Restored Big Basin bus service a boon to riders

EDITOR,
Hurray to Santa Cruz Metro for re-establishing the Big Basin weekend bus service to California’s oldest state park. The exciting part about this route enables riders to enjoy the bus to Big Basin, allowing anyone to take the “Skyline to the Sea” trail all the way down to Waddell Creek and pick up a return bus to the Metro Center at Highway 1. Finally, Big Basin and its 2,000-year-old redwoods, the magnificent “Skyline to the Sea” trail, and no need to leave cars at Big Basin and Highway 1. This service will run weekends, through mid-September, and it is a great opportunity for county residents to conveniently take advantage of some of the best that Santa Cruz County has to offer. Thank you Metro! A ribbon cutting inaugural ride on Saturday, June 8 initiated the weekend service that resumed Route 35A from the Metro Center. Riders can hop on the bus in Santa Cruz or in Scotts Valley on its way up to Big Basin. Those on board with us included Reed Holderman, Executive Director of the Sempervirens Fund, which helped found Big Basin as a state park in 1902, and Bonny Hawley, who leads the Santa Cruz State Parks Foundation. Congratulations to Transit District General Manager Les White and the Metro for funding this service. Leave your car behind, take the bus, bring the family, and enjoy the downhill hike through the Santa Cruz Mountains to Waddell Creek. It’s a trip you won’t soon forget!
Bruce McPherson Santa Cruz County Fifth District Supervisor