Scotts Valley, California: Lost World (Gone)

It was called "Lost World", and I saw it many times when my parents took me from the Bay Area to the Santa Cruz Boardwalk. It had all sorts of odd-shaped trees. Yep - weird-shaped trees. The large paper-mache/chicken wire dinosaurs visible from the freeway were simply to get the kids to bug the parents to make them stop in. I was sure disappointed as a kid when after years of begging my parents to stop and see the dinosaurs, we paid our admission, and all there was to see were trees shaped like a Throne, a tree shaped like a lumberjack, a giant tree that sprouted 4 stumps into the ground, etc.

Like everything else in the Bay Area, around 1975 or so, the property was developed into condos.

I remember the dinosaur statues on highway 17; my parents were good enough to stop there in the 1960s. They were in Scotts Valley, alongside the highway, next to Santa's Village. Sants's Village had rotating Christmas Ball rides and a train. Also had a North Pole that was covered with ice 24/7, even in the summer. Got a stupid looking elf hat with a feather in it.

But next to Santa's Village was a separate attraction, a garden with dinosaur statues. The owners did weird grafting to plants and charged admission to wander among his creations. (He was like a mad scientist of shrubbery.) What got me to pay for admission were the dinosaur statues inside. Last time I visited was in the '70s. Both Santa and the mad scientist both closed their doors and sold out to developers. One shining memento left in Scott Valley is the road that lead to these attractions. Santa's Village Road.