Roaring Camp Railroad

DETAILS:

• Location: 5401 Graham Hill Road, Felton, CA 95018 (approximately 15-20 minutes north of Santa Cruz)

• Hours of Operation:

  • Roaring Camp: Daily from 9AM to 5PM

  • Redwood Forest Steam Train - Monday thru Friday: 11AM / Saturday & Sunday: 11AM & 12:30PM

    • Additional train departures depending on the season. Please see their website below (under “resources”) for current schedule.

• Parking: Paid parking lot on site.

• Cost:

  • Redwood Forest Steam Train: $32 Adults / $23 Children 2-12

  • Parking: $10

  • Other events available throughout the year. Please see their website below (under “resources”) for more information.

• Time Commitment: Redwood Forest Steam Train last approximately 75 minutes. Allow for more time if you want to explore or eat in Roaring Camp.

• Miscellaneous:

  • Santa Cruz Beach Train also available which provides transportation back and forth to Santa Cruz. Please see their website below (under “resources”) for current schedule, rates & info.

  • Seasonal moonlight train dinner party. Please see their website below (under “resources”) for current schedule, rates & info.

  • Be an “Engineer For the Day”. Ride in the cab with the senior engineer and assist in the performance of the locomotive for the day. Please see their website below (under “resources”) for more information.

  • Leashed dogs are allowed in Roaring Camp. Leashed dogs also allowed on all train rides at the discretion of the conductor.
    

With the ability to grow at least 30 stories high and capable of living over 2000 years, the redwood tree is one of the largest and oldest living organisms to have ever inhabited this planet. Spanning between Big Sur to the border of Oregon, the vast majority of these majestic giants reside in California with the largest groves protected within the confines of national and state parks like Sequoia NP and Big Basin Redwoods SP. If you’ve never had the opportunity to stand below one of these redwood trees, it truly is a jaw-dropping experience and easily provides some perspective about our fleeting and diminutive place in this world whenever we get a little too big for our britches. You can’t go wrong visiting any of these parks, but if you really want to view these forest titans in a unique way, you should hop aboard the Roaring Camp Railroad in Felton, California.

Roaring Camp first opened in 1963 after its founder; F. Norman Clark, leased 170 acres from Big Tree Ranch. Big Tree Ranch itself was the first property in the state purchased specifically to preserve redwood trees from logging when it was obtained in 1867 by a San Francisco businessman named Joseph Warren Welch. It was a contrarian move for its time considering the booming timber industry that was so prevalent in the area, but this noble act of conservation (when economic fortune might have dictated otherwise) was a vital paradigm shift that would help foster the creation of future natural sanctuaries like Yosemite NP and Humboldt Redwoods SP decades later. Much of Big Tree Ranch would eventually become a state park itself (Henry Cowell Redwood SP).

F. Norman Clark had one goal when he opened Roaring Camp, “bring the romance and color of steam railroading back to America". I think it’s safe to say that he accomplished that task with flying colors. Constructed to look like a logging community from the 1880s complete with a covered bridge, general store, opera house, and train depot (obviously), Roaring Camp does its best to transport you back to an era when a single horse-riding marshal was the only law in town. Some will say that this re-creation is best saved for Disneyland, but any resemblance to a theme park can easily be forgiven when you consider its idyllic location nestled among these ancient trees. And you’ll become a full-on believer after you experience Roaring Camp’s main attraction; a ride aboard one of their steam trains.

Maintaining a small fleet of authentic narrow-gauge steam engines that date back to the 1890s, Roaring Camp Railroad uses some of the oldest functional engines that still exist in the country. Depending on the train, you’ll have the option of boarding a covered or open-air passenger car (I highly recommend an open-air car if that’s available to you). The ride will twist through the grandeur of the surrounding forest as you ascend towards Bear Mountain. During the 1/2hr climb up (the ride is approximately 1hr round-trip), your microphone-assisted conductor will provide various bits of info on the history of railroad life in the area, steam engines, and the redwoods that hover above. Once you get to Bear Mountain, you’ll be provided a short break to use the restroom, explore the nearby redwood groves, and admire your steam engine a little closer. Before you know it, you’ll be back in Roaring Camp wishing that the ride had lasted twice as long, and you’ll be tempted to purchase another ticket so that you can do it all over again. No one would blame you if you did.

 

RESOURCES:

• Roaring Camp website.