The San Lorenzo Valley is in the

Santa Cruz Mountains The Santa Cruz Mountains, part of the Pacific Coast Ranges, are a mountain range in central and Northern California, United States. They form a ridge down the San Francisco Peninsula, south of San Francisco. They separate the Pacific Ocean from ...

Santa Cruz County, California Santa Cruz County (), officially the County of Santa Cruz, is a county on the Pacific coast of the U.S. state of California. As of the 2020 census, the population was 270,861. The county seat is Santa Cruz. Santa Cruz County comprises the Santa ...

and was once a logging industry center of California especially during the rebuilding of San Francisco after the 1906 earthquake. Now it is home to over 35,000 people. Home to millions of

Sequoia sempervirens ''Sequoia sempervirens'' ()''Sunset Western Garden Book,'' 1995:606–607 is the sole living species of the genus '' Sequoia'' in the cypress family Cupressaceae (formerly treated in Taxodiaceae). Common names include coast redwood, coastal ...

, or redwood trees, the valley includes the

census designated places A census-designated place (CDP) is a concentration of population defined by the United States Census Bureau for statistical purposes only. CDPs have been used in each decennial census since 1980 as the counterparts of incorporated places, such ...

Ben Lomond Ben Lomond (Scottish Gaelic: Beinn Laomainn, 'Beacon Mountain'), , is a mountain in the Scottish Highlands. Situated on the eastern shore of Loch Lomond, it is the most southerly of the Munros. Ben Lomond lies within the Ben Lomond National Me ...

, Felton,

Brookdale Brookdale is the name of many settlements, institutions, and businesses in English-speaking countries. Cities and towns * Brookdale, California, an unincorporated town in Santa Cruz County * Brookdale, Kansas * Brookdale, Manitoba, an unincorporat ...

and Boulder Creek, which lie along the winding, two-lane and outer areas of the valley and Highway 9. The

San Lorenzo River The San Lorenzo River is a long river whose headwaters originate in Castle Rock State Park in the Santa Cruz Mountains and flow south by southeast through the San Lorenzo Valley before passing through Santa Cruz and emptying into Monterey Ba ...

starts at its headwaters above Boulder Creek, it runs through the valley on its way to the city of Santa Cruz, where it then flows into the

Monterey Bay Monterey Bay is a bay of the Pacific Ocean located on the coast of the U.S. state of California, south of the San Francisco Bay Area and its major city at the south of the bay, San Jose. San Francisco itself is further north along the coast, by a ...

and the Pacific Ocean and also supplies the city of Santa Cruz with its drinking water. Much of the river valley is rural and wooded and other areas have neighborhoods and schools, and shopping areas. At its northern end, it abuts

Big Basin Redwoods State Park Big Basin Redwoods State Park is a state park in the U.S. state of California, located in Santa Cruz County, about northwest of Santa Cruz. The park contains almost all of the Waddell Creek watershed, which was formed by the seismic uplift ...

and Castle Rock State Park; toward the southern end is

Henry Cowell Redwoods State Park Henry Cowell Redwoods State Park is a state park of California, United States, preserving mainly forest and riparian areas in the watershed of the San Lorenzo River, including a grove of old-growth coast redwood. It is located in Santa Cruz Count ...

References

External links

Santa Cruz County Conference & Visitors Council - San Lorenzo Valley Visitor Information
Valleys of California River valleys of the United States Valleys of Santa Cruz County, California {{SantaCruzCountyCA-geo-stub