Hiking and Climbing Trees in Wilder Ranch

Few things are better than meeting up with friends, going for a hike, and enjoying an ocean view from a treetop

Santa Cruz, CA is known for its would class surfing along the Pacific Coast Highway, but to those non-locals, few know that there is more to offer than the beach. Driving over Highway 17 into Santa Cruz, you are crossing the Santa Cruz Mountains. These intercostals house redwood forests, oak trees perfect for climbing, rolling hills of grass, and miles of hiking trails. If you pack a picnic and head out for a walk, you can find your own slice of heaven, just go looking.

Best Places to Climb Trees in Wilder Ranch

Before heading out to Wilder Ranch to climb trees, please be safe! Throughout the State Park, you can access both Redwoods and Oaks to climb. Personally, I find oaks easier to climb, but the view is never as good as the leaves block out the ocean view. Either way, scaling these trees is fun, so go enjoy yourself!

  1. If you are an UCSC student, make the walk from campus to the ocean, along the UCSC TO THE SEA hike. Be prepared for a full day if you plan to hike there and back, especially if you want to scale as many trees along the way!

  2. If you are an oak tree explorer, park your car at the pull out along the road, or pay for parking in the lot, and head towards the mountain, across the bridge, and take a left, you will be on ENGLESMAN LOOP. For myself, this trail has one of the highest concentrations of climbable oak trees.

  3. If you are an avid redwood scrambler, you will need to go deep into Wilder State Park as the redwoods are further in. You can access fun trees to climb via ENGLESMAN LOOP or PACIFIC TO REDWOODS LOOP

5 Additional Hiking Trails of Wilder Ranch to Explore

  1. Old Landing Cove Trail (All-Trails Link)

  2. Pacific to Redwoods Loop (All-Trails Link)

  3. Enchanted Trail Loop (All-Trails Link)

  4. Wilder Ranch Loop (All-Trails Link)

  5. UCSC to the Sea (All-Trails Link)

For a complete guide of hiking trails in Wilder Ranch, CLICK HERE.

Final thoughts

Hopefully, this will help you find the trails and trees you are looking to climb. Please, be safe, respect these places, and pick up any trash that you might come across. Wilder Ranch is a beautiful place to explore and recreate, let’s do our best to continually make it better!