After DeLaveaga's death in 1894, much of his land was donated to
the City of Santa Cruz and this zoo was maintained for a silent
film studio in the early 1900’s. See remains of the old zoo
starting at the DeLaveaga Wilderness Area trailhead and along the
way to the cache. For more about DeLaveaga Park and it’s
history go to DeLaveaga
Park
The trail winds and branches a lot, and your gps signal will be
spotty. We measured actual walking distance to the cache to be
about .13 mile from the parking area and you will be going up most
of the way there and will also need to crawl over fallen trees at
times, as the trails are not well maintained. Even though there is
poison oak in many places you do not need to get near any to search
for the cache or to walk on the trails.
Your gps should guide you to a big clearing between two walls.
This is where you need to begin your search. The cache is not along
the trail. It is near some fallen trees. You’ll see this
isn’t a giveaway hint when you get there. 
The cache is a 50 cal ammo box (1 1/2 gal
size).
Watch for banana slugs, other creatures, and golf balls
flying from the golf course above the search area. We found three
golf balls and two banana slugs here when hiding the cache. Let us
know what you find and what you think the structures used to be,
and take time to explore!
Original cache contents: CITO 2004 adult large tee (new), Santa
Cruz geocoin, Kid’s Zoo CD-rom, Monkey Business
Marx Bros video, assorted animal figures, puppets and magnets. FYI:
Golf balls are not trade items here! You can keep them, throw them
back to the golf course or put them in the cache, but don't take
something and replace with golf balls please. Shame, shame. Not so
nice for the next finders.
Credits: This cache was made possible through the blessings of
former “Zooropa” owners, O_Chemist & Turtledove,
and also by Sgt Stitches as an entry into his “Bigger is
Better” August 2005 Santa Cruz cache contest. Have fun! -
Chickasaw
Congratulations to FTF, Geo Goe of G A-Daytrippers who nabbed
the cache on 8-18-05