Yes, you can pedal through California's coast redwoods on rails. The Skunk Train, a heritage railroad based in Fort Bragg on the Mendocino Coast, runs guided railbike tours on its historic logging line. The best-known trip, the Pudding Creek ride, covers about seven miles out and back, follows a tidal estuary into second-growth redwood forest and takes roughly two and a half hours including a break at Glen Blair Junction. The two-seat bikes have an electric motor that helps you along, so you do not need to be an athlete to enjoy it.
Below is what the ride is actually like, how the railroad came to offer it, what you will see along the way and a few practical points to check before you book.
What a Skunk Train railbike ride involves
A railbike is a small pedal vehicle with flanged wheels that sit on the steel rails, a bit like a recumbent bicycle built for two. Because the wheels follow the track, there is no steering to worry about. Riders sit low, pedal at an easy pace and watch the forest slide past.
The Skunk Train announced its custom two-person railbikes in a February 2019 press release, with rides starting on 1 March 2019. Groups go out together with a trained guide in front, and the railroad keeps other trains off the line while the bikes are running. Families can hire several bikes and travel as a convoy.
The bikes carry an electric assist. The railroad describes them as nearly silent, and the motor matters most on the return leg, which climbs a gentle grade back toward the coast. You still pedal, but the effort is closer to a relaxed cycle path than a workout. The operator asks that riders be able to pedal in a reclined position for about half an hour at low effort.
A post shared by Visit Fort Bragg showing the railbikes on the old line near the coast.
The route: Fort Bragg, Pudding Creek and Glen Blair Junction
Tours leave from the Skunk Train depot in Fort Bragg. Almost immediately the track runs beside the Pudding Creek estuary, where fresh water from the hills meets tidal water from the Pacific. The line then slips into the forest and climbs gradually inland.
The turnaround point is Glen Blair Junction, about three and a half miles from town. Today the railroad lists a stop of around 50 minutes there before staff turn the bikes and the group heads back. That gives time to stretch, take photos and look up at the trunks without pedalling.
Glen Blair is not just a convenient picnic spot. It was once the junction for a branch line to a lumber settlement of the same name, and that branch was taken up in 1942. Nearby is the railroad's Tunnel No. 1, which has been a recurring headache. A partial collapse in 2013 buried a stretch of track, and storm damage closed it again in 2016. With trains from Fort Bragg unable to get through, the short run to Glen Blair became the coastal side's main offering, and the railbikes were part of the railroad's answer to that problem.
A logging railroad with a long history
The line opened in 1885 as the Fort Bragg Railroad. Its job was simple: move redwood logs from the forest to the new sawmill on the coast. In 1905 it became the California Western Railroad, and by 1911 the track reached Willits, about 40 miles inland, where it connected with the Northwestern Pacific.
The nickname arrived in 1925, when the company introduced gasoline-powered motorcars for passengers. Locals said you could smell them before you could see them, and the name "Skunk" stuck. Freight service ended in 2001, leaving tourism as the line's lifeline. The Sierra Railroad bought it in 2003, and today it is run by its subsidiary, Mendocino Railway.
So the railbikes are a modern way of using a corridor that was cut for industry. The same rails that carried felled giants to the mill now carry visitors to look at the trees that grew back.
The Skunk Train's own photo of riders among the redwoods along the Redwood Route.
The trees: coast redwoods, not giant sequoias
The forest along this line is made up of coast redwoods (Sequoia sempervirens). They are often confused with giant sequoias, which grow in the Sierra Nevada mountains far to the east. Both are called redwoods because of their reddish heartwood, but they are different species in different genera. Coast redwoods are the taller of the two; giant sequoias are the bulkier.
Coast redwoods grow only in a narrow strip along the Pacific, roughly from Monterey County in central California to the far southwest corner of Oregon. Mature trees commonly reach 60 to 100 metres (about 200 to 330 feet). The tallest known living tree on Earth, a coast redwood named Hyperion, stands in Redwood National Park at around 116 metres. The oldest known coast redwoods are thought to be about 2,200 years old.
The Skunk Train says some trees along its route are more than 1,000 years old and over 300 feet tall. Much of the forest you pass, though, is second growth that came back after the logging the railroad was built to serve. That is worth knowing: the scenery is beautiful, and it is also a living record of what was cut and what has recovered.
Fog is a big part of the story. Coast redwoods soak up moisture from summer fog through their leaves and bark, and fog drip can supply a large share of a tree's yearly water. If your ride is grey and damp, you are seeing the conditions these trees depend on.
Wildlife along Pudding Creek
Because the bikes are quiet, you have a good chance of seeing animals. The estuary at the start of the route is the richest stretch. The railroad lists great blue herons, egrets, ospreys, river otters and deer among the animals riders spot. Kingfishers and ducks are common along the water, too.
Black bears do live in the coastal forests of Mendocino County, but they are shy, and encounters on a guided group ride are very unlikely. Follow your guide's instructions and keep food packed away, and the chance of trouble is tiny.
Practical tips before you book
- Check the current schedule. The Pudding Creek railbikes run seasonally and times change from year to year. The Skunk Train's website is the only reliable place for dates and prices.
- Know the rider rules. At the time of writing, solo riders must be 16 or older, passengers must be at least three, and there is a weight limit of 250 pounds per rider. Helmets are required and close-toed shoes are a must.
- Dress for the coast. Rides go ahead rain or shine, and the Mendocino Coast is often cool and misty even in summer. Bring layers, water and something you do not mind getting wet.
- Dogs can come. The railroad offers a dog trailer for an extra fee, subject to availability.
- Consider longer options. Beyond the Pudding Creek trip, the railroad has offered longer railbike tours along the Noyo River and an evening ride, plus a pedal outing from the Willits end of the line.
Fort Bragg is roughly a three to four hour drive north of San Francisco, depending on traffic and route. Many visitors combine the ride with Glass Beach, the Noyo Headlands coastal trail or a stay in nearby Mendocino village.
Rail biking beyond California
The Skunk Train was not the first place to put pedal cars on rails, but its success helped popularise the idea. Heritage railroads and private operators in other states have since opened their own rail-bike or rail-explorer rides on lightly used or disused track, from New England to the Pacific Northwest. Numbers change often as tours open and close, so a quick search for rail biking in your state is the best way to see if there is one near you.
Separately, the United States has thousands of miles of former rail lines converted into walking and cycling paths, known as rail trails. Those have had their tracks removed, so you ride an ordinary bike on them, but they share the same appeal: a gentle grade and a route that passes places roads never reach.
Sources: Skunk Train press release (February 2019): Skunk Train railbikes; Skunk Train: Railbikes tours and rider information; Wikipedia: California Western Railroad; Wikipedia: Sequoia sempervirens (coast redwood). Embedded photos: Visit Fort Bragg and Skunk Train on Facebook.
COMMENTS