Read the stories that make for a richer drive over Highway 17.
A drive along Highway 17 will take the traveler from ocean influences in Santa Cruz, through rugged yet stunning redwood forests in the Santa Cruz Mountains to the Lexington Reservoir. Our Highway 17 driving tour will delight with many hidden historical nuggets along eight stops from Scotts Valley to Los Gatos. We highlight a few stops below but all eight can be read in blog form at the bottom of this page or by downloading our app, Mobile Ranger Guides.
Starting in the south, meet Swabby a heroic fallen pooch that served in WWII.
Moving northward, discover Holy City and Father Riker, a charismatic religious man who believed in free love, for himself, not his disciples.
Discover One-Eyed Charlie, our 19th century cross dressing stage coach driver.
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Their red building is easy to spot, not far from where Ocean Street leads onto Highway 17 in Santa Cruz, California. That's only part of what has made Mar ...
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Driving to Santa Cruz from Los Gatos, you'll pass signs for Redwood Estates just before the summit. The origins of this subdivision go back to the 1920s w ...
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Swabby was a German shepherd and member of the Marine K-9 Corps during WWII. His remains lie in a grave at the slightly dilapidated Pine Knoll Pet Cemeter ...
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For several decades in the 1900s eight Santa Claus statues welcomed motorists driving along the Old Santa Cruz Highway to a mysterious place called Holy C ...
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“Mountain Charley” McKiernan had finally met his match. Face to face with a 1,000 pound grizzly bear, standing almost ten feet tall on her haunches, McKie ...
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The narrow lanes and dangerously tight curves of California’s Highway 17 have earned it ominous nicknames like “Killer 17” and “Blood Alley”. In the mid-6 ...
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How many of us can say our family serves larded tenderloin of beef or clear green turtle for Thanksgiving dinner? I’m guessing not many, but beef, turtle, ...
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Driving from San Jose to Santa Cruz over Highway 17 is a pretty harrowing 40 minutes with tight twisting curves and crazy drivers. Just imagine driving a ...
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The heart of Alma, a ghost town of California’s past, lies submerged and mostly forgotten in the basin of the Lexington Reservoir along Highway 17, near S ...
