Few readers of Sunset Magazine know that the publication was started by Southern Pacific Railroad as a promotional gimmick to persuade East Coast residents to visit the West Coast. It flopped at first, but eventually Laurence Lane, a former Midwestern farmer, purchased the magazine with the idea of turning it into a West Coast version of Better Homes and Gardens, and Sunset was on its way.
Even as the magazine became a success, Larry Lane never forgot his agrarian roots, and during the Depression the Lanes purchased a ranch on some 300 acres in a valley in the Santa Cruz Mountains for about $7,000. It was to be their weekend getaway. They named it Quail Hollow Ranch.
Now part of the Santa Cruz County Parks system, Quail Hollow Ranch fills a unique educational niche. The ranch house has been restored to appear as it did when the Lanes lived there during the 1950s. Back then the Lanes used the house, the gardens, the kitchen and even the stables as a way to practice what their magazine preached, coming up with beautiful but simple and functional designs, arrangements and even menus. For example, today we don’t think it unusual to combine a kitchen and dining room so they comprise a single space near a window, to let the outdoors in. But back when the Lanes did so at Quail Hollow Ranch, it was a novelty.
Subsequent owners sold the ranch to the county in 1986, and the Lane family endowed it with funds to support ongoing education and community activities. Today Lee Summers, a parks system interpreter, oversees all of the activities at Quail Hollow and is responsible for much of the restoration work and historic displays within the ranch house itself. Summers has been at the job for 12 years and considers the park “a unique jewel.”
Most visitors come to Quail Hollow Ranch not because of the farmhouse or cultural history but because of the land itself. More than four miles of trails for hikers provide beautiful views of the valley and mountains. The ranch sits partly on sandhills, which several million years ago lay under the ocean until the land uplifted to form the Santa Cruz Mountains. This unique habitat can be found nowhere else on earth. The ranch’s website notes that there are some 15 discrete habitats, which include the pond, evergreen forests, redwoods and grasslands, all home to rare and in some cases endangered species of flora and fauna, like the Santa Cruz wallflower, Ben Lomond buckwheat and the Mount Hermon June beetle.
Areas in the valley where endangered species thrive are off-limits to visitors year-round, except on Sundays in the month of April. Most visitors may not know it’s a constant struggle to maintain the special ecological balance in the valley’s unique environment; more than 60 volunteers work to protect it.
“We have endangered species of wildflowers that would be wiped out if we didn’t have volunteers clearing out the French broom,” says Linda Broadman, a part-time registered nurse who has volunteered at the ranch for 10 years. French Broom is a pretty yellow flowering plant that was introduced in California as an ornamental but is now encroaching on native species. “No one knew any better when they introduced it,” she says. “It’s lovely, but it is nonnative and acts like a bully, competing with the plants that are there.”
Some volunteers, like herpetologist Paul Haskins, are specialists. “I’ve always had a passion not for the warm and fuzzy creatures but the slimy and scaly ones, and I’ve spent most of my life discovering their secrets,” says Haskins. He hosts a Herp Walk on the first Sundays of the month, December through May, when children can have a hands-on experience with different species of salamanders, frogs, turtles and lizards.
Several years ago Haskins identified a special ecological problem at the ranch’s pond that affected the Western Pond Turtle, a sensitive species. The turtles need to sunbathe, which they traditionally did on the shores of the pond. Hoskins noticed that the small sunbathing turtles were vulnerable there to predators like the large-mouthed bass and bullfrogs. So he had a floating basking log put in the middle of the pond so the turtles could climb on it and sunbathe without fear—just another amenity for those lucky enough to reside at Quail Hollow Ranch.
Quail Hollow Ranch is a wonderful place for children. There are several summer day camps at the ranch. One, called Time Travelers, has children 6-11 receive an introduction to California and local history in the beautiful setting of the ranch, including stories of the Ohlone Indian tribe, the missions, and the pioneers. At another camp, for Science Sleuths, aged 6-11, participants are introduced to the Life Sciences and Physical Sciences. “Kids learn to use microscopes to study what they find,” says Lee Summers. “The camp includes a little chemistry and a little physics.”
Families can arrange to have birthday parties with special themes. At a recent “Lost and Found” party, kids learned how to use a compass. They are given compass coordinates to follow on a treasure hunt. Birthday parties cost about $150. Staff is provided along with activities, decorating, leadership, and a goodies bag. Parents provide the birthday food.
On Sundays and occasional Friday evenings the general public can enjoy programs at the ranch when topics range from stargazing to bat programs, from history hikes and house tours to fiber arts demonstrations. Most programs are free and are appropriate for a variety of ages. Also, the ranch is a popular setting for Saturday afternoon weddings and special services can be arranged.
It is all too easy for local residents—and tourists traveling through – to drive by the ranch without ever realizing the natural treasures it holds. As Lee Summers says, “It really is a little sanctuary, whether for our visitors who come and meditate by the pond once week, or those visitors who come once in a lifetime.”
TREK TO THE FORBIDDEN SANDHILLS
Every Sunday in April, 10am-12:30pm
Quail Hollow Ranch, 800 Quail Hollow Rd, Felton
Free, but reservations recommended. 831.335.9348
