Highland Way is an approximately 7.6-mile-long continuation of Eureka Canyon Road northwest to the Summit Road in Santa Cruz County. Highland Way follows the crest of the Santa Cruz Mountains and generally is aligned along the San Andreas Fault Rift Zone.
Much of what is now Eureka Canyon Road was developed in the early 1830s to access a sawmill located on upper Corralitos Creek in what was then Rancho de Los Corralitos. The Eureka Canyon Road corridor was eventually extended northwest to the Summit Road well before the automobile era in California era began. Much of Highland Way is located above 1,700 feet above sea level and is favored by hikers accessing numerous recreational areas along Soquel Creek.
Part 1; the history of Highland Way
Highland Way functions as a northward continuation of Eureka Canyon Road from the summit of the Santa Cruz Mountains. This highway links the community of Corralitos along the San Andreas Fault Rift Zone to the Summit Road near California State Routes 17 and 35.
The area now comprising Corralitos was part of the Spanish Portola Expedition of 1769. The name roughly translates to "little pens," but it is unclear what this was referencing. At the time of Portola Expedition, the Monterey Bay side of the Santa Cruz Mountains was populated by the native Awaswas.
Following the establishment of Mission Santa Cruz during August 1791 the southern Santa Cruz Mountains would become entrenched as part of Spanish Province of Las Californias. By 1810 the name Corralitos would be in common usage as a place east of Santa Cruz. During the era of Mexican Governance of Alta California approximately 15,440 acres of land would be granted to Jose Amesti as Rancho de Los Corralitos.
By 1832 Amesti is known to have constructed a sawmill to harvest Coastal Redwoods along the upper extent of Corralitos Creek in Eureka Canyon. The path taken the Amesti sawmill would form the basis for modern Eureka Canyon Road. It is unclear how far towards the summit Eureka Canyon Road originally extended.
Following the Mexican-American War the lands would Alta California would be ceded to the United States. The 1848 Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo provided the Mexican land grants would be honored by the American Federal Government. A claim for Rancho de Los Corralitos would be filed with the Public Land Commission in 1852, and the grant would be patented to Jose Amesti in 1861. Even by the 1850s Amesti was subdividing his land holdings which would form the basis for the modern unincorporated towns of Corralitos and Amesti.
In 1893 Santa Cruz County contracted W.S. Rogers to construct a modern truss bridge east of Corralitos across Corralitos Creek. This span was incorporated into what is now Browns Valley Road, but similar spans were also installed along Eureka Canyon Road north of Corralitos. The early highway bridges in Eureka Canyon Road can be seen below (courtesy corralitoshistory.com).
Eureka Canyon Road and Highway Way can be seen in detail as a single continuous highway corridor on the 1919 United States Geological Survey map of New Almaden. At the time the name transition appears to have switched from Eureka Canyon Road to Highland Way at Grizzley Flat instead of Buzzard Lagoon Road.
In 1950 a major flooding event occurred in the Santa Cruz Mountains north of Corralitos. A torrent of water along Corralitos Creek destroyed the Shingle Mill Gulch Bridge on Eureka Canyon Road. Additionally, the truss bridge carrying Browns Valley Road over Corralitos Creek was destroyed. Both structures were quickly replaced with modernized bridge spans. The 1950s floods on Eureka Canyon Road can be seen below (courtesy Evelyn McLaughlin).
Highland Way begins at the summit (approximately 1,900 feet above sea level) of the Santa Cruz Mountains where Eureka Canyon Road ends at Buzzard Lagoon Road. As Highland Way begins it crosses over Soquel Creek via a switchback and turns northwest along the San Andreas Fault Rift Zone.
Highland Way passes Camp Loma which is a popular location to reach the upper extent of The Forest of Nisene Marks State Park and Soquel Demonstration State Forest.
Highland Way emerges onto a ridge along the summit of the Santa Cruz Mountains. The city of Scotts Valley can be seen to the west on clear days.
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