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Helping to rebuild & sustain a family tradition —
THANK YOU for your support!
12200 Empire Grade 
Santa Cruz, CA 95060 
(831) 423-8733
crestranch@ymail.com
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Welcome to Crest Ranch!

 Choose and Cut Christmas Tree Farm

Now Closed for the 2022 Season

To sustain our farm we were only able to be open for a few days this year. Our tree supply is very limited due to the CZU fire & ongoing drought. We continue to plant seedlings to grow the farm.

from our family to yours

Merry Christmas!

 

* Preimum 14-19ft. White fir are still available, call for more info.

2022 updates 

This year we offered:

* A supply of Quality Fresh Cut 7-8ft. Douglas, Noble & Nordmann fir, some were placed in the field so customers could continue the tradition of exploration,

find a quality tree, while helping to sustain our farm.

* A Pop-up holiday Market which was enjoyed on Friday & Saturday 

*The Tree swings, Teeter totters & play ares available for family fun.

* Staged Photo opportunities.

* Plenty parking & Picnic tables, leashed dogs welcome. 

* Preimum 14-19ft. White fir available, call for more info.

News: 

Established 74 years ago!  We are pleased to offer a 9+ acre selection of healthy trees that survived the CZU fire! This year we planted an additional seedlings and plan to plant more acreage in the future. We continue to implemented many organic practices and will continue to do so as we re-plant the property and bring it back to life. 

Currently we are open for a limited-time. As we rebuild our farm, we plan to be open multiple weekends in the future so that we can continue to share a wonderful family experience with you. While we are limited in availability of choose & cut trees we plan to bring in quality fresh cut trees, placing many of them in the field so that your family can still explore & enjoy the “hunt” and keep “Your tradition alive”. (After all you will want a Fresh tree & need to get it somewhere… not a lot or box store).  We would like to have other activities for you to enjoy as well such as fresh baked Cookie/Gingerbread house, decorating kits that can be decorated here or taken home. Other ideas include ornament decorating & wreath making/decorating. We will rebuild our lovely play house that was lost in the fire. We would like to include select vendors to come in and sell their wares in our Christmas village which we want to create along with additional photo opportunities. We welcome your ideas and input & would like to know if you would consider a fresh cut tree as well as what type & size. We can be contacted via email at crestranch@ymail.com or on Facebook.

 

We have built a home for our daughter & family and are proud to have another generation now living at Crest Ranch. Three of our four children now live on the property & are involved in our selling season. Our family looks forward to  continuing this wonderful tradition & welcoming you for years to come. We feel a dedication to this special property, while it will take us time to recoup from the CZU fire.  (See below for more information re. the CZU Fire)

Thank you again for your continued support.

Welcome to Crest Ranch

"A visit to Crest Ranch is a   wonderful family outing"

  • Free parking

  • Saws provided

  • Free net wrapping & twine

  • Tree carts available

  • Snack Bar

  • Picnic Area

  • Beautiful Views

  • Many Varieties of Trees

  • Dogs welcome with leashes

Crest Ranch Choose and Cut Christmas Tree Farm
Located in the Santa Cruz Mountains.

Established in 1948, Crest Ranch Christmas Tree Farm is the oldest existing choose and cut Christmas tree farm in the Western United States. Located above Santa Cruz at the top of 2,600-foot Ben Lomond mountain overlooking the village of Boulder Creek. We survived the CZU complex fire and now have 9 acres of Christmas trees to choose from with many tree varieties, we will continue to plant our 45 acre property in the years to come.

It's not just the quality of Christmas trees that brings people to Crest Ranch, it's also the setting. Hundred-year-old oaks and madrones tower above rustic farm buildings. At "The Viewpoint" you can see seven counties. After Christmas tree shopping, for a break, a pleasant picnic area is available. Bring your picnic lunch or snacks to enjoy the crisp clean winter air and fresh forest fragrance. On weekends hot dogs, snacks and drinks are available at the snack bar.

Year after year people from all around Santa Cruz County, and from all over the San Francisco Bay Area make Crest Ranch the place they buy their Christmas tree. We Thank You for your continued support!

A Family Tradition

The Larson family has been coming to Crest Ranch since 1957.

After moving from Chicago in 1956, getting their Christmas tree at Crest Ranch became a treasured tradition for the whole family.

Please send us your family story.  We would love to share it here on our web page!

