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Highland

Ghost town · Santa Cruz County, California

Los Gatos quadrangle, USGS topographic map (1919, 1:62,500)
Los Gatos quadrangle, USGS topographic map (1919, 1:62,500) · U.S. Geological Survey, Historical Topographic Map Collection · Public domain

Highland is a ghost town in Santa Cruz County, California. It is one of 17 former communities in Santa Cruz County on the federal names register. That ranks the county 16th among the 58 California counties with a vanished settlement on record.

The U.S. Geological Survey lists Highland as a historical populated place on the Laurel topographic quadrangle: the name is no longer in official use for a community, whether the settlement was abandoned, absorbed into a neighbouring town or renamed. The recorded location is 37.1063° N, 121.9338° W.

Key facts

USGS quadrangleLaurel
Elevation1,951 ft
Nearest living townLexington Hills, CA
Distance to it4.7 miles
GNIS feature ID1872754
Coordinates37.10634, -121.93385

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What's there now

Highland is no longer a community in its own right. The nearest living town is Lexington Hills, CA (population 2,777), about 4.7 miles away in a straight line, and the site sits at roughly 1,951 feet above sea level. Much of the land around former townsites is private; check access before you visit.

Nearby places

Questions

Where is Highland?

Highland is in Santa Cruz County, California, at 37.1063, -121.9338.

How many ghost towns are in Santa Cruz County?

Santa Cruz County, California has 17 ghost towns on record at Wayfarrow.

Sources and licences

Facts marked "approximately" carry an uncertain date in the source. Text on this page is generated from the sources above; no encyclopedia prose is copied. Last updated 2026-11-05.