24/7 Trauma and Biohazard Cleanup in Felton, CA

Felton is an unincorporated census-designated place in Santa Cruz County, set among redwoods in the San Lorenzo Valley along Highway 9.

Felton grew out of Rancho Zayante, an 1833 Mexican land grant where Isaac Graham ran one of California's earliest water-powered sawmills and a notorious distillery; the town itself was laid out in 1868.

The town was named for John B. Felton, a former mayor of Oakland and a judge who was also one of the founders of the University of California.

Felton was the lower terminus of the San Lorenzo Valley Logging Flume, which opened in October 1875 to float lumber down from Boulder Creek to the wharf at Santa Cruz.

Felton was actually an incorporated town from March 8, 1878, until the Legislature disincorporated it in 1917, returning it to county rule.

Since 1963, the Roaring Camp Railroads have run steam trains from the old Felton depot - a narrow-gauge line climbing Bear Mountain through the redwoods, and since 1985 a standard-gauge line down to Santa Cruz.

Felton's Covered Bridge, an 80-foot covered bridge over the San Lorenzo River built in 1892, was placed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1973 and now anchors Covered Bridge Park.

Just south of town, Henry Cowell Redwoods State Park preserves an ancient redwood grove that became part of the state park in 1954.

The 2020 census counted 4,489 people in Felton, living in about 1,790 households, and roughly three-quarters of its homes are owner-occupied.

Local students attend San Lorenzo Valley High School, located on Highway 9 in Felton.