Attractions and Events in Monterey & Santa Cruz

Surfing Hiking and Biking Hotel Accommodations Area Festivals Roaring Camp Railroad

Visitors to the Monterey Bay area will delight in the abundance of fun attractions, activities, annual festivals, and events they’ll find in Santa Cruz, Monterey and the surrounding area.

With everything from delicious food festivals to live music and art events, exciting surf spots, beaches, horseback riding, and hiking available in the area, you’ll have a hard time choosing what to do!

Surfing. With literally hundreds of breaks and a wide range of beaches to choose from, Santa Cruz County offers some of the best surfing in the world. Beginners will find a variety of companies in the area offering lessons for surfers of all levels, but if you do venture out to some of the more challenging spots, be sure to keep to the established rules of surfing etiquette, which is listed on signs at most of the area’s breaks. Whether you’re new to the sport or you are a seasoned pro, you’ll find plenty of killer rides at any of Santa Cruz’s famous surf spots. http://www2.cruzio.com/~rls/surfnSantaCruz.html

Horseback Riding. Monterey offers a variety of horseback riding adventures along the gorgeous beaches and bluffs of the Monterey Bay. If you’re looking for something a little more shady, try a ride through the stunning redwood trees in Felton. And if your child is a true horse lover in search of a unique experience, enroll them at the Willow Pond Ranch, a horse rescue facility offering sanctuary to rescued horses and summer day camps for kids just outside of Soquel Village. www.caladventures.com/MontereyBayEquestrian.htm or www.willowpondranch.org   [Top]

Hiking and Biking. From ocean bluffs and sandy beaches to mountain trails through the redwoods, Santa Cruz and Monterey offer virtually endless opportunities for hiking and biking adventures. Enjoy a short stroll along the ocean’s edge, ride through the dunes along the Pacific Coast Trail, or enjoy an all-day hiking excursion or exciting mountain biking experience in the Santa Cruz Mountains, Santa Cruz and Monterey have everything you’re looking for.

Pebble Beach Golf Courses. Pebble Beach is home to several world-class golf courses and plays host to several annual professional golfing events, including the AT&T National Pro-Am and the U.S. Open. With spectacular views of the Monterey Bay, Pebble Beach offers a superb golfing experience at famous courses like Pebble Beach Golf Links, Poppy Hills, Spyglass Hill, Spanish Bay, and Del Monte. www.pebblebeach.com or www.poppyhillsgolf.com  [Top]

Santa Cruz and Monterey Area Festivals. No matter what time of year you visit, the Monterey Bay area has something going on. From strawberries to begonias, garlic to jazz, you’ll find a festival or event to fit your style.

• Watsonville Strawberry Festival. This food lover’s festival is held in downtown Watsonville’s Ramsay Park each August and features a variety of great craft and vendor booths, a carnival, kids’ arts and crafts, a strawberry relay, a strawberry pie eating contest, and, of course, strawberries everywhere. Visitors will also enjoy a wide range of food vendors serving everything from strawberry shortcake and strawberry tamales to more traditional fare like falafels and pizza. www.watsonvillestrawberryfestival.com/generalinfo.htm
• Gilroy Garlic Festival. The Gilroy Garlic Festival is an annual event that serves to glorify Gilroy’s best-known crop - garlic. Visitors will enjoy the festival’s famed Gourmet Alley where food vendors use more than two tons of fresh garlic in their recipes that range from garlic fries and garlic pizza to garlic lemonade and garlic ice cream. Other attractions at this annual event include live music, arts and crafts vendors, a celebrity cook-off contest, and a fun kids’ area. www.gilroygarlicfestival.com
• Castroville Artichoke Festival. Held each May, the annual Castroville Artichoke Festival celebrates this humble green veggie that so many people adore. With great food like deep fried artichoke hearts, artichoke soup and marinated artichokes surrounded by events like a 3-D vegetable art contest, a colorful parade, live music, cooking demonstrations, and field tours, the Artichoke Festival is fun for anyone who loves this unassuming thistle. www.artichoke-festival.org
• Monterey Jazz Festival. Celebrating 50 years of jazz in Monterey, this annual festival is held at the Monterey Fairgrounds and features over 500 world-class jazz musicians and performers on nine stages over two days and three nights. Current and past performers include Diana Krall, Dave Brubeck, John McLaughlin and the 4th dimension, and Ornette Coleman, among others. www.montereyjazzfestival.org
• Celebrate Santa Cruz Art, Wine & Jazz Festival. Enjoy the fine wines of Santa Cruz County while you listen to the sounds of live jazz music and peruse the work of local artists. Held each year in May, the two-day Celebrate Santa Cruz Art, Wine and Jazz Festival also features fabulous food, a variety of vendors and a fashion show.
• Capitola Begonia Festival. This three-day event is held each Labor Day weekend and features a variety of fun family events, including a sand sculpture contest, a live concert in the park, a family friendly movie on the beach, chalk art, children’s art events, rowboat races, and a funny-themed nautical begonia parade on Soquel Creek. www.begoniafestival.com  [Top]

Santa Cruz County Fair. This annual event is held each September at the Santa Cruz County Fairgrounds located in the foothills of Watsonville. Offering a true fair experience, with everything from livestock exhibits to live entertainment, fair food, vendor booths, and a carnival complete with rides and games, the Santa Cruz County Fair is a fun family event that everyone will enjoy. www.santacruzcountyfair.com

Roaring Camp Railroad. Located in the redwood forests of Felton, just east of Santa Cruz, the Roaring Camp and Big Trees Narrow Gauge Railroad takes visitors back to the time when the railroad was king. Roaring Camp operates two trains, the Roaring Camp Steam Train and the Santa Cruz, Big Trees & Pacific Railway. The Roaring Camp Steam Train travels up a steep, narrow gauge track on a one-hour journey through huge redwoods to the top of Bear Mountain. The Santa Cruz, Big Trees & Pacific Railway, known as the Beach Train, transports visitors on a three-hour trip through Henry Cowell State Park, over the San Lorenzo Gorge and through the mountains down to the Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk and back. www.roaringcamp.com

Big Basin Redwoods State Park. Established in 1902, Big Basin Redwoods State Park covers 18,000 acres in the Santa Cruz Mountains and includes deeply wooded areas of oak trees and Douglas fir mixed with old growth redwoods, including the largest unbroken stand of ancient Coast Redwoods in the state. In addition to the majestic trees, Big Basin is home to a wide range of animals, from squirrels, deer and chipmunks to foxes, coyotes and mountain lions. The park offers a wide range of activities including a nature museum, hiking, mountain biking, picnicking, and camping. www.bigbasin.org/index.html   [Top]