Practical mountain life
Resident Resources
A clear starting point for public services, preparedness, utilities, and everyday questions.
Every link below goes to the official agency or provider. Details were checked against those sources on July 16, 2026. For anything urgent, call 911 or the responsible agency directly.
Essential links
Save time finding the right agency.
Official sites remain the source of truth for services, rules, alerts, and deadlines.
County services
Public works, permits, roads, elections, health, and local government services.
Santa Cruz CountyEmergency alerts
Sign up for Santa Cruz County emergency alerts by phone, text, and email.
CruzAwareElectric service
Outages, safety notices, and account resources from PG&E.
PG&EFire protection
Local prevention, response, and community information.
Boulder Creek Fire Protection DistrictSchools
District calendars, enrollment, board information, and school contacts.
San Lorenzo Valley Unified School DistrictLibrary
Hours, collections, programs, digital services, and local branches.
Santa Cruz Public LibrariesNew resident quick start
Six things to do in your first month.
None of these take long, and each one saves you a scramble later.
Sign up for CruzAware
It's the county's official emergency alert system. Register at cruzaware.org to get evacuation and emergency warnings by call, text, or email.
Set up water service
If your home is on district water, start service through the San Lorenzo Valley Water District. Accounts are set up in the property owner's name, and the district asks for at least 24 business hours of notice.
Find your GreenWaste pickup day
Enter your address in the GreenWaste service day lookup to see your trash, recycling, and green waste collection day.
Get a library card
Cards are free for California residents with photo ID and proof of address. Details are on the Santa Cruz Public Libraries card page, and the Boulder Creek branch is on West Park Avenue.
Get to know the fire district
The Boulder Creek Fire Protection District is at 13230 Central Avenue, office line 831-338-7222. Start on defensible space early; it matters more up here than almost anywhere.
Join the community
Check local events, browse the directory for local businesses and services, and keep an eye on Mountain Status when weather moves in.
Trash, recycling, and green waste
GreenWaste picks up. The transfer station takes the rest.
Boulder Creek is unincorporated Santa Cruz County, so collection runs through the county's franchise hauler.
Curbside collection
GreenWaste Recovery handles trash, recycling, and green waste for unincorporated Santa Cruz County. Customer service: 831-426-2711.
Your pickup day
Enter your address in GreenWaste's lookup tool to see your collection day. That's also the fastest way to confirm your address is in their service area.
Bulky items and extra pickups
GreenWaste's county page lists up to three bulky item reuse collections and up to four extra set out collections per year at no additional charge. Call to schedule.
Self-haul: Ben Lomond Transfer Station
9835 Newell Creek Road, Ben Lomond. Posted hours: Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, Friday, Saturday 7:30 am to 3:30 pm; Wednesday 7:30 am to 2:30 pm. Household hazardous waste is accepted Thursdays 7:30 am to 3:30 pm. Confirm hours on the county page before you haul.
Water and power
Two numbers worth saving in your phone.
Both utilities take outage calls around the clock.
Water: San Lorenzo Valley Water District
If your home is served by the district, start or stop service through the Start and Stop Service page. Give at least 24 business hours of notice, and expect a $20 establishment fee on the first bill. Accounts go in the property owner's name.
Customer service and emergencies: 831-338-2153. After hours, the same number transfers to an answering service that reaches on-call staff, per the district's customer service page. Some properties in the area are on private wells or small mutual systems instead; your closing documents or neighbors can tell you which.
Power: PG&E
For a downed power line, stay away from it and anything it is touching, call 911, then call PG&E at 1-800-743-5000. To report an outage, use the PG&E Outage Center or call 1-800-743-5002. PG&E's general customer service line is 1-877-660-6789. All three numbers are on PG&E's report an emergency page.
Sign up for outage alerts so shutoffs don't catch you off guard. If someone in your home depends on power for medical needs, the Medical Baseline Program adds a monthly energy allowance and extra notifications ahead of safety shutoffs. It's based on medical need, not income.
Emergency readiness
Set this up before you need it.
This page points to official programs. It is not an alert service, and in an emergency you should call 911 and follow agency instructions.
CruzAware alerts
The county's official emergency alert registration. Choose calls, texts, or email. Every adult in the household should register their own phone.
