Corralitos, CA

Corralitos sits where the Santa Cruz foothills meet the Pajaro Valley farm belt, a few miles inland, along the creek that gave both the community and the old rancho their name. Orchards, vineyards and one famous sausage counter are what put it on the map. The wine trail is its best-known draw. Eight family-run wineries, among them Alfaro Family Vineyards, El Vaquero, Lester Estate Wines, Regan, Storrs and Nicholson Vineyards, pour in oak and redwood country with bay views. Marine air keeps evenings cool, which suits pinot noir and chardonnay. Visitors get there by taking Highway 1 to Freedom Boulevard and then driving up through the countryside. Byrne-Milliron Forest offers a loop trail with wide views, managed by the Land Trust of Santa Cruz County, and leashed dogs are allowed on its paths. Beyond that, the creek canyon and the oak woodland are the everyday scenery. Most homes are spread thin, ranch properties, hillside houses and rural parcels with space for orchards. The community keeps a modest center, a cluster of businesses along Corralitos Road and Freedom Boulevard, and most days it is quiet. The dining list is short because the community is small. Corralitos Market and Sausage Company, on Corralitos Road, is the lunch stop, with hand-made sausages and marinated meats from the butcher counter. Down on Freedom Boulevard, Lito's Community Cafe and Market covers a morning meal. The wineries encourage picnics and tell visitors to plan food ahead, since restaurants are scarce up in the hills. Daily life depends on the car. Watsonville has the big grocery stores and the quickest route to the coast highway, and roads in the hills narrow and twist past the last farm. Corralitos feels like an agricultural village that a wine trail happened to find, and the rural pace has survived the attention.