End-of-Summer Bucket List: Santa Cruz Mountains Spots to Hit Before Fall Takes Over
Every year I make the same mental list. Things I meant to do all summer and somehow didn't. A swimming hole I kept saying I'd get back to, a patio I never sat on, a farmers market Saturday I traded for errands one too many times. This year I'm writing mine down before the fog settles in for good, and I figured you might want to steal it.
Summer up here has a way of slipping past faster than it should. One minute it's Memorial Day and the redwoods are still dripping with morning fog, the next you're back-to-school shopping and wondering where June went. Before fall fully takes over the mountain, here's a bucket list worth squeezing in.
Cool Off One More Time
Big Rock Hole is a swimming hole on the San Lorenzo River inside Henry Cowell Redwoods State Park in Felton, and it's the spot I send people who want the real thing, not a chlorinated version of summer. Park at the Rincon dirt turnout on Highway 9, follow the shaded Rincon Fire Road down through the redwoods, then rock-hop across the river to a sandy stretch of bank.
Why it's worth it: It sits on state park land, with day-use parking at $10 a vehicle, so it's not some backwoods secret you need a local to find for you. The honest part: there's no lifeguard, you'll cross the river twice so water shoes help, and poison oak lines parts of the trail. None of that makes it not worth doing. It just means you go in knowing it, same as everything else up here.
Get the Last of the Summer Treat
La Placa Family Bakery used to run out of a small storefront in Ben Lomond. This year the family merged it with their Santa Cruz restaurant into one bigger spot in Scotts Valley, at 219 Mt. Hermon Road, and from what Good Times reports, it's still the same three La Placas behind the counter: Davide, his sister Deborah, and their father Leonardo, working from the same Sicilian recipes.
Why it's worth it: Fresh pastries and espresso from a family that's been baking in these mountains for years, now with more room to actually sit down. It's an easy stop before or after the farmers market, since they're practically neighbors in the same plaza.
Catch a Sunset the Right Way
There's a trail at Quail Hollow Ranch County Park in Felton that's actually named the Sunset Trail, and it earns it. It's a short, steep climb, about 2.5 miles round trip with 600 feet of elevation gain through chaparral, sandhill outcroppings, and a stand of dwarf redwoods, ending at a bench that looks out over the park, the lower San Lorenzo Valley, and Zayante Valley beyond it.
Why it's worth it: It's all uphill on the way in, and it gets hot in there in late summer, so bring water and go with enough daylight to spare. But that bench at the top is the kind of view you don't get without earning it, and it's free, sunrise to sunset, every day of the week.
Hit the Last Farmers Market of the Season
The Scotts Valley Farmers Market runs Saturdays, 8 a.m. to noon, at Graham Plaza on Mount Hermon Road, and this year it keeps going through November 21. It's a smaller, quieter market than some of the bigger ones down the hill, local produce, a handful of food vendors, the kind of stop that takes twenty minutes and still feels like it was worth the drive.
Why it's worth it: Late-summer produce is at its best right now, and this market has enough weeks left in it that you don't have to rush this weekend to catch it. Still, the growing season won't last forever, and neither will the tomatoes.
Eat Outside One More Time
The Sawmill Restaurant & Alehouse in Boulder Creek has an outdoor area built for exactly this, picnic tables, a side yard, and a stage where local bands play on weekends. The menu is straightforward American food, smashburgers, fish and chips, wings, alongside a solid rotation of craft beer.
Why it's worth it: Nobody's dressing up for this one. It's the kind of patio where you can show up straight off a trail, order a burger, and not think about the fact that in a month it'll be too cold to sit outside comfortably. Worth a quick call before you drive up, though, since a small place like this can shift its hours without much notice.
Take the Scenic Route Somewhere
Felton Empire Road climbs out of downtown Felton and winds up into the hills toward Hallcrest Vineyards, the country's first certified organic winery, still family-run out of a historic property. The tasting room is open Thursday through Monday, noon to 5 p.m., and they mean it when they say to bring a picnic and sit on the deck for a while.
Why it's worth it: It's a short drive, fifteen minutes or so, but it feels like leaving the valley entirely, redwoods giving way to open vineyard rows with mountain views in every direction. Go now, while it's still warm enough to sit outside with a glass of something and watch the light change over the hills before the rain comes back.
Why a List Like This Is Worth Making
It's easy to let a season pass without really being in it, especially up here, where the trees don't change color the way they do everywhere else and fall arrives more as a feeling than a calendar date. A short list like this is a small way to make sure summer doesn't just disappear into a blur of errands and work weeks. It's not about doing all six. It's about picking one or two and actually going.
A Note From Me
I love these mountains a little more every summer I spend paying attention to them instead of rushing through. Felton, Ben Lomond, Boulder Creek, Scotts Valley, I drive through all four most weeks, and I still find something I hadn't tried. If you've got a favorite end-of-summer spot I missed, send it my way. I'm always adding to the list.
Here's Exactly What to Do Next
Want more local recommendations, or thinking about what it would actually look like to call the Santa Cruz Mountains home?
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