Scotts Valley, Scotts Valley, CA

Scotts Valley centers on Skypark, a former airfield in the Santa Cruz Mountains about six miles north of Santa Cruz. The 1940s pilot training strip is now the county's largest park, with ball fields, tennis courts, a playground, dog parks and a skate park, and the branch library sits right beside it. The streets around the park are suburban, built out as ranch and timber country turned residential. Redwoods and oaks crowd the edges of many blocks. The Skypark side of town is the most walkable part, where a stroll to the park, a drink at The Hangar and a library stop fit on one loop. Glenwood Open Space Preserve covers 170 acres of forest, meadow and wetland, saved from golf-course development in 1993, and its trails suit a slow walk or a morning run. Lodato Park and the Hiram D. Scott House add more green stops. The house is an 1853 Greek Revival landmark on the National Register that belonged to the man the town is named for, and the park list runs on through Shugart, MacDorsa and Hocus Pocus parks. Henry Cowell Redwoods State Park begins roughly a mile past the boundary. Laughing Monk pours Bay Area beers behind a big patio, and Steel Bonnet keeps a nano-brewery taproom with rotating food trucks. The Penny Ice Creamery scoops organic ice cream. Cruise Coffee Cafe on Kings Village Road pairs custom roasts with breakfast burritos, and brunch crowds head for Heavenly Roadside Cafe just outside the boundary. Kings Village shopping center is the everyday hub. A few errands can be done on foot near Skypark, but most days involve a car. Highway 17 is the direct way to San Jose, and the price of living in the hills is the summit crossing, which backs up at commute hours and shapes how people plan trips. Every Fourth of July, Skypark hosts the only large fireworks show in Santa Cruz County, and Scotts Valley turns out for it. The rest of the year the park feels like the town square.