San Francisco Chronicle - (Sunday)
Explore: From a steam train to kayaking, outdoor fun awaits
The Santa Cruz area is known for its towering redwood forests, pristine beaches, and blufftop vistas of the Pacific Ocean. Some of the best ways to get out and experience these sights are to incorporate the natural wonders as part of an outdoor adventure. Here are three great adventures to add to your next trip.
ROARING CAMP
There are places in the United States and Europe where one can ride on an old-fashioned steam train, but there aren’t many locales where one can ride a steam train through an old-growth forest of Coastal California redwoods. This is what makes the Roaring Camp experience so special.
The attraction, which celebrates its 60th anniversary in 2022, offers train trips that travel over trestles, through giant redwood groves and up a winding narrow-gauge grade to the summit of Bear Mountain. Along the way, conductors, engineers and on-site historians regale visitors with the history of the site, the local logging industry, the railroad and the surrounding forest.
(Fun fact: The area’s first railroad, the Santa Cruz & Felton, began carrying tourists to the Big Trees and the beach in 1875.)
Generally the outfitter offers several tours — a forest ride, a beach ride, nighttime rides and special visits from trains that have been decorated to look like characters from Thomas the Tank Engine. Roaring Camp is a favorite of rail fans and laypeople alike, said Joanne Hirasaki, director of sales and marketing.
“It’s a blast back to the past of Old West ambience — a living history lesson,” she said, noting that many guests are steam engine and/or history buffs.
One of Roaring Camp’s biggest attractions: The No. 1 Dixiana locomotive, one of three engines designated a National Mechanical Engineering Historical Landmark. This locomotive is part of the regular consist, running Roaring Camp trains up and down the mountain multiple times a week.
Though Roaring Camp was founded by F. Norman Clark, today the scenic railroad is a woman-owned and women-led business. Clark’s daughter, Melani Clark, runs the operation; she took it over after her mother, Georgiana, died in 2012. Melani Clark is frequently on-site greeting guests and seeing off trains as they depart into the woods. This hands-on touch enhances the down-home vibe of the experience.
KAYAK CONNECTION
The city of Santa Cruz is essentially surrounded by water. The best way to explore it: small watercraft.
This is where Kayak Connection can help. The outfitter, owned by Jess Grigsby, runs a variety of guided tours and rental programs designed to get visitors out and about on the water to experience Santa Cruz from a different perspective.
If the weather permits, some of the guided tours venture out into the ocean. If the weather is not cooperative, visitors can stay inside the harbor and marvel at boats and sea lions while they explore.
Perhaps the most popular experience is the 2.5-hour sunset tour, which typically includes time in both spots. Grigsby said that during this tour, groups paddle out into the ocean and turn around to come back just as the sun is setting — a glorious way to celebrate the beauty of nature as it becomes awash in soft light.
“Especially on a clear night, what you see on this tour is breathtaking,” she said.
Other tours focus on different attractions. The 3-hour wildlife tour brings guests out into the ocean to visit some of the local kelp beds; the hope is to spot sea otters and harbor seals there. Grigsby notes that sometimes guests even see humpback whales on this tour.
New 6-hour kayak fishing excursions get guests out on the water with Everet Bowles, a fishing expert who is happy to share his knowledge with newbies and veterans alike.
In recent months, Kayak Connection even has launched a program through which guests can rent kayaks and stand-up paddleboards for one human and one dog — the latter rentals are called “Pup SUPs.” Grigsby said demand for these experiences has been incredibly high. Because everything is better when you’re doing it with a furry friend.
WILDER RANCH STATE PARK
This 7,000-acre open space to the north of Santa Cruz has it all: Sweeping vistas, grassy terraces, steep climbs, redwood groves and bluffs that overlook the mighty Pacific.
While the state park is a popular spot for day-hikers, it is a veritable Mecca for mountain bikers.
Karen Kefauver, an avid mountain biker who has lived in Santa Cruz for the better part of 20 years, said she loves riding in Wilder Ranch because of the diversity of terrain and topography she can get in one afternoon ride.
“My favorite part of riding at Wilder Ranch is the spectacular panoramic view of the Bay,” said Kefauver, who has become a prominent member of the local cycling community. “I always feel like I’ve earned it because there is definitely some climbing, and when I descend, I feel like I am part of a mountain biking calendar.”
All told, the park stretches from the top of Ben Lomond
Mountain down to the Pacific Ocean — more than 34 miles of trails in all. Perhaps the only downside to the park’s popularity: Many of the trails are mixeduse, which means hikers, mountain bikers, and horseback riders all must share.
For those who aren’t interested in raising their heart rates, the park also features a hearty dose of history: A circa-1897 Victorian home, a circa-1896 machine shop powered by a creek and a Meder farmhouse that has been restored to its early 1900s grandeur with appropriate replica furnishings and interpretive supplies.
Group tours, ranch tours and farm animal tours are all available; reservations are suggested. If you go, look out for the green Ohlone Tiger Beetle, a bizarre insect only found here.