Loch
Lomond Recreation Area,
City of Santa Cruz,
Santa Cruz County
In brief:
4.9 mile loop initially sticks to the shores of the reservoir, then climbs to
a ridge with great views before descending back to the trailhead.
Getting there:
• From CA 17 in Scotts Valley (Santa Cruz County), exit Mt. Hermon Road.
Follow Mt. Hermon Road into Felton (about 3.5 miles), and the junction with Graham
Hill Road. Turn left, and drive about 0.3 mile to East Zayante Road. Turn left,
and drive about 2.6 miles to Lompico Road. Turn left and drive about 1.6 miles
to West Drive. Turn left, and drive carefully uphill on narrow West Drive, following
the Loch Lomond signs to the park entrance, about 0.8 mile. Once past the entrance
kiosk, continue about 0.6 mile to the parking lot at the end of the road, near
the boat launch.
• From CA 9 in Ben Lomond (Santa Cruz County), turn east onto Glen Arbor,
then turn onto Quail Hollow Road. At the junction with East Zayante, turn left,
and drive to the junction with Lompico Road. Turn left and drive about 1.6 miles
to West Drive. Turn left, and drive carefully uphill on narrow West Drive, following
the Loch Lomond signs to the park entrance, about 0.8 mile. Once past the entrance
kiosk, continue about 0.6 mile to the parking lot at the end of the road, near
the boat launch.
Trailhead details:
16 spots in a paved lot, with 3 handicapped spaces, and more parking on the road
and in other parking lots in the park. $4 entrance fee (pay in the park store
if entrance kiosk is empty). Maps available at the kiosk or park store. Pay phone,
drinking water, and restrooms at trailhead. The park store stocks a few beverages
and snacky foods. There is no direct public transportation to the park. Park hours
vary slightly, but generally the gate opens at 6 a.m. and closes at dusk. Trails
are poorly suited to wheelchairs.
Gas, food, and lodging:
Gas, stores, and restaurants in Felton, Ben Lomond, and Scotts Valley. No camping.
Rules:
Loch Lomond is only open from March 1 to September 15. Dogs are permitted
on leash, but are not allowed in the water. No bikes or horses.
Distance, category, and difficulty:
This 4.9 mile loop hike is moderate, with about 800 feet in elevation change.
Trailhead elevation is about 600 feet. The park's highest (trail) elevation is
about 1140 feet. Although this hike is short, there are several very steep stretches.
The Official Story:
City of Santa Cruz's Loch
Lomond page
Park office 831-335-7424
Map Choices:
• Use AAA's San Francisco Bay Region map to get there.
• 
This hike is described
and mapped in 60 Hikes within 60 Miles: San Francisco, by Jane Huber (yup,
that's me, the creator of this website). Order
this book from Amazon.com.
• 101 Great Hikes of the San Francisco Bay Area, by Ann
Marie Brown (order
this book from Amazon.com) has a simple map and featured hike.
• Trails of Santa Cruz, by Pease Press (order
from Pease Press) shows most of Loch Lomond trails in great detail.
• Tom Taber's Santa Cruz Mountains Trail Book has a simple map and
trail descriptions (order
this book from Amazon.com).
Loch Lomond in a nutshell
-- a printable, text-only guide to the featured hike.
View
photos from this hike.
A few hours at Loch Lomond Recreation Area can feel
like a Sierra getaway. The journey begins when you head north from Felton to Loch
Lomond, a mysterious and exotic name for a reservoir supplying water to the City
of Santa Cruz. A steep narrow road winds uphill through redwoods and sturdy cabin-like
homes, then drops down to a forested canyon, filled with sparkling water. Paddle
boats and kayaks dot the lake, but there are no gasoline-powered engines, in fact
no noise at all, save the gentle whir of fishing reels, whispers of wind blowing
through redwoods, and an occasional overhead airplane. Hard to believe this oasis
exists just about 10 miles from Santa Cruz and a short drive from San Jose.
The watershed was extensively logged, obliterating
old-growth redwoods; what's left is a forest mostly comprised of young redwoods
and Douglas fir, some knobcone pine, madrone, live oaks, huckleberry, and tanoak.
Permitted human activity 
is
confined to the lake itself, as well as a few trails and fire roads on the eastern
shore of the reservoir. Visitors can rent boats, fish, picnic, or hike, but no
swimming is permitted. Since Loch Lomond is open to the public only from March
to mid-September, it's a logical destination for summer get-togethers or those
"gone fishing" days. Loch Trail, which clings to a hillside just above
the shoreline, is a hotbed of fishing activity, but once you get past Deer Flat,
you'll likely find empty trails. When I visited in June a few of the minor paths
were totally littered with inches of fallen madrone and tanoak leaves, giving
the impression that few human feet had passed through any time recently. Trail
loops vary from 1/2 mile to 5 miles. The longest (described below) is the toughest,
also a perfect tour through all the park's environments, from shoreline to ridgetop.
