Editing Scotts Valley, California (section)

===Tourism===
From its early years as a stop on the [[California Trail|stage route across the mountains]], the Scotts Valley area has provided services to travelers. With the growing usage of the [[History of the automobile#Brass/Edwardian era|automobile in the early 20th century]], the area became commercialized and tourism developed as a local industry.

In the early 1920s, Edward Evers established Camp Evers at the junction of the State Highway and Mt. Hermon Road. Camp Evers consisted of a small store, gas pumps, dance hall and tents, becoming a resort and rest stop for travelers.

[[Image:Circus Tree at Gilroy Gardens.jpg|thumb | A "Circus Tree" now located at [[Gilroy Gardens]] near [[Gilroy, California]] ]]

The Beverly Gardens were established in the 1930s and featured a collection of exotic birds and animals, a restaurant, and cabins.

[[Axel Erlandson]] opened The Tree Circus in 1947, featuring trees grafted and trained in strange and [[tree shaping|unusual shapes]]. Bright "life size" painted dinosaurs overlooking Highway 17 were added to the Tree Circus in 1964 when it changed its name to The Lost World. Surviving trees have since been moved to [[Gilroy Gardens]].

Santa's Village, one of three locations in America's first [[theme park]] chain, was established in 1956. It was the most popular of the many attractions, attracting millions of visitors to Scotts Valley for over twenty years, and it was the last of Scotts Valley's theme parks to close its doors, in 1979. [[Glenn Holland|H. Glenn Holland]], who had already developed a Santa's Village elsewhere the previous year, leased {{convert|25|acre|m2}} at the former Lawridge Farm, which was a portion of the former Rancho San Augustin for the Scotts Valley location of Santa's Village. The park maintained a historically correct team of Mexican burros that lived on the back {{convert|20|acre|m2|adj=on}} field. Four reindeer from [[Unalakleet, Alaska]], pulled Santa's sleigh. All the buildings were designed to look like log chalet-type structures, replete with snowy roofs and gingerbread trim. One chalet housed a legendary fresh gingerbread bakery. Theme-appropriate music flowed from speakers hidden in towering redwood trees. In 1977 the Santa's Village Corporation had filed for bankruptcy, and in 1979 the park's gates were finally closed. The site is currently a playing field at the former headquarters of [[Borland Software|Borland]].

Scotts Valley is also near [[Big Basin Redwoods State Park]], [[Henry Cowell Redwoods State Park]], and [[Roaring Camp Railroads]]. The town is surrounded by [[coast redwood]] forests. The city of [[Santa Cruz, California|Santa Cruz]] lies to the south. A relatively large municipal [[skateboard park]], where pro skateboarder Eric Costello died in October 2005 due to improper helmet use,<ref>[http://www.santacruzsentinel.com/archive/2006/April/20/local/stories/09local.htm Home – Santa Cruz Sentinel<!-- Bot generated title -->] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070311185009/http://www.santacruzsentinel.com/archive/2006/April/20/local/stories/09local.htm |date=March 11, 2007 }}</ref> is near Skypark, the site of a former airport, in central Scotts Valley.

Three hotels operate in Scotts Valley: a [[Best Western]] hotel located near the Granite Creek entrance to Highway 17, a Four Points by Sheraton located on Scotts Valley Drive, and a [[Hilton Hotels|Hilton]] hotel located near the Mount Hermon junction with Highway 17.