Think You Know Santa Cruz? I Bet You Will Be Surprised by These 228 Things

Steven Bignell's first book was a guide to places to run, jog and walk in Santa Cruz County, and it was a hit. 

He sold 7,000 copies of Santa Cruz Guide for Runners, Joggers and Serious Walkers so far. But as he was researching it, he started finding odd and fascinating places in the county he didn't know about. 

That lead to his new volume, published just in time for Christmas, 228 Interesting, Odd, Beautiful & Historic Things to See in Santa Cruz County.

Even the most experienced Cruzan will find something they didn't know here. Do you know where the Human Sundial is? How about the North Coast Ramparts and Tunnels, which are ghost railroad tunnels or Fern Grotto, a colorful eery cave? Then there's the Seabright Last Supper, the epicenter of the Loma Prieta Earthquake and the Porter Wave, known as the Giant IUD (you'll have to read the book for those answers).

Bignell and partner Susan Bruijnes spent three years of weekends combing the coast and coming up with rarities. It's a perfect guidebook to the uninitiated, but one that has enough mystery spots to entertain and educate locals. 

So, why 228?

"I wish there was a cute answer for that," says the 63-year-old founder of Journeyworks Publishing, which specializes in health books. "Originally we were going to shoot for 200 but it just kept growing. There's probably another 60-70 we had on our list. We got to 200 but needed more in south county and San Lorenzo Valley, so we just kept working until we were ready to stop."

Bignell has a great line, he got from his wife Mary, who was raised in Watsonville: "The trip from Watsonville to Santa Cruz is shorter than the trip from Santa Cruz to Watsonville." That means, to them, that people from Watsonville often go to Santa Cruz and know the way, but Santa Cruzans rarely cross south of 41st Avenue. There's a lot down south they should know about.

Bignell says he's already getting suggestions for a second book. He's left out the West Cliff Blow Hole and Swanton's Berry Farm. But he's found things that he passed but never checked out, such as the Rancho del Oso nature center at Waddell Creek and the Seabright Last Supper.

They have all 25 area museums and 11 art galleries and a lot of wild things you probably haven't seen yet.

Last minute shopper alert: It's available at Bookshop Santa Cruz, Capitola Book Cafe, Crossroads Books in Watsonville and all of the State Parks for $14.95.