Mount Madonna is a well-known peak at the southern end of the Santa Cruz Mountains. It can be seen from U.S. 101 in south Santa Clara County and from Highway 152 near Watsonville. Bay Nature describes it as the highest point in the southern Santa Cruz Mountains at 1,857 feet. Santa Clara County’s park around the peak covers 4,605 acres. Wikipedia says it has 14 miles of hiking and equestrian trails, an archery range, an amphitheater, picnic areas and campgrounds. It is one of the few parks in the area that allow dogs in the campgrounds.
The Cattle King’s retreat
Bay Nature tells the story of Henry Miller, who was born Heinrich Alfred Kreiser in Germany in 1827. He arrived in San Francisco in 1850, opened a butcher shop on Jackson Street and, with partner Charles Lux, came to control nearly two million acres across California, Oregon and Nevada. For his own home, he chose Mount Madonna. The magazine says the mountain was purportedly named by the Italian stonecutters he hired.
Five buildings went up on the estate between 1890 and 1902. The main house, built for $250,000 in 1901, had seven bedrooms and a 3,600-square-foot ballroom. It burned after Miller died in 1916. Today only stairways, foundations and stone walls remain among the tanoaks and maples, and the county maintains the ruins as they are rather than rebuilding them.
Becoming a park
Bay Nature says the state began buying parts of the property in 1927, at the Miller family’s urging. In the 1930s, the Civilian Conservation Corps built campsites and trails, and the land became a Santa Clara County park in 1952. Bikes are not allowed on the trails. The park is part of the Bay Area Ridge Trail network, linking toward Uvas Canyon and the Forest of Nisene Marks.
For another South County park, see our Santa Teresa County Park guide.