Family Stories (click to view more)

Updates & CZU Lightning Complex Fire Impact

THANK YOU!

Many of you have made donations to help contribute to our rebuild.

To date we have cleared the burnt & downed trees, replaced a portion of damaged fencing, put in some of the irrigation & planted 14 thousand seedlings (10k survived). We still have quite a way to go & many more seedlings to plant. Planting takes place in February/March. I will try to plan ahead for some volunteer days to plant. Please let us know if you would like to help.

 

September 2021

We have made quite a bit of progress over the past year. The entire farm has been cleared of the burnt trees. The trees & stumps were pulled entirely out on most of the farm, helping to aerate the soil & give us a clear slate to redevelop the farm. Irrigation was put in on the south side of the farm and 14,000 seedlings of various varieties were planted. We have massive piles of wood chips which we will continue to spread over the farm helping to retain moisture, inhibit weed growth & give back nutrients to the soil. Our mother oak tree survived through the fire and storms, but 8 other large trees came down; work with this continues. We of course continue to shape & maintain the beautiful trees that we have. I am very pleased with our Christmas tree crop & their height.

There is still much to do... repair our burnt entrance & fencing. Replace our lost play house, irrigate & plant the north side, build a deck at the view point, etc.

We look forward to seeing you & will again be open this season for a limited time due to inventory. We may bring in a limited supply of fresh cut trees, but that has not yet been decided.

We appreciate your ongoing support and look forward to continuing this wonderful family tradition!

Louise Moran - owner

March 2021We have begun to replant! 

It's been a little over 6 months since the CZU Fire. We still have quite a bit of hand planting to do but, things are starting to turn around. Most burnt trees have been cleared and chipped. Once the seedlings are planted we will focus on a watering system.

 

Oct 23, 2020 - We are pleased to announce that we will be open for a limited time this year and appreciate your continued support. While the field had a lot of damage, we have sections of beautiful trees that were saved and are ready for you to choose & cut. We will also be bringing in some beautiful fresh cut 6-7ft Noble fir.  Some of you will be able to continue your tradition this year, while others will need to wait. The next 2+ years will involve preparing & planting. We will find creative ways in future years to help our customers continue a uplifting family tradition. If you are able to visit us this season you will see our beautiful trees as you approach from the south, then tree devastation,  the buildings all intact (with exception to our cute red tree house), the beginnings of field preparation & a ever lasting nice view at our view point.

Please email us and say hi. we will put you on our email list to keep you up to date with our progress as well as any events that we may have over the year. All the BEST for a happy healthy season, with love from our family to yours. The Jensen-Moran family.
 

Sept 28, 2020 --- We were allowed back to the property about 1 week ago. We are fortunate in that our home & structures survived the CZU fire with the exception of one of our red tree fort/play houses that so many of you enjoyed & have wonderful pictures of, as well as our antique wagon. My parents did lose their home which, was next to the view point. We have quite a bit of cleanup to do & still need to ensure that the farm is safe for visitors. We continue to seek funding to rebuild & are looking to find pre-cut trees to bring in this season (quality inventory can be difficult to find & overall precut inventory is low). We will once again update you as we know more & as time permits. Thank you all for your thoughts & prayers. Your shared stories on Facebook have given us so much love and strength. THANK YOU!
 

Aug. 20, 2020 — Our Crest Ranch family is safe, but we continue to be unsure of the full extent of the damage done to the ranch due to weather/lightning & unpredictability of this fire. The view point home has been completely burned to the ground. On Aug. 22, 2020 we were able to access the property even though it was NOT deemed safe again. At this time we saw that the structures in the compound area had survived, while the field of trees is about 80% destroyed. We don't know what we will once again return to because the property is still at risk. Our goal will be to repair structures and replant the farm — as soon as it's safe to do so. We love the property and we plan to work hard to bring it back to life so that family special holiday traditions can continue.

IN THE NEWS

KSBW - 8

(click on date to view additional videos)
August 30 , 2020

September 28, 2020

KTVU - FOX 2
(see  above video)

We are grateful to our friends who have started a GoFundMe fundraiser in support of our business. We understand many people are in a time of financial uncertainty and do not expect anything of anyone — but we are humbled and overwhelmingly thankful to all of you choosing to support us right now. We are not alone in loss due to these fires, and we are honored to receive such an outpouring of love. Thank you for the years of support, friendship & patronage. We look forward to seeing you again!

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