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State Park

Photo: Sandip BhattacharyaCC BY 2.0Wikimedia Commons

State Park

The Forest of Nisene Marks State Park

California · CA

27

Trails

1

Campgrounds

Official sources & verification

Managed by California Department of Parks and Recreation

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Source of truth

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We display cached information from agency feeds. Hours, fees, permits, closures, fire restrictions, and conditions change without notice. Outdoors is not the permitting authority. Confirm current conditions for this park using the links above before you go — you are responsible for compliance. Last verified by us: Oct 14, 2026. Spot an error in our data?

About

A second-growth redwood forest in the Santa Cruz Mountains, healing from logging a century ago. Visitors picnic by Aptos Creek and hike, jog or bike the trails.

Source: parks.ca.gov

From Wikipedia

The Forest of Nisene Marks State Park is a state park of California, United States, protecting a secondary forest in the watershed of Aptos Creek and Soquel Creek within the Santa Cruz Mountains. It is located outside Aptos, California, and contains over 40 miles (64 km) of hiking trails and fire roads through 10,223 acres (4,137 ha) of variable terrain.

Source: Wikipedia — text licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Verify alerts and operational details with the managing agency below.

Trails

All trails in The Forest of Nisene Marks State Park

Aptos Creek Fire Road

20.2 mi2,612 ftgain
TrailDifficulty: Expert

Aptos Creek Trail

0.2 mi
Trail

Aptos Creek Trail

0.8 mi151 ftgain
TrailDifficulty: Easy

Big Slide Trail

1.2 mi581 ftgain
TrailDifficulty: Easy

Bridge Creek Trail

3.5 mi371 ftgain
TrailDifficulty: ModerateLoop
Buggy Trail

Buggy Trail

Aptos0.4 mi781 ftgain
TrailDifficulty: ModerateOut & Back

Buzzard Lagoon Road

9.7 mi1,047 ftgain
TrailDifficulty: Difficult

Carmichael Trail

0.4 mi7 ftgain
TrailDifficulty: Easy

Grover Gulch-LMB Connector

1.3 mi
Trail

Loma Prieta Grade

1.1 mi272 ftgain
TrailDifficulty: Easy

Loma Prieta Grade

0.3 mi
Trail

Loma Prieta Grade

0.1 mi13 ftgain
TrailDifficulty: EasyLoop

Campgrounds

All campgrounds in The Forest of Nisene Marks State Park
West Ridge Trail Camp

West Ridge Trail Camp

SoquelPricing varies — check with the operator
Campground Dispersed

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Hunting in this park

This park overlaps hunting unit

During hunting seasons, wear blaze orange and check regulations — see the California hunting page

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