The best hikes from bus stations around Santa Cruz

Sand Plant Beach is a nice sandy beach in a deep rocky cove, surrounded by sandstone walls on three sides. The narrow mouth of the cove can trap seaweed along the waterline. From Old Cove Landing Trail a small footpath descends into the back of the beach. The main trail wraps around the back of the beach and continues to Fern Grotto Beach nearby, then to Wilder Beach and the Wilder Ranch visitor center parking lot.

Fern Grotto Beach is a nice sandy beach in a deep rocky cove, surrounded by sandstone walls on all sides. The grotto is a shallow cave at the back of the beach with ferns draping down over the entrance. The mouth of the cove isn’t large. From Old Cove Landing Trail a small footpath descends into the back of Fern Grotto Beach. The main trail wraps around the back of the beach and continues to Sand Plant Beach to the north, or Wilder Beach to the south.

Antonelli Pond is a man-made pond fed by Moore Creek on the west side of Santa Cruz. The Land Trust of Santa Cruz County has restored this neighborhood with trails for hiking and dog walking, enjoy a picnic, or get close up to birds and waterfowl. A pleasant, short trail travels on both sides of Antonelli Pond. To make a contiguous loop one can travel along Delaware Ave a short distance to connect to both trailheads. The western section (closest to Shaffer Rd) offers the longer of the two paths. The accessible path travels for .25 miles past riparian habitat, interpretive panels, and picnic tables, and ends at a loop around an immature native pollenator garden. Views across the pond invite bird watching. The shorter accessible portion of the eastern path turns to dirt at about one-tenth mile. Afterwards the trail becomes compacted dirt and narrows to less than 28 inches for a short distance. I was able to continue another .15 miles before mud prevented further passage however, other barriers make this a turnaround point for those on wheels. https://landtrustsantacruz.org/protected-areas/antonelli-pond

Northern entrance to the coastal park from Delaware Ave. The trailhead is pedestrian and biker only, The former road goes straight to the beach, while smaller trails turn east into the Monarch Butterfly Natural Preserve, and West into the upper portions of the State Beach Park.

While there are more formal memorials to the sport of surfing a little ways south at the Lighthouse and north at the official Surfer Memorial Sculpture, this spot is more personal. Here along West Cliff Drive is the famous surfing spot known as Steamer Lane. For all its fame and pleasure, surf conditions, accidents and bad luck exact a fatal toll. An informal memorial up on the cliff remembers surfers who have died.-It's next to a staircase leading down to the beach. The wooden plaques are all custom, hand-routed tributes by friends or family. The carved messages, lacking biographical details (because they are well-known locals?) are sometimes adorned with flower arrangements and small keepsakes along the fence. While these memorials of surfer deaths are also sad, there is a somewhat relaxed atmosphere at this spot. The surfers were doing what they loved, and knew the risks.

Small protected cove below the cliffs, visible from the trail above.

Great overlook at the south end of Santa Cruz beach overlooking the waterfront and the municipal pier. A trail and sidewalk continues parallel to West Cliff Drive to the south west.

Stunning Natural Bridge Beach is known for its natural arches made of fine clay or mud rock, carved by time, water, and wind. The beach is also known for being home to a colony of monarch butterflies, with over 150,000 coming to live here for the winter. If you're lucky, you might even spot whales!