North Coast, Santa Cruz County, California real estate

The North Coast area of Santa Cruz County runs from the city limits of Santa Cruz all the way to the San Mateo County line. There is a wealth of beauty and natural features here. The area has some beautiful productive farmland, growing most of the county’s brussel sprouts, as well as a variety of row crops. It is a lovely drive up the coast to wherever you are going.

The area has many beautiful windswept beaches; some are great for surfing, others, just nice places to get away from the city beach crowd. They are generally smaller and wilder too. Some of the beaches are well known to claim lives as city slickers forget time and get trapped by the rising tide. The most well known is Panther Beach. Mother Nature is a force to be reckoned with, and whether you are up the coast to partake in some of the world class wind and kite surfing at Waddell Creek or surfing at Scotts Creek, you must be respectful of the power of the ocean.

Santa Cruz County has had a relationship with the ocean in many forms for years. Davenport has a long and storied past with whaling, past and present, and has one of the largest industrial cement plants in the County. Nearby is the farming community, and I use the term community, loosely, of Swanton. It is located on a beautiful side road that is great to check out sometime, on a drive up the coast. There is some great produce and things you might not expect to see. The road takes you out to Highway 1 near Big Creek Lumber where they still mill wood, which is a rarity here, and you can get some fine redwood for your home. Outside of Davenport, there is no real structured town in this area. So if you want something to eat or take on a picnic, get it there.

Bonny Doon is another north coast destination that has a beach and an access to this rural community. It is a pretty place for a drive or just to live in tranquility. It is about 20 minutes to Santa Cruz and Davenport is about 11 minutes to both. Davenport has a small post office, 95017, though Bonny Doon is served by Santa Cruz and has a zip code of 95060. Enjoy your time there, you will not forget it. To look for homes here go to www.propertyinsantacruz.com and search under North Coast.