Theodore J. Hoover Natural Preserve

Rancho Del Oso Nature and History Center interprets the cultural and natural history of the area of Rancho del Oso (ranch of the bear) which became part of California's Big Basin Redwoods State Park, in the 1970s. The center is located on Highway 1 16 miles north of Santa Cruz, California. Rancho del Oso has trails that traverse the park habitats. There are soggy marshes, grassy meadows, gurgling creeks, hardwood forests and pine forests. There are ancient redwood groves and cascading waterfalls. Trails vary greatly in length from one mile to 13 miles. The area is a newer section of Big Basin. It is located on the coast of the Pacific Ocean at Waddell Beach, where the Waddell Creek watershed drains from the Santa Cruz Mountains into the sea. The site is also near the end of the hiking enthusiast's Skyline-to-the-Sea Trail. Only trails provide access to the Big Basin headquarters.

Waddell Creek is the name given to both the creek and the watershed that run through Big Basin Redwoods State Park in Santa Cruz County, California. The Waddell Creek mainstem is formed by the confluence of East and West Waddell Creeks, and empties into the Pacific Ocean at Waddell Beach, just south of Año Nuevo Point.

The Santa Cruz Mudstone is a geologic formation in California. The siliceous organic mudstones of the formation were deposited in deep water and fluvial environments. The formation overlies the Santa Margarita Sandstone and is overlain by the Purisima Formation. The Santa Cruz Mudstone was formerly considered part of the Monterey Formation. The formation preserves bivalve and echinoid fossils as well as vertebrates of Parabalaenoptera baulinensis and Otodus megalodon. The formation dates back to the Late Miocene (Tortonian to Messinian) period.

Steele Brothers Dairy Ranches is a historical site in Pescadero, California in San Joaquin County. Steele Brothers Dairy Ranches site is a California Historical Landmark No. 906 listed on February 8, 1977. The Steele Brothers: Edgar W. Steele, Isaac C. Steele, and Rensselaer E. Steele, were the pioneers of larger scale Dairy farming. Steele Brothers from Delaware, had large-scale commercial cheese and dairy plants. Steele Brothers operated 7,000-acre ranch with five dairies. The ranch ran from Gazos Creek on the north to Point Año Nuevo on the south, about 5 miles on the along the Coastal California, between the Pacific Ocean and Big Basin Redwoods. The five dairies were has far north as Point Reyes and as south as the one at Gazos Creek near Rancho Punta del Año Nuevo. The Steele Brothers operated from 1850 to 1950. A historical marker was placed in 1982 by the California State Department of Parks and Recreation working with the Año Nuevo Interpretive Association. The marker is on Cabrillo Highway at New Year's Creek Road. The Old Steele Dairy Barn is now the Marine Education Center at Año Nuevo State Park.

Año Nuevo State Marine Conservation Area (SMCA) is one of two adjoining marine protected areas off the coast of San Mateo and Santa Cruz Counties, on California’s central coast. The area is approximately 55 miles south of San Francisco. The SMCA is 11.07 square miles. Except for limited taking of giant kelp, all living marine resources are protected.

Rancho Agua Puerca y las Trancas was a 4,421-acre (17.89 km2) Mexican land grant in present-day Santa Cruz County, California given in 1843 by Governor Manuel Micheltorena to Ramón Rodríguez and Francisco Alviso. "Agua Puerca" is a combination of "water" and "pork, or pig", and probably refers to the stagnant water in the lagoon formed at the outlet of the stream at Davenport Landing, the original southern boundary. "Las Trancas" means "the bars" (obstacles or difficulties) and may refer to the sand bars which naturally form at many California coastal creek outlets, forming stagnant lagoons just behind the beach. The grant extended along the Pacific coast from Waddell Creek which formed the north boundary of the grant, south past present-day Swanton to the Arroyo Puerca just north of present-day Davenport. Scott Creek flows north-to-south for almost the entire length of the grant.

Año Nuevo Island (Año Nuevo is Spanish for New Year) is a small island off Año Nuevo Point on the coast of Northern California, between San Francisco and Santa Cruz. The island has an area of 9 acres (3.6 ha). It is an important breeding site for northern elephant seals and the endangered Steller's sea lion, as well as several species of seabirds, including rhinoceros auklets, Brandt's cormorants and western gulls. Due to the number of seals and sea lions, great white sharks are frequently spotted patrolling the waters around the island. It is protected as part of the Año Nuevo State Reserve.Año Nuevo State Marine Conservation Area and Greyhound Rock State Marine Conservation Area are two adjoining protected marine areas off the coast of Año Nuevo State Park. Like underwater parks, these marine protected areas help conserve ocean wildlife and marine ecosystems. The waters of Año Nuevo State Marine Conservation Area surround Año Nuevo Island.

