Arana Gulch is a landform and greenbelt area within the city of Santa Cruz, California. This parcel of land includes open meadows, California oak woodland, and the riparian zone of Arana Creek. The property ownership is by the city of Santa Cruz, who operates Arana Gulch as a public open space. A set of trails is used to access the park, with accommodation to hikers and bicyclists. Arana Gulch is named after Jose Arana, who died March 1, 1868; Arana was the grantee of the Rancho Potrero y Rincon in the year 1842. (Hutchinson, 1973 )
Arana Gulch supports a variety of vegetation and wildlife, including the endangered species (Holocarpha macradenia, 2006) Santa Cruz tarplant. (Santa Cruz, 2006) It has been observed at least since 1990 that a ravine of Arana Gulch appeared to indicate headward erosion due to concentration of surface runoff. (Earth Metrics, 1990) The Arana Gulch is receives runoff from generally urbanized areas of Santa Cruz.