This spring, there will be more than just flowers blooming in Santa Cruz County. Throughout April, in celebration of National Poetry Month, poetry will be leaving the page and popping up in the parks! In a project sponsored by Santa Cruz County Parks and Santa Cruz County Poet Laureate Nancy Miller Gomez, poems by local and national poets will be installed in select parks across the County. Everyone is invited to join us in a county wide Poetry Scavenger Hunt. In this self-guided experience, we want you to enjoy the parks through your own poetic lens.

Are you up for the challenge? With the poem as your guide, explore each participating park to find elements that connect to the poem. The hunt is open-ended, so be creative and let your imagination run wild. Use your cell phone (or a sketch pad) to document your interpretive discoveries and upload the images to Instagram (handle link at scparks.com). Your scavenged responses can be literal, metaphorical, abstract, artistic, zany, beautiful or weird. A review panel will choose a winner for each location. The winners receive a gift certificate from a sponsoring business!

Invite your friends, bring a picnic, find a poem, snap some pics, win a prize! 

Poetry Scavenger Hunt - Participating County Parks & Sponsors

• Anna Jean Cummings Park - 461 Old San Jose Rd., Soquel – Sponsor: Sunnyside Produce & Capitola Market

• Aptos Village Park - 100 Aptos Creek Rd., Aptos – Sponsor: Aptos Feed & Pet Supply

• Ben Lomond Park - 9525 Mill St., Ben Lomond – Sponsor: Ben Lomond Market

• Brommer Street Park - 1451 30th Ave., Live Oak – Sponsor: Two Birds Books

• Chanticleer Avenue Park - 1975 Chanticleer Ave., Santa Cruz – Sponsor: Shoppers Corner

• Felt Street Park- 1904 Felt St., Live Oak – Sponsor: BroPrints

• Felton Covered Bridge - Graham Hill Rd. at Mount Hermon Rd, Felton – Sponsor: Ernie’s Auto Service

• Heart of Soquel Parkway - 4740 Soquel Dr., Soquel – Sponsor: Carpo’s

• Moran Lake - 22775 E Cliff Dr., Santa Cruz – Sponsor: East End Gastropub

• Pinto Lake County Park - 757 Green Valley Rd., Watsonville – Sponsor: Windy Oaks

• Pleasure Point Park - East Cliff Dr., Santa Cruz – Sponsor: Bookshop Santa Cruz

• Quail Hollow Ranch - 800 Quail Hollow Rd., Felton – Sponsor: King’s Paint and Paper

• Simpkins Family Swim Center – 979 17th Ave., Live Oak – Sponsor: Sugo Italian Restaurant

• The Hook - 511 41st Ave., Santa Cruz – Sponsor: Santa Cruz Apparel

• Valle del Pájaro -188 Whiting Rd., Watsonville – Sponsor: Annieglass

• Willowbrook Park - 2950 Willowbrook Lane, Aptos – Sponsor: St. Adarius Rustic Ales