Boulder Creek Fire Protection District
13230 Central Avenue, office 831-338-7222. Call 911 for emergencies; use the office line for prevention questions and district business.
Defensible space
California law requires 100 feet of defensible space around homes. The Fire Safe Council of Santa Cruz County breaks the work into zones and explains where to start.
Free chipping
No-cost chipping is available to residents in high fire risk areas of the county, run by different providers depending on where you live. The Resource Conservation District covers most of the San Lorenzo Valley, with spring registration in April and a fall reimbursement option. Program windows change yearly, so check the current pages.
Roads
Know who maintains which road.
Beyond Highways 9 and 236, which Caltrans maintains, a road may be county-maintained, privately maintained, or maintained through a road association or county service area. Check the Santa Cruz County road-maintenance map before assuming the county is responsible for a particular road.
County road hazards
Report fallen trees, flooding, and storm damage on county-maintained roads to Road Operations dispatch: 831-477-3999, staffed 24/7 per the county's Public Works contact page.
Highway 9 and 236 conditions
Check Caltrans QuickMap for closures and incidents, or call the Caltrans highway conditions line at 1-800-427-7623, listed on roads.dot.ca.gov.
Live conditions in one place
Our Mountain Status page gathers weather, road, outage, and smoke links with the official sources for each.
Schools and families
SLVUSD serves Boulder Creek.
Enrollment starts with the school-site registrar, then online registration. The district's enrollment page lists age cutoffs and required documents.
Boulder Creek Elementary
TK through elementary grades at 400 Lomond Street, right in town.
School siteSLV Middle School
The district middle school, located on the SLV campus in Felton.
School siteSLV High School
The district high school, also in Felton on Highway 9.
School sitePreschools, child care, and referral services in the area are listed in the local directory.
Permits and building
Check before you build, dig, or cut.
Mountain parcels come with septic, geologic, and tree rules that flatland owners never meet. A short call to the county early saves real money later.
Building and zoning permits
The county's Unified Permit Center, part of Community Development and Infrastructure, handles building, zoning, environmental, and public works permits for unincorporated areas like Boulder Creek.
Septic systems
Most homes here are on septic. County Environmental Health runs the onsite wastewater program, and a sewage disposal permit is required to install, upgrade, repair, or abandon a system, per their OWTS page.
Tree removal
Some removals need a county permit, especially significant trees in the Coastal Zone and trees in sensitive habitat. Read the county's tree protection and removal page before scheduling work, and find local tree companies in the directory.
Internet and cell
Coverage varies canyon to canyon.
These providers claim service in the Boulder Creek area on their own sites. Always check your exact address before signing anything; two houses on the same road can have different options.
Xfinity (Comcast)
Xfinity's local page states it provides internet service in the Boulder Creek area, with availability by address.
AT&T
AT&T's Boulder Creek page offers Internet Air fixed wireless, with fiber at some addresses. Availability is address by address.
Starlink
Satellite service that works independently of local lines, which matters during extended outages. Their site checks availability for a specific address.
Cruzio
The local Santa Cruz provider lists Boulder Creek in its service area, with an address lookup on its internet page.
Cell coverage in the canyons is uneven for every carrier. Test your carrier at the house before you commit, and don't rely on cell alone for emergency alerts. A landline or satellite option is a reasonable backup here.
Everyday places
Library, post office, and rec programs.
Three places that do a lot of quiet work in a small town.
Boulder Creek Branch Library
13390 West Park Avenue. Part of Santa Cruz Public Libraries; hours and programs are on the branches page. Cards are free for California residents with photo ID and proof of address.
Get a cardPost office
200 Lorenzo Street, phone 831-338-4865. Retail hours posted by USPS: Monday through Friday 9:30 am to 4:00 pm, closed weekends. Confirm current hours on the official page.
USPS location pageRecreation and parks
The Boulder Creek Recreation and Park District runs local parks plus classes, camps, and community events, including adult classes and summer camps.
BCRPD siteNew to the mountains
Prepare before the next storm or fire season.
Learn your routes, sign up for alerts, keep supplies current, and know which official sources you will check.
Open Mountain StatusMissing something?
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