University of California Santa Cruz, Santa Cruz, CA

University of California Santa Cruz sits on a little over two thousand acres of forested foothills above town, and it works more like a small wooded village than a neighborhood of houses. Most of what is here is classrooms, libraries and residential colleges, with trails everywhere, which is why the page reads as a campus. Ten colleges are spread out among the trees, each with its own housing and dining, and trails and footbridges tie them together. Most buildings sit up in the redwoods, while a big open meadow fills the lower edge of campus. Crossing from one end to the other on foot is a real hike, and the hills are part of the experience. Outdoors is the strength. The UCSC Arboretum & Botanic Garden, at 1156 High Street, holds Australian and succulent plantings, a native plant garden and a garden shop. Pogonip, with its oak and redwood forest and streams, borders the campus, and Henry Cowell Redwoods State Park lies to the north. Trails thread through the woods right from the buildings. Food is mostly college dining. College 9/10 Dining Hall and the other residential dining halls serve most meals, and Banana Joe's and Hungry Slug Cafe are popular campus stops. Off campus, Verve Coffee Roasters and Betty Burgers are the usual outside picks. Culture runs on campus too, from the Music Center Recital Hall and the Sesnon Art Gallery to Santa Cruz Shakespeare in summer. Santa Cruz Metro buses connect the campus to town, and the main roads toward Highway 1 lie a few minutes down the hill by car. The hills are real, and the campus is spread out, so a car or a bus pass matters for anything beyond the grounds. Redwood shade covers most of the walking paths, and that is what this campus feels like day to day.