Recent Black Bear Sightings

1999: In August, County sheriff’s deputy Larry Roland saw a bear running across Lompico Road. “It ran down from the hillside on the left right in front of me and down into the creek,” Roland said.

Also in 1999, near Felton Nancy McFarlane reported a glimpse of what she thought could be a bear. A follow-up search by field scout Rich Coats discovered bear scat near Graham Hill Road. Click here for examples of black bear scat.

2001: A bear was hit and killed by a car on Skyline Boulevard near the Crystal Springs Watershed in June. Vicki Sliwa saw the bear lying in the road. “It was a Sunday afternoon, driving south on Skyline, and then suddenly, there it was, a bear lying in a heap on the gravel shoulder,” Sliwa said. “Traffic was light, but everybody was slowing down to look at it.”

By the time CalTrans and the Department of Fish and Game (DFG) arrived, the bear was gone. A DFG spokesman said that it was likely a passing driver illegally picked up the animal.

2008: Two sightings of black bears in the Santa Cruz Mountains were reported; one at Rancho San Antonio in the Los Altos Hills, and the other along Skyline Boulevard near Sanborn-Skyline County Park and Castle Rock State Park. 

The bear at Rancho San Antonio was spotted by a senior couple who saw the bear cross Rogue Valley Trail about a third of a mile east of the park’s pond. The other, along Skyline, was reported by two hikers.

A Bear on a Lark

He wanted to see the sights, but was not allowed.

It has often been mistakenly said that only grizzlies, not black bears, lived in the Santa Cruz Mountains. But as the grizzly population declined, black bears became more prevalent.

In September 1885, bear tracks were noticed on the lands of Davis and Cowell. It was thought that there were three bears; the size of one print was said to measure 13 by 6-1/4 inches. 

Big Tree Station, The J. Paul Getty Museum
Open Content Program

Hunters came down from San Francisco with a variety of weapons, from a bowie knife to a small Gatling gun. They spent several days scouting the area and camping with the Bangos at Big Trees, now Henry Cowell Redwoods State Park. 

The San Francisco Call reported: "A party of hunters returned from the Santa Cruz mountains Thursday, arriving by the narrow gauge route, at the foot of Market street. They had been on a hunt for "big game," and that they had met with glowing success was evident from the spoils of the chase which they bought with them."

They had brought with them, on the train from Felton, three black bears. Two they had killed, but one, a feisty young one, was brought back alive.  

The young bear, who had entertained the group at the camp for several days and had become "very tame," was muzzled and was held "a not unwilling" captive by means of a long chain. He was reportedly not homesick for his mountain home and "displayed a playful disposition."

As the hunters saw to their baggage they secured the bear's chain to a pole. Bruin, however, managed to escape his pole and first decided to explore the railroad depot ticket window, much to the surprise of the ticket-master who was "astonished when he saw a long snout backed by a hairy head and shoulders, inserted in his window." As the bear made a "playful" punch with is paw towards him, as if he wanted to "shake hands," the ticket-master quickly shut the window with a bang. 

Disgruntled the bear then decided to investigate the Market Street cable car system where he encountered a huge Newfoundland dog. The dog, barking and growling, ran up to the bear who with a smack of his paw sent the poor dog rolling down the wharf. 

His hunters, who intended to keep bruin for a pet, soon caught up with him, and once again he became their captive. This made poor bruin very grumpy, a characteristic he continued to display throughout his visit to the wharf.

Perhaps the Redwood group of trees known as the "Bear's Den" on the Redwood Loop Trail at Henry Cowell Redwoods State Park, the site of Camp Bango, was named for this unlucky black bear.