The hook
A logging railroad from 1885 still climbs off the Mendocino coast into the redwoods, and you can ride it in a rail motorcar or pedal it yourself on an electric railbike.
01Why it's worth it
The Skunk Train began in 1885 as the Fort Bragg Railroad, built to drag coast redwood logs down to the mill on the coast, and it never stopped running. The line climbs from Fort Bragg up the Noyo River canyon through old-growth redwoods, over some thirty trestles and through two tunnels, to a halfway stop at Northspur where everyone piles out to eat. The name is a leftover from 1925, when the railroad ran gasoline motorcars with crude-oil stoves that stank so badly old-timers said you could smell them before you could see them, so they got called Skunks. The excursion train still runs, but what's made the line worth a detour again is the railbikes: quiet electric two-seaters you pedal along the rails at your own pace, deep into the forest. Either way, it's a way into redwoods you can reach only by track.
02How to experience it
The main depot is in Fort Bragg on the Mendocino coast, about four hours from the Bay, with a second base inland at Willits. Book the excursion train or the railbikes ahead, especially in summer. If you want the quiet version, take the railbike run out into the redwoods and back. Pair it with Mendocino village and the coast for a full trip up.