Santa Cruz County has been battered over the past few winters by storms that resulted in hundreds of damaged or unusable roads. Although county crews completed 122 repair projects in the year following the 2023 storms, 100 still remain. Officials point to federal agencies that are slow to free up funding and weather setbacks each winter delaying work.
Santa Cruz Mountains
Posted inRecreation & Sports
New guide to Big Basin’s Redwood Loop published
A new guide to the Redwood Loop Trail at Big Basin Redwoods State Park has been published. Written by a team of biologists and environmental scientists, it addresses the effects of the catastrophic 2020 fire on the park and the long-term changes to the landscape that it ushered in, including the impact on plants and animals in the park.
Posted inLatest News
$4.35 million grant will extend broadband in Santa Cruz Mountains
Santa Cruz-based Surfnet Communications Inc. announced Thursday that it will implement three grants totaling $4.3 million in partnership with the nonprofit California Broadband Alliance to extend fiber broadband to communities in the Santa Cruz Mountains. The grants were awarded by the California Public Utilities Commission.
Posted inLatest News
Trails to close for Santa Cruz Mountains work prepping for burns
Trails will close intermittently as the Resource Conservation District of Santa Cruz County is working through December on a 211-acre wildfire resilience project in the upper Aptos Creek watershed of the Santa Cruz Mountains that will in part set the stage for controlled burns by California State Parks staff.
Posted inLatest News
Soquel Demonstration State Forest set to reopen Tuesday, months after suffering winter storm damage
A popular destination for hikers, mountain bikers and outdoor enthusiasts, Soquel Demonstration State Forest was shut down in mid-January because of dangerous conditions from the winter storms. It’s set to reopen Tuesday.
Posted inLatest News
Santa Cruz Mountains communities brace for turmoil as home insurers leave California over wildfire risk
As insurance companies like State Farm pull out of writing new policies in California over concerns about the cost of wildfires, homeowners in high fire-risk areas, such as the San Lorenzo Valley, can expect to pay higher premiums as they pick from a much smaller pool of property insurers. An insurance program that offers limited fire insurance may become the only option for many in the Santa Cruz Mountains — one that experts warn could be far too expensive for some low-income families.
Posted inLatest News
More road closures on the way as Caltrans prepares to shut Highway 236 on Monday
The closure about 7 miles north of Boulder Creek is due to road settlement of temporary repairs made to Highway 236 after this winter’s storms. It is scheduled to last until mid-June.
Posted inLatest News
Highway 9 overnight closures set for next week; two-way traffic could return by midweek
A half-mile section of Highway 9 hasn’t seen two-way traffic since it was struck by a New Year’s Eve landslide. Crews will work to put finishing touches on repairs next week to fully reopen the key artery through the Santa Cruz Mountains.
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‘This is beyond’: Recovery underway in Santa Cruz Mountains after wind-whipped trees crush dozens of homes
The March 21 wind event that “sounded like death” left homes and property damaged throughout the Santa Cruz Mountains, with some residents still displaced after trees weighing several tons splintered their homes.
Posted inFood & Drink
Hit hard by storms, San Lorenzo Valley restaurants lean on community
Road closures and power outages have been a near-constant fact of life in the San Lorenzo Valley since the parade of atmospheric rivers began New Year’s Eve. And as stressful as that’s been for restaurant owners, they’ve felt plenty of support from residents of the area that’s still recovering from 2020’s ruinous fires.