Mt Madonna County Park is dominated by the redwood forests of Santa Cruz mountains, very close to bay area and a good park for ocean views, hiking trails etc. Besides camping, hiking etc it has lot more to offer. And though most of us know about the hanuman temple there, a post to capture some of the other things the park has to offer.
1. Mt Madonna Center –
A Conference, Retreat and Yoga Center in the Heart of California. The Sankat Mochan Hanuman temple is small and beautiful. The temple itself is like a deri (if you have been to Palitana etc) with pandal outside, sculptures of other gods, waterfalls etc make it a bigger structure. A beautiful place to visit with scenic views from the hill top. Temple is closed Sunday morning and reservations are recommended on saturdays. As per their website they do not allow you if parking is full etc and one goes without reservations. Though we reached early saturday morning and hence did not do a reservation. A small cafe that serves excellent chai and samosas as well 🙂
They seem to serve dinner as well but again reservations are recommended. If anyone has tried dinner at Hanuman temple then please update.
Website for directions, reservations etc can be found at Mt Madonna Hanuman Temple
2. Kim son Vietnamese Monastery – Kimson Buddhist Place
Thanks to Varun Shah for giving this information to us. The Buddha sculpture is huge, check out the pictures on the website.
When we went there only 2-3 cars that stopped by to check this out. A small pond, pagoda etc. The place is still under construction but the incomplete work is also nice and a short stop worth a visit. Once done it will look gorgeous and beautiful compared to now.
Do visit if you are in the Mt Madonna County Park.
3. Yurt Camping – These look really cool. Different sizes available for groups of 6, 8 or 10. A good option for non tent campers 🙂 or folks who are looking for alternatives. I had checked the availability earlier this year before summer and all weekends for yurt were booked. So need to plan in advance if you want to do yurt camping.
More details about yurts can be found at
HI,
we go there very regularly to Mount Madona and is very beautiful and we have stayed there for a weekend and it is fun though we were not there for meditation or so but it is very relaxing and stress free away from tv and interenet. Good Massages too.
They have vegetarian food (american style) .
Bhavini thanks for the article. I have heard about it, but never went there.
Thanks for the info Bhavini. We were thinking about visiting soon.
You can also add strawberry picking at the Gizdich Ranch in same trip plan as well.
Yup that’s right Dimple, we went in the summer holidays and did strawberry picking on the return as well as a trip to the Gilroy outlet mall.
We have been there for the Human Temple darshan and its a very nice. Its is very scenic and has a nice cafetaria with vege options.
@Hiten – What kind of humans did you see in the temple? 🙂 🙂 🙂
Thanks Bhavini! I recently made good use of your very informative articles yet again while visiting Mt. Madonna park!!!! Keep them coming 😉
That was me 🙂
@ Minati – I was wondering which Amit was this until I saw your name :-). And glad to know that the article was useful. Anything extra you added in this trip ?
No new places…… but we tried the dinner there and it was pretty good. Vegan meal of Baked tofu, steamed broccoli with tahini sauce and brown rice, a bunch of salads, they had a lot of breads included some gluten free options, cheese, home made jams, peanut butter etc. The views from the dining hall were really nice. All-in-all good experience.
Also lucked out at the Monastery, as there was a big festival that weekend (an occasion to remember our dead ancestors) with at least a few hundred people if not 1000, and the monastery had free vegetarian lunch and a fruit drink with takmaria(of course we put in a donation), which was very different than any thing I have eaten at any Vietnamese restaurant.