Corralitos · Santa Cruz Mountains · California
One hundred fifty acres above Eureka Canyon
The Offering
Eureka Canyon Road climbs fifteen miles from Corralitos in the Pajaro Valley up to the Summit near Loma Prieta, where it becomes Highland Way. This parcel sits on the north side of that road, about a third of a mile northwest of Park Way.
This is a rare 150±-acre south-facing property with a wide-open view of Monterey Bay, seven miles from the Corralitos market. You enter through a gated entrance off Eureka Canyon Road and follow a paved driveway up to a cabin set among sun, oaks and quiet.
It is fully off the grid — solar power, water source and storage, and septic already in place, with a fenced garden and abundant fruit trees. Days here belong to the hawks and the fog burning off the bay; nights belong to the stars. And yet you are within reasonable driving distance of markets, schools, Santa Cruz, Monterey and Silicon Valley.
With the infrastructure already in place, the hard part is done. The vision is still open.
There are multiple potential home sites, each with its own view. Ideal as a weekend retreat now and a legacy family compound later — and the county zoning supports that plan. Under Santa Cruz County’s SU (Special Use) district, the parcel draws on the uses allowed in the RA and R‑1 districts where consistent with the General Plan: a single-family dwelling and a second dwelling unit, small-scale agriculture, greenhouses, wineries, private stables and paddocks, open space and recreational uses. Other uses are possible with county Level 5 use approval.
It also sits outside the Coastal Zone, which removes an entire layer of permitting that burdens comparable acreage closer to the water. One parcel, one owner, one gate — and a blank page.
What one hundred fifty acres actually looks like
Terrain & exposure
South-facing, and it changes everything
The parcel is the southwest quarter of Section 13 — a near-square block of mountain that falls away from an open, sun-held ridge into deep, shaded canyon. The orientation is south-facing, which on this side of the Santa Cruz Mountains is the difference between a dark parcel and a bright one: all-day sun on the building benches, a wide-open view of Monterey Bay, and the fog burning off below you rather than sitting on you.
The upper ground is bright and dry, holding live oak, madrone, knobcone pine and manzanita. The lower ground is redwood and mixed evergreen forest, cool and quiet, the kind of stand that defines the headwaters canyons here. On one parcel you get full-sun benches to build or plant on, and old forest you would never touch.
Access
A paved road, not a promise
The single hardest and most expensive thing to add to mountain land is a real road. This one already exists: a gated entrance off Eureka Canyon Road, then a paved and graded private drive that climbs the face of the mountain in long, engineered switchbacks with cut-and-fill benching, culverts and retaining work. The Corralitos market is seven miles down the hill.
County records reflect the history behind it — a private-driveway grading application, an emergency grading permit, and a completed soils-and-geology report review on file with the Planning Department. For a buyer, that means the questions engineers ask first have already generated paper.
Home sites & garden
Multiple home sites, and a garden that already produces
Several benches along the road have been cleared, mulched and opened to the sun — broad, level-to-gently-sloping pads, each with its own view south and west across the canyon and, on the higher ground, out to the bay. One carries a steel frame already set on the pad; the others are simply flat, clean and ready to walk with a builder or a viticulturist.
A deer-fenced garden with terraced rows, established vines and abundant fruit trees is already in production. That matters beyond the fruit: it means the exposure, the soil and the water have been tested at small scale by someone who lived with this ground.
Off the grid
Power, water and septic, already here
This is not a parcel where you begin by trenching for utilities. It is fully off the grid and functioning: solar power, a water source with storage tanks plumbed to the upper benches, and a septic system in place, plus propane, a fenced garden and abundant fruit trees. That combination — not the view, not the acreage — is what usually takes years and six figures to assemble on raw mountain land.
Fine Creek crosses the northern portion of the parcel; county GIS maps an intermittent watercourse here and places the land in the Upper Corralitos watershed of the Pajaro basin. Capacities, condition and permit standing of all systems are for the buyer and their consultants to verify — the title report, the recorded 1929 water-pipe easement and the county resource mapping are all in the Land Answer Pack.
Six futures the zoning makes possible
Zoning note
Santa Cruz County Code Chapter 13.10. The “SU” Special Use district allows all uses allowed in the “RA” or “R‑1” districts provided the use is consistent with the General Plan; all other permitted or conditionally permitted uses require a Level 5 use approval and General Plan consistency. Timber harvesting is not an SU use. Every use below is subject to verification with Santa Cruz County Planning — nothing here is a representation that a permit will issue.
Estate & CompoundA weekend retreat now, a family legacy later
SU draws on the RA district, where a single-family dwelling and one second dwelling unit are allowed uses. Use the cabin as a weekend retreat while you plan; build the main house on the view bench when you are ready. With multiple potential home sites at different elevations and exposures, each with its own view, the family-compound plan is a site-planning exercise rather than an entitlement fight.
