Coast Dairies State Park

Coast Dairies State Park
Panther Beach
Map showing the location of Coast Dairies State Park
Map showing the location of Coast Dairies State Park
Location of the Coast Dairies State Park in California
LocationDavenport, CA
Nearest citySanta Cruz, California
Coordinates37°01′N 122°11′W / 37.01°N 122.19°W / 37.01; -122.19
Area5,843 acres (23.65 km2)
Established2014
Governing bodyprivate

Coast Dairies is a state park in Santa Cruz County, California, near the city of Davenport.[1] It is managed as part of Wilder Ranch State Park, which is south of the park.

The new public lands protect a seven-mile (11 km) stretch of coastline and about 7,000 acres (2,800 ha) of prime coastal lands.[2] The beaches, which can be challenging to access, are tied together by the California Coastal Trail, which runs along the top of the bluff. The beaches are Sharktooth, Bonny Doon, Yellow Bank, Laguna Creek, and Panther, although many of these beaches also go by other local and historic names.[3]

The coastal lands on the ocean side of Highway 1 were donated to California State Parks in 2006, but remain undeveloped. The state park land spans a five-mile (8.0 km) segment of Highway 1 north and south of Davenport. In 2014, the Bureau of Land Management bought a 5,800 acres (2,300 ha) tract of land on the inland side of the highway adjacent to the coastal parcels. Some of the land east of the highway will continue to be used for farming, but most became the Cotoni-Coast Dairies unit of California Coastal National Monument.[3][4]

  1. ^ Rogers, Paul (January 12, 2015). "New national monument proposed for Santa Cruz coast". San Jose Mercury News. Retrieved April 27, 2015.
  2. ^ Coast Dairies project at Trust for Public Land
  3. ^ a b Coast Dairies State Park at Friends of Santa Cruz State Parks
  4. ^ Barboza, Tony (April 14, 2012). "Stretch of Northern California coast to be permanently protected". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved May 8, 2017.