Empire Grade begins alongside the U. C. Santa Cruz (UCSC) campus and follows the crest of Ben Lomond Mountain for over 16 miles, passing through mixed evergreen and redwood forest, knobcone pine scrub, and oak woodland. Near the end of its public stretch, the road reaches interesting grassland. Empire Grade gives easy access to extensive areas above 2000 feet elevation, and provides chances to find several breeding species with limited distributions in the county (e.g., Red-breasted Nuthatch, Cassin’s Vireo, Western Bluebird, Blue-gray Gnatcatcher, Yellow-rumped Warbler, and Western Tanager). This road is well worth birding even from near your car, with only a little walking. Weekday car traffic may intrude on birding, so we recommend a visit on a quieter weekend morning. The following description focuses on the road’s less traveled upper section, above its junction with Alba Rd.
Directions. From Hwy 1 (Mission St) in Santa Cruz, take Bay St north 1.0 mile, and turn left on High Street (becomes Empire Grade) at the main entrance to UCSC. Go 11.9 miles to the junction with Alba Rd (on the right). Besides our suggestions for stops past Alba Rd, birds and impulse will direct you to others, as well.
Birds. Driving up from UCSC, one encounters meadows and mixed evergreen forest that offer a variety of forest edge birds, including nesting Pileated Woodpecker, Hermit Thrush, Hermit Warbler, and Golden-crowned Kinglet. Avoid enforced no parking stretches, but do pull over about 3.8 miles from the main UCSC entrance and walk across the meadow to the forest. A rock quarry on the right at 5.1 miles has nesting White-throated Swifts. These fly over the roadside during spring and early summer. Continuing on, the road passes through several areas with knobcone pine forest and scrub, where nesting Blue-gray Gnatcatcher and resident Red-breasted Nuthatch live. Pick likely spots to stop, and also try a side trip out Pineridge Rd (at 6.8 miles), where resident Red-breasted Nuthatch and California Thrasher are often easy to find. Pileated Woodpeckers occur widely from the Sunlit Lane area (at 8.9 miles) onward, in mixed evergreen forest with Douglas-firs and knobcone pine forest. Other side roads you might check are Conifer Lane (at 10.4 miles), Vick Rd and Summit Lane (both at 10.8 miles).
Reset the odometer to 0.0 at Alba Rd (11.9 miles from UCSC). From here on the road has less traffic and is generally interesting wherever one stops. The mixed evergreen forest and live oak forest offer Pileated, Acorn and Hairy woodpeckers, Northern Flicker, Olive-sided and Ash-throated flycatchers, Western Wood-Pewee, resident Red-breasted Nuthatch, Cassin’s, Hutton’s and Warbling vireos, nesting Orange-crowned, Yellow-rumped, Black-throated Gray, and Wilson’s warblers, Western Tanager, and Black-headed Grosbeak. In winter fruiting madrone may attract many thrushes, as well as Cedar Waxwing and Purple Finch. Watch for irruptive montane species in years when they are plentiful. Hundreds of waxwings visit again in spring to feed on madrone flowers. This section can be very good for owling in the wee hours when it is not windy.
The area around Braemoor Dr (0.9 mile above Alba Rd) is worth a stop, and just past Braemoor watch on the right for the Pitman Ranch, with roadside views (a scope is useful) of a large pond. The pond attracts Ring-necked Duck in winter. In spring and summer the open margins of the Crest Ranch Christmas tree farm (park at 1.1 mile) usually harbor Ash-throated Flycatcher and Downy Woodpecker, and the native forest there has resident Red-breasted Nuthatch, nesting Yellow-rumped and Black-throated Gray warblers, and Western Tanager. More mixed evergreen and live oak forest is at 1.9 miles. Check the oaks around the Ben Lomond YCC Camp (2.4 miles), and watch here for Western Bluebird. A wonderful view across the San Lorenzo Valley to Castle Rock and Loma Prieta is at 3.0 miles, and the spot is a good one for Western Wood-Pewee and Ash-throated Flycatcher.
After passing Jamison Rd, park at 4.0 miles and walk onwards to bird the roadside mix of grassland, oak woodland, riparian, and scrub. This lovely area may have Western Bluebird and Lazuli Bunting, and, if the breeze is light, can be generally good for finding a wide variety of species. Common Poorwill has been heard here in the evening. Lawrence’s Goldfinch may occur here during years when it is widespread. The higher rock formation on the right is Eagle Rock, but eagles are scarce here.