Be sure to grab the park map
before setting out on all but the shortest hikes here -- every trail has a Scottish
name and from every picnic area several similarly-named paths depart, criss-crossing
through the forest.
Start at the parking lot near the park store
and boat launch, on Loch Trail, which begins near the restrooms and an information
signboard. The narrow path (like all park trails, it's only open to hikers) edges
along the shoreline. Folks out for a day of fishing for trout, bluegill, and bass
sometimes block the trail with their gear, so step carefully. Tanoak, redwood,
and madrone shade the trail. Look for the delicate purple flowers of California
harebell in early summer. At 0.18 mile, signed Cunningham Trail sets out on the
right, but continue left on Loch Trail.
At a nearly level grade, the trail sticks near the
water, sometimes sweeping
slightly inland to avoid damp spots. You may notice huckleberry along the trail,
as well as invasive French broom. Look left across the lake for a view to Clar
Innis Picnic Area, accessible only by boat. At 0.44 mile, under a pretty bunch
of madrone, signed MacGregor Trail heads uphill to the right, to Glen Corrie Picnic
Area. Stay to the left on Loch Trail.
As the trail skirts Stewart Cove you'll ascend
a bit, on some steep stairs, drop back down to the water level, and climb again,
all the while through a forest of tanoak, redwood, and madrone. Look for trilliums
in spring. At 0.89 mile, you'll reach a signed junction with MacLaren Trail, which
veers straight uphill. Continue to the left on Loch Trail.
With most of its
wandering done, the trail sticks to a nearly flat grade as it travels through
a slightly more open forest, where you might notice western heart's ease in spring.
Hazelnut and huckleberry are common, but alas, so is poison oak, growing here
mostly as ground cover. At 1.25 mile Loch Trail ends at a signed junction with
Loch Sloy Service Road. (If you're ready to turn back now, turn right and follow
the service road to Glen Corrie Picnic Area, then take Gilchrist Trail to the
trailhead.) Turn left.
In summer the first stretch of trail resembles two
parallel paths, with overgrown knee-high vegetation creating a median strip down
the middle of the fire road. A break in the woods permits sunshine to foster a
few shrubs of toyon, lizardtail, creambush, sticky monkeyflower, as well as some
live oak and California bay. Look for Ithuriel's spear and coyote mint blooming
in late spring. Gradually the nearly level trail returns to a woodland 
of
redwood, madrone, and tanoak. At 1.67 miles Loch Sloy Service Road ends near Deer
Flat. Turn right onto Highland Service Road.
The broad fire road begins a moderate but
steady climb, through more redwood, tanoak, madrone, live oaks, and hazelnut.
You might notice white redwood ivy and yerba buena flowering in late June. At
2.10 miles you'll reach an unsigned junction. Stay to the right, doubling back
and continuing to climb (if you only remember one thing about the route to
the ridgeline, remember that at any junction always take the uphill option). After
a straight stretch, the trail curves left and
passes through an open area where poison oak and broom flourish. You'll reach
another non-junction at 2.30 miles -- once again stay to the right. At
2.63 miles Highland Service Road crests at a gate marking the park boundary. Veer
right, remaining on the fire road.
At a slight incline the fire road begins to traverse
the ridge. Tall redwoods, tanoak, and madrone give way to knobcone pine, broom,
ceanothus, monkeyflower, and poison oak. In one very sunny, open area chamise,
toyon, and manzanita, tumble together on the left, while huckleberry shrubs line
the right side of the trail. You can peak through a sparse collection of trees
on the left, to a forested ridge east of the park. Highland Service Road emerges
at a hilltop, and although this isn't the high point of the hike, here you'll
find the best views, downhill to the reservoir.
If it's not too hot a bare patch just in front of a row of yerba santa is a nice
spot for lunch. A fairly steep descent is followed by an equally sharp ascent,
and then the fire road continues to climb, with some small drops to give your
legs a workout. Vegetation shifts back to redwood forest, and you may be able
to pick out the steep skid roads loggers used when removing trees perhaps 100
years ago. Two very steep drops are perilously fraught with lose dirt and stones,
but the worst of the descent is over by the time you reach an easy-to-miss junction
with Big Trees Nature Trail, at 4.04 miles. (You can add 1/2 mile to this hike
by taking Big Trees Nature Trail left, uphill. The trail climbs steeply, loops
back downhill, and ends near the Glen Corrie Picnic Area.
