The Valencia Creek property located east of Aptos is non-contiguous with Swanton Pacific Ranch. The land's past history is somewhat different from the Swanton Pacific Ranch property in that it has been logged several times. This different past makes this holding particularly valuable in terms of forestry and natural resources education. TPZ zoning is specific toward the growing and harvesting of timber. The acreage is nearly 100 percent forested.
Commercial timber is available for harvesting.
The land is steep, generally with a great deal of instability on lower reaches near the creek. The land is considered to have good site quality for tree growth. Each quarter Cal Poly students work at the ranch under an internship program begun in 1987. Several faculty members regularly utilize the ranch for course field trips. Yearly, over 20 course field trips come to Swanton.