The 6,000-acre Cotoni Coast Dairies, a swath of mountainous terrain with scenic woodlands, Pacific Ocean vistas and miles of newly-cut trails, will open to the public for the first time in August.

The one-time dairy-turned-national monument sits nine miles north of Santa Cruz at the edge of the Santa Cruz Mountains overlooking the ocean. Its opening this summer will cap years of fundraising and labor to convert the scenic landscape into a public recreational destination.

“This is really unparalleled access to roughly 5,800 acres along the Pacific Ocean,” said Zachary Ormsby, field manager with the Federal Bureau of Land Management, which is overseeing the project.

Over the last three years, a mix of professional and volunteer labor has worked to carve a network of nine miles of trail th

See Full Page