Enchanted Trail Trailhead — Attraction in Santa Cruz

Shady walk, easily found through GMaps. Sand pit is through a side trail off to the right maybe 150 yds up from the trailhead. Nice small area for dogs to go off leash for a bit. Trail is winding but quite narrow, and subject to abundant poison oak, and burrs in my dog who's got medium length coat. We went to Upper De Laveaga from there. All in shade, no real views beyond the trees. The trails in this park are in parallel without a lot of ways to cross from one to the other. Note that the space between trails are dense undergrowth and very steep terrain (though the trails themselves are not very steep). It's like parallel roads cut into a steep hillside. If you seek a shortcut back to your car, it is not as easy as what the 2D map suggests. I don't recommend this hike if you are highly allergic...

Parked off the hwy and entered the trailhead right outside a somewhat private residence. The beginning of the trail had a beautiful view (from the back) of the ocean and the climb starts rather mild. Once you enter the Enchanted Forest it’s absolutely magical filled with redwoods and shamrocks. Much cooler inside the Enchanted part of the trail. Absolutely loved it 😍🥰. Who doesn’t love a shade? 🤗The trail is shared with mountain...

This was the perfect trail for my kids (ages 3,5,7) . I’m not from Cali and was a bit nervous when I saw that mountain lion sign at the start of the trail. But I met several people along the hike who reassured me. We hiked to the playground/park and it was a nice reward for the kids. We stayed on the trail but it has plenty of places to venture off if you’re feeling bold :). Lovely weather and scenery. Hope...