weekender.
Weekend trips from UC Santa Cruz
Hidden spots near Santa Cruz, day trips and weekend road trips from UC Santa Cruz in November, scored 1–10 on price, timing and what's happening, with gas, park fees, a campsite or room and food included.
Plan your own trip from UC Santa Cruz →Local finds near campus
Santa Cruz
A 1907 boardwalk roller coaster, surfers at Steamer Lane and redwoods ten minutes inland.
Henry Cowell Redwoods
A flat redwood loop with a tree you can stand inside, ten minutes from UCSC.
Big Basin Redwoods
California's oldest state park, regrowing after the 2020 fire: blackened giants sprouting green.
Año Nuevo elephant seals
Two-ton elephant seals fighting and giving birth on the dunes (guided walks Dec–Mar).
Day trips
Monterey & Carmel
Sea otters on kelp, 17-Mile Drive and Carmel's fairytale cottages.
Mount Umunhum
A summit hike near campus, found in OpenStreetMap.
Half Moon Bay & Pescadero
Tide pools at Fitzgerald Marine Reserve and warm artichoke bread in tiny Pescadero.
Castle Rock & Skyline
Sandstone caves and boulders on the ridge between Silicon Valley and the ocean.
San Francisco
Mission burritos and murals, cable cars, the Castro and fog rolling over Twin Peaks.
Point Lobos
Sea otters, harbor seals and emerald coves; some call it the crown jewel of state parks.
Weekend trips
Monterey & Carmel
Sea otters on kelp, 17-Mile Drive and Carmel's fairytale cottages.
Half Moon Bay & Pescadero
Tide pools at Fitzgerald Marine Reserve and warm artichoke bread in tiny Pescadero.
Big Sur
McWay Falls dropping onto a beach, Bixby Bridge and the purple sand at Pfeiffer Beach.
Muir Woods & Mount Tam
Old-growth redwoods in a canyon, then the sunset over the fog from Mount Tamalpais.
Bodega Bay & Sonoma Coast
Where Hitchcock filmed The Birds: whale-watching headlands and secret coves.
Columbia State Historic Park
Pan for gold and ride a stagecoach in a preserved 1850s mining town.
Long weekends
Bodega Bay & Sonoma Coast
Where Hitchcock filmed The Birds: whale-watching headlands and secret coves.
Columbia State Historic Park
Pan for gold and ride a stagecoach in a preserved 1850s mining town.
Nevada City & South Yuba
A gaslit Gold Rush town and emerald swimming holes on the South Yuba River.
Hearst Castle & San Simeon
A newspaper tycoon's hilltop castle with a marble pool, and elephant seals below it.
Palm Springs
Midcentury pool motels, palm oases in Indian Canyons and a rotating tram up the mountain.
Sacramento
Gold Rush boardwalks in Old Sacramento and the farm-to-fork capital's food halls.
Personalize it
Set your budget, how many friends are coming, your car (or no car: train and bus), and what you're into (hiking, beaches, camping, stargazing, food and more), and Weekender re-ranks every trip for you, with a day-by-day plan, directions and campsites.
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