)
Turn right.
The narrow path descends at a moderately steep pitch,
through redwood, tanoak, live oaks, and madrone. If you've brought the park's
nature booklet with you (available for free at the park store) you can follow
along with numbered posts. At 4.22 miles, the other end of the nature trail feeds
in from the left, then the trail descends to a tricky junction near Glen Corrie
Picnic Area. Before you reach the restrooms at 4.30 miles, look left for Glen
Corrie Trail, which doubles back and heads uphill.
After a short ascent, the trail crosses the
park road and heads back into the woods. Just before a bridge Gilchrist Trail
takes over, traveling through a thick tanoak, madrone, and redwood forest, with
few understory plants. At a signed junction with Caber Trail continue downhill
to the right on Gilchrist Trail. Follow the path downhill through the fringes
of another picnic area, then at another signed junction turn left, following
the sign for "Lake Picnic Areas." Gilchrist continues downhill, then
crosses a footbridge and ends, at 4.68 miles, at the park road. Turn left and
walk down the road to the trailhead.
Total distance: 4.89 miles
Last hiked: Wednesday, June 26, 2002
Go to Bay Area Hiker Home page
like a Sierra getaway. The journey begins when you head north from Felton to Loch
Lomond, a mysterious and exotic name for a reservoir supplying water to the City
of Santa Cruz. A steep narrow road winds uphill through redwoods and sturdy cabin-like
homes, then drops down to a forested canyon, filled with sparkling water. Paddle
boats and kayaks dot the lake, but there are no gasoline-powered engines, in fact
no noise at all, save the gentle whir of fishing reels, whispers of wind blowing
through redwoods, and an occasional overhead airplane. Hard to believe this oasis
exists just about 10 miles from Santa Cruz and a short drive from San Jose. 
is
confined to the lake itself, as well as a few trails and fire roads on the eastern
shore of the reservoir. Visitors can rent boats, fish, picnic, or hike, but no
swimming is permitted. Since Loch Lomond is open to the public only from March
to mid-September, it's a logical destination for summer get-togethers or those
"gone fishing" days. Loch Trail, which clings to a hillside just above
the shoreline, is a hotbed of fishing activity, but once you get past Deer Flat,
you'll likely find empty trails. When I visited in June a few of the minor paths
were totally littered with inches of fallen madrone and tanoak leaves, giving
the impression that few human feet had passed through any time recently. Trail
loops vary from 1/2 mile to 5 miles. The longest (described below) is the toughest,
also a perfect tour through all the park's environments, from shoreline to ridgetop.
Be sure to grab the park map
before setting out on all but the shortest hikes here -- every trail has a Scottish
name and from every picnic area several similarly-named paths depart, criss-crossing
through the forest. 
slightly inland to avoid damp spots. You may notice huckleberry along the trail,
as well as invasive French broom. Look left across the lake for a view to Clar
Innis Picnic Area, accessible only by boat. At 0.44 mile, under a pretty bunch
of madrone, signed MacGregor Trail heads uphill to the right, to Glen Corrie Picnic
Area. Stay to the left on Loch Trail.
wandering done, the trail sticks to a nearly flat grade as it travels through
a slightly more open forest, where you might notice western heart's ease in spring.
Hazelnut and huckleberry are common, but alas, so is poison oak, growing here
mostly as ground cover. At 1.25 mile Loch Trail ends at a signed junction with
Loch Sloy Service Road. (If you're ready to turn back now, turn right and follow
the service road to Glen Corrie Picnic Area, then take Gilchrist Trail to the
trailhead.) Turn left.
of
redwood, madrone, and tanoak. At 1.67 miles Loch Sloy Service Road ends near Deer
Flat. Turn right onto Highland Service Road.
passes through an open area where poison oak and broom flourish. You'll reach
another non-junction at 2.30 miles -- once again stay to the right. At
2.63 miles Highland Service Road crests at a gate marking the park boundary. Veer
right, remaining on the fire road. 
If it's not too hot a bare patch just in front of a row of yerba santa is a nice
spot for lunch. A fairly steep descent is followed by an equally sharp ascent,
and then the fire road continues to climb, with some small drops to give your
legs a workout. Vegetation shifts back to redwood forest, and you may be able
to pick out the steep skid roads loggers used when removing trees perhaps 100
years ago. Two very steep drops are perilously fraught with lose dirt and stones,
but the worst of the descent is over by the time you reach an easy-to-miss junction
with Big Trees Nature Trail, at 4.04 miles. (You can add 1/2 mile to this hike
by taking Big Trees Nature Trail left, uphill. The trail climbs steeply, loops
back downhill, and ends near the Glen Corrie Picnic Area.
)
Turn right.