The history of the Santa Cruz Mountains is still underneath the soil of the redwoods—until it gets dug out. Millions of years ago, the region was submerged in water, leaving leftovers of marine sediment to molt into the sandstone and limestone we have today. Since then, the ground we stand on has included storylines about mammoths, native histories and industrial revolution. Every so often we are reminded of those narratives, like when a Californian stumbles on a paleontological item.
For a treasure hunter to know what to look for, one has to know the geology first. One side of the winding roads of Highway 9, the Santa Cruz Mountains is composed of fickle sandstone, while the north Ben Lomond Mountains, is largely limestone. Running inside the range, the San Lorenzo River supplies drinking water and a history of industrialization. The thread between prehistoric pasts and contemporary accounts rely on this geography.
Here are seven stops for fossil hunters, history buffs and visitors to explore to come to a more complete understanding of the Santa Cruz Mountains.
- The San Lorenzo River
Twenty-nine miles long and integral to the environment of the region, the San Lorenzo River has a complicated history…