Coast guide leads you to Wilder Ranch - and other delights - Santa Cruz County, California - Sunset's Travel Guide

Sunset, Oct, 1991

If you're like us, your old copy is salt- and sandblasted. High time, then, for a new edition of the California Coastal Access Guide, which is to beach lovers what Gray's Anatomy is to M.D.s.

Filling the guide's 304 pages is information on 850 points of public access to the California coast. Data on camping, hiking, swimming, and fishing help you choose a beach; good maps ensure you won't wander aimlessly, towel and sunblock in hand.

The California Coastal Access Guide (California Coastal Commission, University of California Press, Berkeley, 1991; $15.95) is sold at most bookstores.

Among the new access points the revision highlights is 5,000-acre Wilder Ranch State Park, north of Santa Cruz. Weekends at noon, docents lead tours of ranch buildings; nature walks to the coast run Saturdays at 11, backcountry walks Sundays at various times.

Wilder Ranch State Park lies 2 miles west of Santa Cruz on State Highway 1. The park is open 8 to sunset, ranch buildings 10 to 4. Admission is $6 per vehicle. For more information, call (408) 423-9703.