Just south of Santa Cruz and north of Monterey you’ll find the city of Watsonville smack dab in the middle of lush California farmland. Here, you can reconnect your family with where your food is grown and to those who grow it. Visit Watsonville as a day trip from the East Bay Area or while you’re staying in Santa Cruz, Pajaro Dunes, Moss Landing, or Monterey.
Since Watsonville is only about an 1.5 hour drive from the East Bay Area, we’ve explored the city a few times as either a day trip or while staying at Mt. Madonna or Pajaro Dunes. Here are a few of our favorite kid-friendly activities in Watsonville:
Before you go
- Plan your route ahead of time: From the East Bay Area, you can either drive on Highway 101 or Highway 1. Pick the route that has less traffic or has you arrive closest to your first activity. We usually take HWY 101 if we’re headed to the farms first, or HWY 1 if we’re headed to the beach.
- Pick up food: Stop for groceries at Staff of Life Natural Foods and stock up on essentials. Or, pack all you need for your getaway in a cooler before you go.
- Factor naps into your departure time: Leave the East Bay during naptime so your kiddos can sleep on the ride. The total trip takes about 1.5 hours.
What we packed
- Standard diaper bag essentials
- Beach essentials (towels, sand toys, beach mat, kite, and sunscreen)
- Stroller and/or baby carrier
- Cooler with snacks, lunch, and water
- Scooter or bikes and helmets
- Tennis gear
- Pack layers – the beach can be cold when the fog rolls in, but not when it rolls out!
Top 7 Things to do in Watsonville with your Kids
1. Explore some of California's best farmland
Purchase freshly picked strawberries from Monterey Bay Farms - Kuni Bea Farms
Just a short drive from Pajaro Dunes, this Asian-American-owned farm has been in the family for 100 years. I messaged them on Facebook to arrange to pick up a box of organic strawberries.
I arrived a little late and the shop looked closed, but as I walked back to my car, out came Farmer Rod down his driveway to get me my order. He was such a nice guy and even offered to wash my basket of freshly picked delicious red strawberries so we could eat them in the car.
It was an honor to meet one of the farmers and to learn of his love for my neighborhood market, Berkeley Bowl.
Visit Gizdich Ranch U-Pick & Pies
We stopped by Gizdich Ranch, a short 15-minute drive into Watsonville from the Pajaro Dunes beach to pick our own strawberries and buy some of their legendary pies. We were there just in time for strawberry season (July) and picked and ate strawberries to our hearts’ content. The strawberry patch is just off the main road, but be mindful that the pie ranch is actually a half-mile drive away!
We hopped back in our cars and drove to the main ranch house to buy delicious pies and check out some neat antiques. The parking lot for pie was crowded. If you’re hungry and don’t mind the wait they also offer sandwiches.
We’ll be back for apple season in the fall! Check out their website for additional fruit picking opportunities year-round.
Pick organic fruit at Live Earth Farms U-Pick and CSA
Live Earth Farms offers organic produce u-pick. Check their website for available dates and times. At the time of this writing, u-pick tickets were only available on Saturdays and Sundays from May-October.
Bring your own basket and feel good about picking and eating produce from a farm that focuses on biodiversity, making their land a wildlife corridor, and supporting the local community.
On the day we arrived there were plenty of strawberries for our little hands to pick. We left with a full basket and a full belly. Sorry Live Earth, I had a hard time stopping my toddler from eating your delicious berries before they made it into the basket…
Although we did see an insane amount of Teslas parked at Live Earth for U-Pick day – I’m talking over 50% of the cars – there were quite a few BIPOC families picking alongside us.
2. Sierra Azul Nursery & Gardens
Wander the Sculpture Gardens of Sierra Azul Nursery & Gardens. We were looking for a way to spend an hour after lunch with our young kiddos and found family-owned Sierra Azul Nursery & Garden which was the perfect spot to wander, almost so perfect I wish we brought our lunch here to eat!
There are picnic tables under vine-covered gazebos, kid-sized houses to play in, and a sculpture garden full of fun things to see. We wandered through the sculpture trail and found spiders, mermaids, fish, faces, kites, and so much more.
Be sure to bring home a plant or two before you go—I would not say I have a green thumb, but I have aspirations to be a plant mama like my dear friend Angelica! Also check out the “for sale” stash in the parking lot. We found some small metal art in the shape of birds and brought home four little metal birds for our fence.
3. Go to Palm State Beach
Just south of Highway 1 and 10 minutes from downtown Watsonville through fields of strawberries, you’ll find a secluded beach! We had fun running on the mostly empty beach, finding shells, crabs, jellyfish, and birds.
