops above downtown (free, leashed dogs in via the Golf Club Drive and Spring Street entrances), and Arana Gulch's harbor-view meadows, where every trail but one welcomes leashed dogs.
Worth the drive
Big Basin, California's oldest state park, is open for limited day use as it rebuilds from the 2020 fire, and the green coming back against the blackened giants is a sight worth the drive. Reserve parking ahead — and leave the rig at your site, because the park can't take RVs or trailers. The famous Berry Creek Falls loop remains closed.
Castle Rock up on Skyline is the half-day mountain trip: honeycombed sandstone, climbers on Goat Rock, and big valley views ($10, and the gate locks at sunset). Año Nuevo, 45 minutes north, is the elephant-seal walk — self-guided with a free permit from spring through fall, $10 to park, and no dogs allowed anywhere, including waiting in the car.
The newest trails in the county are at Cotoni-Coast Dairies above Davenport — the first nine miles opened in late 2025, with a free trailhead lot and leashed dogs welcome on two of the three loops. Most visitors haven't heard of it yet. Go before they do.
Hiking with your dog — the honest list
Most state-park trails here ban dogs, so plan around the exceptions: the East Cliff and West Cliff paved paths, Arana Gulch, Nisene Marks' lower fire road, Henry Cowell's Pipeline Road, Meadow Trail, and Graham Hill Trail (not the grove loop), Pogonip's designated trails, and two of the three Cotoni-Coast Dairies loops — all leashed.
No dogs at all: Wilder Ranch, Big Basin's trails, Castle Rock, Fall Creek, the UCSC campus trails, and Año Nuevo. The full beach-and-trail rules live in our dog-friendly guide.
Know before you go
- Fees: $10 at most state-park lots, $8 at Nisene Marks, free at Pogonip, Arana Gulch, and Cotoni-Coast Dairies. Big Basin wants a parking reservation.
- Gates lock at sunset at Castle Rock and close out the state lots — don't linger past golden hour unless you parked outside.
- Poison oak lines half the trails in the county. Long socks, stay on trail, wash up after.
- Summer pattern: coastal fog until midday, warm in the redwoods. Hike the forest in the morning and walk the bluffs in the afternoon, and you'll never be cold or crowded.
About the author
Alex V. — Alex owns and runs Beach RV Pleasure Point, a sixteen-site RV park a nine-minute walk from the surf on the Santa Cruz East Side. These guides are the same advice we give guests at the office.