Page 109 - 2023-2024 Travel Guide to California

PHOTOSGENIUS/SHUTTERSTOCK; OVIDIU HRUBARU/SHUTTERSTOCK. OPPOSITE: STEPHEN MOEHLE/SHUTTERSTOCK
MUST
SEE,
DO
SKUNK TRAIN, above; Paul Bunyan
and Babe the Blue Ox statues at
“Trees of Mystery”, Klamath, right;
Sunrise at Redwoods National and
State Parks, opposite.
INSIDER’S TIP
Once a seedy skid row, EUREKA’S
WATERFRONT has been
transformed into the city’s
liveliest and most inviting district,
with Victorian storefronts
housing restaurants, galleries,
shops and museums, all crowned
by the iconic CARSON MANSION,
a masterpiece of over-the-top
Victorian opulence.
visiteureka.com
The sounds of chainsaws and buzzing
sawmills that once dominated the North
Coast are rapidly fading as the lumber
industry winds down. In former mill
towns such as Fort Bragg, tourism is
replacing timber as innovative galleries,
restaurants and brew-pubs spring to life.
Although it’s sometimes called the
Redwood Empire, the North Coast is
more than just tall trees: It’s also salmon-
fishing boats bobbing in tiny harbors;
Roosevelt elk bugling across misty
meadows; steam trains chuffing through
a damp and dripping forest; hole-in-the-
wall restaurants serving fish smoked
according to traditional Native American
• FOREST TRACKS Built in 1885 to haul
redwood logs from the tangled backcountry to
coastal sawmills, the iconic Skunk Train now carries
passengers on two different runs. The Pudding
Creek Express, starting at Fort Bragg, runs year-
round along the Pudding Creek Estuary and the
Wolf Tree Turn runs from Willits to the majestic Wolf
Tree, seasonally. And don’t worry. The train’s name
derives from an original, stinky gasoline engine that
long ago was consigned to the junkyard.
• skunktrain.com
• BOULEVARD OF BIG TREES The Avenue of
the Giants is a 31-mile detour from Highway 101 that
weaves in and out of lofty, old-growth redwood trees
like a slalom course. The route takes you through the
heart of Humboldt Redwoods State Park, one of the
best places along the North Coast to gaze up in awe.
Sunnier and drier than redwood parks farther to the
north, it’s less tangled with undergrowth, making it
easier to wander and wonder.
• avenueofthegiants.net
• COMMUNITY FOREST Arcata, with a town
square lined with a mixture of hippie-chic
boutiques, eclectic restaurants and old-time
lumberjack bars, is home to Humboldt State
University. Spend some time wandering its
community forest and the innovative wastewater
treatment facility that has become a thriving
sanctuary for migratory birds.
• cityofarcata.org
• BIG EATS To satisfy a lumberjack-sized
appetite, drive across Humboldt Bay on the Samoa
Bridge to the Samoa Cookhouse for colossal, all-
you-can-eat meals served family style. The last
surviving cookhouse of its kind in the West, it’s
been serving hungry mill workers, longshoremen
and tourists since 1893.
• samoacookhouse.net
• VICTORIAN HAMLET Gaily painted
Victorian mansions line the streets of Ferndale, an
idyllic hamlet on the Eel River delta in southern
Humboldt County. Lovingly preserved, they give the
town a turn-of-the-last-century look that has proven
irresistible to Hollywood. More than a dozen movies
have been filmed here. Main Street’s shops keep the
Victorian theme going, with old-fashioned
mercantiles and even a blacksmith shop. Cradled
between two redwood forests, the entire town is
listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
• visitferndale.com
2023-24 TRAVEL GUIDE TO CALIFORNIA 107