Where to Go When You Need to Get Out of the Mountains for a Day
There are weeks where living in the mountains is everything I need. And then there are weeks where I need to get in the car, point it toward the coast or down to town, and just go. If you know that feeling, this list is for you. These are my favorite day trips from here. Close enough to be spontaneous, far enough to actually reset.
The Trips
Santa Cruz
Drive time from Felton: 20 to 25 minutes down Highway 9, depending on where you catch the light at the bottom of the hill.
Best for: A change of scenery without committing your whole day to it. This is the one you do on a random Tuesday afternoon.
What to do when you get there:
Walk the West Cliff path and actually look at the water instead of scrolling past it.
Wander Pacific Avenue. Bookshop Santa Cruz alone is worth the trip.
Sit at the Wharf and watch the sea lions do their thing. They are loud and they do not care.
Where to eat: Picnic Basket for something fast and good, or Penny Ice Creamery if you're treating it like dessert weather, which in Santa Cruz is most days.
Best time to go: Weekday mornings. Santa Cruz on a summer Saturday is a different animal entirely.
Honest note: Parking downtown is genuinely rough on weekends. Use the Soquel Avenue garage and save yourself the fifteen minutes of circling.
Capitola Village
Drive time from Felton: About 30 minutes.
Best for: The closest thing we have to a postcard. Bright buildings, a tiny beach, water you can actually wade into.
What to do when you get there:
Walk the Esplanade and let the kids run on the sand while you get coffee.
Climb up to the bluff above the Village for the view that makes everyone's camera roll.
Browse the shops tucked along the creek. Most of them are small enough to actually enjoy.
Where to eat: Gayle's Bakery on the way in if you want to start with something sweet, or Zelda's if you want your toes in the sand while you eat.
Best time to go: Before 10am if you want a parking spot without a fight.
Honest note: Parking in the Village is metered and tight, and the two hour limit is enforced. There's a beach lot a short walk away that's worth using if the Village is full, which it usually is by midday.
Big Basin Redwoods
Drive time from Felton: Around 35 to 40 minutes through Boulder Creek.
Best for: The day you need quiet more than you need a destination. Old growth redwoods, slower pace, almost no cell service, which is honestly the point.
What to do when you get there:
Walk the Redwood Loop to see what's regrown since the CZU fire. It's humbling.
Hike a section of Skyline to the Sea if you're up for something longer.
Sit somewhere quiet and just be in it. There's a reason people come here to reset.
Where to eat: Pack it in. There's no food service in the park right now, so bring water and something to eat before you go, and grab a real meal in Boulder Creek on the way home.
Best time to go: Any weekday. Trails and facilities are still limited post-fire, so go in expecting recovery, not the Big Basin you might remember.
Honest note: A parking reservation is required in advance, there's no cell coverage once you're in, and amenities are minimal. Download your maps and tell someone where you're headed before you lose signal.
Watsonville and the farm stands along Highway 1
Drive time from Felton: About 35 minutes.
Best for: Families who want the day to feel like it's about something, not just a change of scenery. This is the trip where the kids remember what they did.
What to do when you get there:
Stop at a roadside farm stand and let the kids pick out what looks good. Strawberries, depending on the season, are usually the move.
Visit a u-pick farm if one is open. There's something about harvesting your own dinner that sticks with kids longer than most outings do.
Drive the back roads through the fields slowly. No agenda, just looking.
Where to eat: Whatever you picked up at the farm stand, eaten in the car with the windows down, counts as a meal in my book.
Best time to go: Late morning, after the fog burns off but before the afternoon gets hot.
Honest note: Hours at farm stands shift with the season and the harvest, so call ahead if you have your heart set on something specific. Cash is still king at a lot of these stands.
How to Make the Most of a Day Trip
Leave early. The best version of any destination is before the crowds arrive. Download offline maps before you go, since cell service gets spotty between here and the coast. Eat somewhere local. Skip the chains, find the place with the hand-written menu board or the line out the door. Give yourself no agenda for at least part of the day. The best discoveries happen when you're not rushing. Take a different route home. You'd be surprised what you find when you don't retrace your steps.
The Thing About Living Close to All of This
One of the questions I get most from buyers relocating to the Santa Cruz Mountains is some version of, what do people actually do on weekends here, doesn't it get isolated? This list is part of the answer. We sit within easy reach of the coast, Santa Cruz is 20 to 30 minutes away, small beach towns, farm stands, state parks, and enough variety that your weekends can look very different depending on what you're in the mood for. Which means living in the mountains doesn't mean you're locked into one lifestyle. You just get to choose when you go out and when you stay in.
If easy access to day trips and outdoor escapes matters to you, and for most people moving here, it does, it's worth thinking about which part of the mountains gets you out the door fastest. Some neighborhoods shave 20 to 30 minutes off your drive before you've even left our area. Thinking about where to plant roots here? Let's talk about what your weekends could actually look like.