Vineyard & WineryCorralitos fruit, on your own hill
Corralitos and the Pleasant Valley hills have built a serious reputation for cool-climate pinot noir, and the SU/RA allowance includes small-scale agriculture, greenhouses and wineries. South and west benches with all-day sun, deer fencing already proven on site, and enough acreage to plant a block and still keep the forest intact.
EquestrianPrivate stables, and the trails to use them
Private stables and paddocks are among the RA-district uses SU draws on. The graded road system, the open benches and one hundred fifty acres of your own ridge and canyon mean the horses never have to load into a trailer to get somewhere worth riding.
Retreat & RecreationA place people come to, not through
Open space and recreational uses sit within the SU/RA allowances; a more intensive retreat, camp or wellness concept is a Level 5 use approval conversation with the County. The bones — access, water storage, cleared gathering ground, absolute privacy behind a single gate — are unusually far along for a site of this kind.
Conservation & LegacyBuy the mountain and leave it alone
One hundred fifty contiguous acres in the Upper Corralitos watershed, adjoining large private holdings, with mapped biotic, archaeological and watershed resources on portions of the parcel. For a land trust, a conservation-easement buyer, a 1031 exchange, or a family that simply wants to own a mountain and hand it down, the case here is straightforward.
Off-Grid & Self-ReliantAlready independent, from week one
Solar power, a water source with storage, septic and propane are in place, with a fenced garden and fruit trees producing. Most buyers of mountain land spend the first two years and a great deal of money getting to exactly this point. Here you arrive at it — and the nearest neighbor is a ridge away.
What is already here
An honest inventory, written the way a buyer’s inspector would write it — with what is confirmed by county record separated from what a buyer needs to confirm for themselves.
- Gated private entranceLocked gate at Eureka Canyon Road with a paved apron and signed frontage. Seven miles up from the Corralitos market.
- Paved private driveA benched, paved road climbing the mountain in engineered switchbacks to the upper benches, with cut-and-fill work, culverts and retaining.
- CabinAn existing cabin set among the oaks on an upper bench, served by the drive and by the off-grid systems below.
- Solar powerThe property is off the grid and running on solar. Array capacity, battery storage, inverter and condition to be verified by buyer.
- Water source & storageA water source with multiple large storage tanks installed and plumbed to the upper benches. Source, yield, treatment and condition to be verified by buyer.
- SepticA septic system is in place. The parcel is within CSA 12, the county Septic Maintenance District. Type, capacity, permit records and condition to be verified by buyer.
- PropaneAbove-ground propane tanks in a fenced enclosure serving the upper improvements.
- Fenced garden & orchardA deer-fenced garden with terraced planting rows, established vines and abundant fruit trees at more than one location.
- Multiple potential home sitesSeveral cleared and mulched benches at differing elevation and exposure, each with its own view, connected by the road system. One carries a steel frame already set on the pad.
- Permitted accessory structureCounty records show a 470 sq ft non-habitable accessory building permitted under building permit B‑141478 (issued February 2015, status Complete), subject to a recorded Declaration of Restriction limiting it to non-habitable accessory use. Permit standing of the other improvements is for the buyer to confirm with the County.
- Reports on fileA combined soils and geological report review (county application REV101038) was completed and closed with the Planning Department.
Where it sits
The record, in the open
The fastest way to kill a land deal is an unanswered question. Here are the county facts up front; the full record, including title, easements and the complete permit and application history, is on the next page.
| Assessor’s Parcel Number | 106‑371‑05 |
|---|---|
| Parcel size | 150.084 acres · 6,537,659 sq ft |
| Zoning | SU — Special Use District |
| General Plan designation | R‑MT — Mountain Residential |
| Coastal Zone | No |
| Urban / Rural Services Area | Outside both |
| Watershed & basin | Upper Corralitos · Pajaro basin · water supply watershed |
| Fire | CSA 48 Santa Cruz County Fire · State Responsibility Area, SRA‑High |
| Schools | Pajaro Valley Unified · Cabrillo College District |
| 2025/26 assessed value | $425,302 — land $301,372, improvements $123,930 |
| 2025/26 property taxes | $5,322.22 — two installments of $2,661.11 |
| List price | $1,495,000 — approximately $9,960 per acre |
Source: Santa Cruz County Assessor and Planning Department records and the preliminary title report, exported August 2026. Believed reliable; not guaranteed. Buyer to verify.
Every question a land buyer asks, answered in one package.
Zoning summary, assessor and GIS maps, parcel map, permit and application history, tax detail, preliminary title report and site notes — assembled and sent directly to you or your agent.
Listed by
Lance Hulsey
Broker Associate · KW Thrive SC · CA DRE #01724888
Licensed since 2006. More than 150 transactions and over $100 million in sales across Silicon Valley and Santa Cruz County.
Every document behind this listing — zoning, permits, title and tax detail — is assembled and ready to send.
Showings on 150 acres of mountain are guided and by appointment. Bring boots.