Wilder Ranch State Park, just north of Santa Cruz on the Pacific coast, preserves a landscape shaped by centuries of use. The Portolà expedition traveled this coast in 1769, and the land later became Mission Santa Cruz pastureland and part of Rancho Refugio. Its historic core retains the Bolcoff adobe, an older farmhouse, and Wilder family buildings from the ranch’s dairy era, which lasted until 1969. State acquisition in 1974 led to restoration of these structures for museum use, and later expansion created roughly 7,000 acres of public land. Today the park is valued for its oceanfront, trails, historic ranch complex, and protected coastal habitat.