My toddler enjoyed kite-watching and making sandcastles, while my baby enjoyed eating sand. To each her own.
The beach can be reached through a beach access road between the Pajaro Dunes condos. Follow the signs from the highway to Palm Beach State Park at the end of West Shell Drive in Watsonville.
Pinto Lake County Park is a 183-acre park with a playground, a lake where people boat and fish, and a ton of open grassy space that is actually pretty easy to miss if you’re not looking out for it.
We were looking for a place for our older child to play while our baby napped in the car and found this park on google maps. I’m so glad we decided to check it out!
My preschooler loved the playground, the workout station, and watching a game of soccer while we waited for baby sister to wake up. I loved playing pretend with her at the workout station too while—you guessed it—working on my fitness.
I love multi-tasking.
5. Go wine tasting
Watsonville soil is good for produce and good for wine grapes! Although it does not get warm enough for all varietals, the Pajaro Valley is just the right temperature for a delicious Pinot Noir.
The winery is small and very family-friendly. The winemaker and owner greeted us, served us, and also shared stories about his two little girls of similar ages who are often seen romping around the vineyard.
You taste wine under the canopy directly on their vineyard, surrounded by hills, trees, and lots of space for your kids to roam and play. Try their cab!
6. Hike Mt. Madonna
Mt. Madonna County Park is nestled deep in the redwoods along the east end of Watsonville. The park is very popular with locals coming in to hike, walk, bike, camp, and explore.
We hiked to the Henry Miller Ruins, the 1860s summer mansion of the “Cattle King.” Henry Miller was a German immigrant who came to America with $5 in his pocket and made it rich. I can’t help but hear this story and roll my eyes; there is no mention of his benefit as a white man in this historical retelling, but I digress…
The hike is an easy 0.2 miles round trip, so let your kiddos walk and take their time meandering through a beautiful redwood grove and climbing on the ruins.
Since I live in an old house, my preschooler was asking a lot of questions about why our house is still standing but this one is not. Her concern surprised me!
7. Eat at Watsonville's kid-friendly restaurants
Watsonville is surrounded by lush farmland that – not surprisingly – fuels a delicious and kid-friendly food scene.
Some of our favorites are:
Check out our blog post about our favorite Watsonville eats here.
Antiracist Travel Considerations
History Corner:
The Amah Mutsun have stewarded this land since time immemorial. Many were relocated to Mission Santa Cruz or Mission San Juan Bautista in the 1800’s, and were not given federal recognized status or land in the years following.
Many migrant farmers have supported the development of the Watsonville farming industry. In 1930, the Watsonville Riots – a five-day brutal and xenophobic attack by white men on Pilipinx farmworkers in the area occurred. I wasn’t as familiar with this history, recognizing the erasure of the racism that families of color have endured in the United States.
Our experience
My family felt safe and comfortable visiting these farms. There were often many other BIPOC families present, picking alongside us. Farm staff were mostly white, and pleasant towards our family.
Learn More
1. Read more about the Amah Mutsun Tribal Band’s fight for recognition here. Donate to their land trust here.
2. Research the farms before you go and support locally owned and BIPOC farms first.
3. Read about the Watsonville is in the Heart project that is collecting stories of local families in this area to record their history.
Being in nature always regenerates me, reminding me of the importance of reconnecting with the land, nature, and my family. I value getting my children dirty, exposing them to the mist in the trees and the moss on the ground. There was something different though about being surrounded by farmland—it was a different value I wanted to share with my kids and wasn’t exactly sure how.
Somewhere in the middle of the picking berries and meeting the farmers I heard my toddler’s inquisitive mind ask about what farmers do and how strawberries grow. I would’ve been remiss if I didn’t bring up the Daniel Tiger song reminding us to “look a little closer to find out what we want to know.” We both looked a little closer on this trip to find out what we wanted and what we needed to know.
We recommend that you spend time in Watsonville connecting with the land, the food you eat, the history, and the people who grow your food. Share with your little one how everyone plays a role in helping them grow big and strong, and how our food choices matter.
How do you talk to your kids about where their food comes from? Share in the comments below!
This post is part of a series of posts about visiting Watsonville with kids. Continue the adventure with us here:
Puerto Rican & Indigenous mama of two. Bay Area native. Salsa dancer. Backpacker. Doula. Angel (she/her/hers) is a co-founding member of the Beautiful Brown Adventures team. She has traveled to over 30 countries and loves to explore the world with her two daughters & partner - one ice cream shop at a time.
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