A 45-minute drive north of Santa Cruz into the mountains via Hwys 9 and 236, this state park protects over 18,000 acres of redwood forest and 80 miles of trails looping past giant old-growth redwoods and beside shady campgrounds. A 12.5-mile one-way section of the exhilarating Skyline to the Sea Trail ends at Waddell Beach on the coast, almost 20 miles northwest of Santa Cruz on Hwy 1.
On weekends between mid-March and mid-December, you can usually ride Santa Cruz Metro bus 35A up to Big Basin in the morning and get picked up by bus 40 at the beach in the afternoon.
