Bonny Doon
Pastoral beauty with equestrian trails, vineyards, and lavender
fields; redwood forests, ancient seabeds and ocean views, as
well as an active art scene are all part of the Bonny Doon lifestyle.
Location and Flavor
Bonny Doon reclines on the slopes of Ben Lomond Mountain in
the Santa Cruz Mountains about 12 miles north of the University
of California at Santa Cruz (UCSC). The closest towns are Felton
in the San Lorenzo Valley, and Davenport along the coast.
Most of Bonny Doon's 1100 households enjoy an acre or more of
land. The community offers many fine horse properties with access
to horse trails in Fall Creek and Wilder Ranch on the coast,
as well as ocean view properties along the ridges.
Bonny Doon has much in the way of natural beauty with its coastal
redwoods, ocean views, rolling hills and soft green meadows.
The area is home to many residents who telecommute in various
genres of computing, which is perhaps one of the reasons that
even though Bonny Doon is in the boonies, high speed Internet
is available. Sunny Bonny Doon is also highly attractive to artists,
vineyard growers and lavender growers.
Activities and Attractions
While Bonny Doon has no city center or shops, the community
is not without its attractions, which include several wineries
like the Bonny Doon Winery with its rustic, country charm (think
garden, small front porch), one of the top producers in California
and one that not only grows organic but also implements the integrated
holistic agricultural practice known as biodynamics.
Considering Bonny Doon's large population of vineyard owners
and artists, its not surprising the community's main event of
the year is the Bonny Doon Wine and Art Festival.
Nature also plays a leading role in the appeal of Bonny Doon.
In addition to the pastoral landscapes, the towering Redwoods
and views of the Pacific, the community is home to the Bonny
Doon Ecological Preserve, a 550-acre reserve owned and managed
by the State.
Public access has recently been granted to both hikers and equestrians.
While hosting a variety of forest and chaparral habitats, the
reserve is best known for its ancient seabeds, locally unique
ponderosa pine forest, stands of the endangered Santa Cruz cypress,
and interesting rock outcrops (known locally as “moon rocks”).
The prehistoric seabeds left from tectonic activity millions
of years ago provide sandy hills and trails that contrast with
the lush, evergreen forests and support a rare community of native
plants found no place else on Earth.
While exploring these sandy pathways, and picking up the occasional
fossilized sand dollar, it's easy to mistake the wind in the
pines as the roar of the surf that crashes 5 miles away. Bird
watching is also popular here where over 40 species make their
homes including Cooper’s Hawk, woodpeckers, raven, purple
finch, California quail and Townsend’s warbler
Residents looking for shops, restaurants, arts and entertainment,
and so forth, needn't look far with Monterey Bay and San Jose
so close at hand.
Historical Tidbits
Founded in the 1850s as a logging camp, the community was named
after a line in Robert Burns' song, The Banks O' Doon ("Ye
banks and braes o'bonnie Doon.."), by John Burns (no relation),
a Scotsman living in the nearby beach town of Santa Cruz. |
