By Liz Sanchez, Photos by Dan Sanchez
We love Northern California’s coast and Redwoods because of its beauty, fresh air, and there’s so much to do. There are a lot of great places to visit, but a good place that makes a great launching point for hiking, biking, exploring and experiencing both Redwoods and the coast, is Fort Bragg. The city is located on the Mendocino Coast and has a long history of Native American occupation, a military post, commercial fishing, railroads, and commercial lumber.
Driving North up California’s Highway 1 is perhaps one of the best ways to enjoy the area, and we drove up for a long weekend in early Spring. Planning ahead, we stayed at the Little River Inn, located on the coast just South of Fort Bragg, and Mendocino, right along Van Damme State Park. The inn has great rooms with an awesome view of the ocean, and many of the area points of interest are within a short drive. More info on the Little River Inn here: https://www.littleriverinn.com/
Riding Rail Cars On The Skunk Train Line
One of the first things we did was book a rail bike ride on the Skunk Train line. The Little River Inn had discount tickets and it was a great way to get some exercise and experience the Redwoods through an area that was used to haul trees and lumbar to the coast.
Info On The Skunk Train Rail Cars
1) Tickets run about $265 but local hotels offer discounts.
2) In the Spring bring a jacket. Even if its warm in town the temps drop when you’re in the Redwoods.
3) Bring water, but two bottles of water and popcorn are provided on each rail bike.
4) There’s plenty of parking at the train station so no need to rush or get there super early.
5) If you book a morning ride there are some great places to eat lunch in town.
6) Don’t worry about operating the rail bikes. There is a full orientation on them and safety before you go on your adventure.
Point Cabrillo Lighthouse
Driving up to the Point Cabrillo Lighthouse offers a scenic walk through the Point Cabrillo Preserve, where you can walk the self guided tour along the trail to the lighthouse and see lots of wildlife along the way. We saw deer, sea lions along the coast (don’t get too close to the cliffs), and end up at the lighthouse museum.
There are also several other museums in and around town, including the Ford House Museum in Mendocino, which offers information on everything from gray whale migration to the felling of redwoods and how they were shipped via doghole schooners.
Mendocino Coast Botanical Gardens
This was a great place to visit and walk across its 47 acres of flowers, trees and more. They are open April thru October in the Summer, and November through March in the Winter. Tickets are abou $23 and there are discounts for Seniors and kids prices. It’s a great way to spend a day.
Glass Beach
On our last day before leaving for home, we checked out Glass Beach. It’s an popular photo spot for Instagrammers, but it has been picked through over the years. Collecting the glass is discouraged but it hasn’t stopped people from taking what they find. Yes there’s an abundance of glass hat has been polished into small pieces. Most everyone looks for red or blue glass but white and brown are the most common. There’s actually three Glass Beaches in the area that you can visit. The others are north of Fort Bragg. It’s still a fun place to experience, walk along the coast and enjoy lunch on several tables and picnic spots.
We only scratched the surface of the area and plan to go back and experience much more of the food, history and beauty. For more information you can check out: https://visitfortbraggca.com/ and https://www.visitmendocino.com/.