Santa Cruz Mission State Historic Park
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Santa Cruz Mission State Historic Park is a historic site in California, at a modelled elevation of 24 m. Loma Prieta stands 1,154 m to the northeast, 14 miles off. The nearest named place is Santa Cruz Mission (site), a historic site less than a tenth of a mile away. Big Sur Coast Highway - Route 1 passes 28 miles off.
The story
Mission Santa Cruz (Spanish: La Misión de la Exaltación de la Santa Cruz, lit. The Mission of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross) is a replica Spanish Californian mission in Santa Cruz, California. Located on the San Lorenzo River floodplain below what would later be named Mission Hill, the mission was founded on August 28, 1791, by Father Fermín Francisco de Lasuén, the successor to Father Junipero Serra. The mission was dedicated that same year but, in the winter rainy season, the river overflowed its banks and flooded the mission compound. The mission was then relocated to the top of Mission Hill. After earthquake damage and years of neglect, this second mission fell into disrepair, and much of it, though not all, was removed to accommodate the construction of the Holy Cross Church in 1889. A scaled-down replica was constructed in the 1930s, which today functions as a historical monument and chapel for the parish. Near the replica chapel stands the one surviving Mission Santa Cruz Mission building, an adobe structure built between 1822 and 1824. This adobe building served as housing for Indigenous families who, after being converted to Catholicism, lived and worked at the Mission. It is the oldest surviving structure in Santa Cruz County and the best preserved Native American residence at any of the Alta California missions. It is now part of Santa Cruz Mission State Historic Park.
From Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0.
Dates from 1791.
Wikidata Q12061892, referenced by the OpenStreetMap record.
What to expect
- Operated by
- California Department of Parks and Recreation
How to reach it
- 27.8 mi off the Big Sur Coast Highway - Route 1, National
Overlooks nearby
- 1 Shepherd's Knoll · 28 mi
Named places within 25 miles
- Santa Cruz Mission (site): 0.0 mi
- Clock Tower: 0.1 mi
- Compass Rose Plaza: 0.1 mi
- Soldiers & Sailors Statue: 0.1 mi
- Santa Cruz Bicentennial Monument: 0.3 mi
- SCOPE Park: 0.0 mi
- Mission Plaza Park: 0.1 mi
- Vets Hall: 0.1 mi
- Octagon Museum Park: 0.2 mi
- Rincon Park: 0.3 mi
- Collateral Damage: 0.1 mi
- Virgin Moon: 0.1 mi
- Cube: 0.2 mi
- Scribner, Saw Player (bronze): 0.2 mi
- Ocean Life Spiral: 0.2 mi
- Williams-Reynolds House: 0.2 mi
- Train Engine: 0.7 mi
- NOAA - Monterey Bay National Marine Sanctuary: 1.0 mi
- Undertow: 1.1 mi
- Looff Carousel: 1.1 mi
- Buckeye Picnic Area: 0.6 mi
- Oak Picnic Area: 0.6 mi
- Evergreen Picnic Area: 0.7 mi
- Millennium Circle: 0.7 mi
- Wagner Grove: 0.7 mi
- Bolcoff Hill: 0.7 mi
- Horseback Hill: 0.8 mi
- Prospect Hill: 1.1 mi
- La Corona: 2.6 mi
- Mount Alexander: 4.1 mi
- Jessie Street Marsh: 0.9 mi
- Neary Lagoon Wildlife Refuge: 1.0 mi
- Spineflower Habitat Protection Zone: 1.2 mi
- Sycamore Grove: 1.3 mi
- Sycamore Grove: 1.3 mi
- Santa Cruz Main Beach: 1.1 mi
- Cowell Beach: 1.2 mi
- Seabright Beach: 1.5 mi
- Lighthouse Field State Beach: 1.8 mi
- Its Beach: 1.8 mi
- Riverside Gardens Community Garden: 0.7 mi
- Santa Cruz Community Orchard: 0.8 mi
- Friendship Garden: 0.8 mi
- BSSC Garden: 0.9 mi
- AFE Salamander Garden: 0.9 mi
- Moose Lodge Falls: 3.4 mi
- Ferndell: 5.4 mi
- Maple Falls: 8.9 mi
- Fairy Falls: 9.1 mi
- Five Finger Falls: 10.5 mi
- Dodero Spring: 1.2 mi
- Horse Trough Spring: 1.9 mi
- Crystal Springs (private): 2.3 mi
- Redwood Springs: 5.3 mi
- Old Growth Spring: 6.7 mi
- Anthony's Bluff: 0.1 mi
- Chrystal Cliff: 0.3 mi
- Upper Quarry: 2.2 mi
- Upper Quarry: 2.2 mi
- Capitola Bluffs: 4.5 mi
- Santa Cruz Lighthouse: 1.8 mi
- Santa Cruz West Breakwater Light: 1.8 mi
- Point Pinos Lighthouse: 24.3 mi
- Felton Covered Bridge: 5.6 mi
- Felton Covered Bridge: 5.6 mi
- Natural Bridges Rock Arch: 2.5 mi
Summits around it
The highest named summits within 17.9 miles of Santa Cruz Mission State Historic Park. Elevation from each summit’s own record; bearing measured between the two coordinates.
| Summit | Bearing | Elevation | Distance |
|---|---|---|---|
| Loma Prieta | NE 48° | 1,154 m | 13.7 mi |
| Crystal Peak | NE 48° | 1,097 m | 14.2 mi |
| Mount Umunhum | NNE 29° | 1,063 m | 14.5 mi |
| Mount Thayer | NNE 25° | 1,061 m | 14.2 mi |
| Mount Chual | NE 48° | 1,046 m | 14.5 mi |
| Mount Bielawski | NNW 348° | 985 m | 17.3 mi |
| Castle Rock | NNW 348° | 979 m | 17.7 mi |
| El Sombroso | NNE 25° | 917 m | 15.3 mi |
When to go
Light through the year
| Date | Sunrise | Golden hour | Sunset |
|---|---|---|---|
| March equinox | 07:12 | 18:46 | 19:20 |
| June solstice | 05:50 | 19:53 | 20:32 |
| September equinox | 06:57 | 18:32 | 19:07 |
| December solstice | 07:18 | 16:15 | 16:56 |
Local time (America/Los_Angeles).
Climate normals
Months averaging 50–80 °F: year-round.
| Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Avg °F | 52 | 53 | 55 | 58 | 60 | 63 | 64 | 65 | 65 | 62 | 56 | 51 |
| Precip in | 6.4 | 6.1 | 4.3 | 2.0 | 0.9 | 0.2 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.1 | 1.3 | 3.2 | 6.0 |
1991–2020 U.S. Climate Normals, NOAA NCEI — Santa Cruz, 2 mi away.
Where this comes from
Location and category confirmed against OpenStreetMap.
OpenStreetMapWikidataOfficial siteOpenStreetMap element way/479813031
Day trips start here
- Santa Cruz · 0 mi
- Capitola · 4 mi
- Aptos · 7 mi
- Watsonville · 15 mi
- Moss Landing · 18 mi
- Marina · 24 mi
Take the scenic way to Santa Cruz Mission State Historic Park.
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