The Swanton Pacific Railroad Society operated an historic one-third scale, 19 in (483 mm) gauge, railroad at Swanton Pacific Ranch in Davenport, California, 15 miles (24 km) north of Santa Cruz, California. The one-mile (1.6 km)-long railroad lies along the Ocean Shore Railroad right-of-way that was to run from San Francisco to Santa Cruz. The scenic trip, through a valley in the coastal mountains, crosses Scott Creek on the Ed Carnegie Bridge, passes a Christmas tree farm, and ends at a wye where passengers observe railroad operations that turn the locomotive. Swanton Pacific Railroad (SPRR) equipment and facilities included: Four steam locomotives and one original passenger car from the 1915 Panama–Pacific International Exposition's Overfair Railway in San Francisco. Reconstructed cars made of Overfair Railway parts and equipment from the 1975 Calistoga Railroad GE U25B Diesel locomotive 1:3 replica and cars built in 1963 by the Keystone Light Railway Products Company in Pennsylvania Roundhouse, turntable, car barn, machine shop, and workshop Four full-size cabooses, one of which was founder Al Smith's office at Orchard Supply Hardware California Polytechnic State University (Cal Poly) projects include a railroad crane, a car for passengers with disabilities, and a train station.Swanton Pacific's (SP) "Lazy Espee" brand also acknowledges the Southern Pacific Railroad, one of Al Smith's former employers.

Swanton is a small community in an unincorporated area of Santa Cruz County on the Pacific coast, situated about 5 miles (8.0 km) north of the town of Davenport, to the east of State Route 1 on Swanton Road. The US Geological Survey designates Swanton as a populated place located at latitude and longitude 37.06417°N 122.22639°W / 37.06417; -122.22639 with an elevation of 135 ft (41 m). The ZIP Code is 95017 and the community is inside area code 831. The community has numerous small residences and two big occupants – Big Creek Lumber Company and the Swanton Pacific Ranch campus of California Polytechnic State University. Swanton is home to Swanton Pacific Railroad, a one-third-scale small-gauge railroad that runs on 1.5 miles (2.4 km) of track through the Scott Creek valley using locomotives and cars from the San Francisco Panama Pacific Exposition of 1915.

Año Nuevo State Park is a state park of California, United States, encompassing Año Nuevo Island and Año Nuevo Point, which are known for their pinniped rookeries. Located in San Mateo County, the low, rocky, windswept point juts out into the Pacific Ocean about 55 miles (89 km) south of San Francisco and the Golden Gate. Año Nuevo State Natural Reserve, formerly a separate unit of the California state park system, was merged into Año Nuevo State Park in October 2008. The coastal geographic center, or coastal-midpoint of California is located at the Northern end of this park at N 37°09′58″, W 122°21'40", as the absolute geographic center of California falls at N 37°09′58″, W 119°26′58″W.The reserve contains a diversity of plant communities, including old growth forest, freshwater marsh, red alder riparian forest and knobcone pine forest. Its four perennial streams support steelhead and coho salmon, and its wetlands are habitat to the rare San Francisco garter snake and California red-legged frog. Cultural resources include the remnants of a prehistoric Native American village site and a number of structures from the 19th century Cascade Ranch. In conjunction with adjacent and nearby public lands, the unit permits the protection of important regional ecological corridors. The point remains undeveloped, much as Sebastián Vizcaíno saw it from his passing ship in 1603.

Scott Creek, also called Scotts Creek, is a 12.2-mile-long (19.6 km) stream and surfspot in Santa Cruz County, California. It is a few miles north of Davenport and a few miles south of Waddell Creek.

Swanton Pacific Ranch is a 3,200-acre (1,300 ha) ranch in Santa Cruz County, California, outside the town of Davenport. The ranch is owned and operated by California Polytechnic State University (Cal Poly) for educational and research in sustainable agriculture. The ranch encompasses rangeland, livestock, and forestry operations for the College of Agriculture, Food and Environmental Sciences, comprises a significant part of the community of Swanton, and includes the lower Scott Creek watershed.