Camping Close to Santa Clara County
Jul 27th, 2000, 10:14 AM
#2
Guest
Posts: n/a
Try Big Basin State Park in the Santa Cruz mountains. It's basically a redwood forest, lots of good hiking trails, and some beautiful campsite areas. Not too long a drive down to Santa Cruz and Natural Bridges State Beach. If you're ambitious hikers, there's a "Skyline to the Sea" trail from Big Basin down to a beach area near Hwy 1, where you can take a bus back into Santa Crua (it's about a 15-mile hike). There's also s state beach/park with campgrounds in/near Aptos, though I'm afraid I don't remember the name; camp area is wooded and nice, with paths to the beach below.
Jul 27th, 2000, 02:39 PM
#3
Guest
Posts: n/a
Henry Cowell Redwoods State park right outside Scotts Valley is excellent for a quick weekend trip. Close enough to the store to run out and get ice cream for desert (!) but once you're in the campground you think you're much farther from civilization. Also Portola Valley State Park off of 84. The only problem with that park (for me) is that the road to get there is so windy I always get carsick.
Jul 27th, 2000, 04:05 PM
#6
Guest
Posts: n/a
Rea, as you know, San Jose is in Santa Clara County. Here's a website for all County Parks, some have camping, some don't. However, it's a complete list which specifies which activities are available in each County Park.
http://claraweb.co.santa-clara.ca.us...old/index.html
Now, to learn about other parks in neighboring counties; that is, San Mateo; Santa Cruz, San Francisco, etc., use your favorite Search Engine. Mine is: http://www.google.com
Enter your search phrase. Example:
san mateo county camping parks. You will get a lot of info back doing this for each of the counties around you.
Also, California has many State operated parks, some of which will be within a 2-hour drive. So, use Google again and search for the California State Park website; actually, I believe it's just a very large section within the official California State Government website.
Lastly, your local phone book is a wonderful resource for all kinds of information. In the front of your white pages, all government listings have blue edges. Just look for Parks and Recreation at the county level, and for each city level to learn more about city parks.
Your library system is excellent, please learn to use it. It is a wonderful source of information. Pay a visit to the one nearest you, have each family member get their own card and you have access not only to books, but record albums (remember them?), CDs, movies, story hour for the little ones,
computers with Internet access, etc. Reference librarians can be extremely helpful in helping you find just what you want and need.
Since you are new to the area, don't forget to stop by (or call) the local Tourist Bureau; there's one in San Jose and there might also be one at the county level, I can't remember. They will have much literature available to do fun things and see the sights.
http://claraweb.co.santa-clara.ca.us...old/index.html
Now, to learn about other parks in neighboring counties; that is, San Mateo; Santa Cruz, San Francisco, etc., use your favorite Search Engine. Mine is: http://www.google.com
Enter your search phrase. Example:
san mateo county camping parks. You will get a lot of info back doing this for each of the counties around you.
Also, California has many State operated parks, some of which will be within a 2-hour drive. So, use Google again and search for the California State Park website; actually, I believe it's just a very large section within the official California State Government website.
Lastly, your local phone book is a wonderful resource for all kinds of information. In the front of your white pages, all government listings have blue edges. Just look for Parks and Recreation at the county level, and for each city level to learn more about city parks.
Your library system is excellent, please learn to use it. It is a wonderful source of information. Pay a visit to the one nearest you, have each family member get their own card and you have access not only to books, but record albums (remember them?), CDs, movies, story hour for the little ones,
computers with Internet access, etc. Reference librarians can be extremely helpful in helping you find just what you want and need.
Since you are new to the area, don't forget to stop by (or call) the local Tourist Bureau; there's one in San Jose and there might also be one at the county level, I can't remember. They will have much literature available to do fun things and see the sights.
