Sierra Nevada Adventures Multi Day Rides

REDWOOD COAST ADVENTURE RIDE 2-Days

Redwood Coast ADVENTURE ride EXPLORES an amazing on-road and off-road route through the Northern Coast Range including the spectacular Pacific Coast in northern California.

Here’s your opportunity to explore over 400 miles of the best single-lane goat roads in the Northern Coast Range, and the best two-lane scenic byway along the spectacular Pacific Coast in northern California, including a remote dirt road through a majestic Redwood Forest between beautiful Bodega Bay and scenic Fort Bragg California.

The amazing Redwood Coast ADVENTURE ride begins in Santa Rosa and travels west to beautiful Bodega Bay then veers north on the scenic byway known as the Pacific Coast Highway (PCH). This world-class scenic byway twists and turns its way along the amazing Pacific Coast and past jagged cliffs and scenic beaches. Before long this amazing journey veers away from the coastline to explore remote redwood forests filled with giant ferns and forest jungle plants and countless cascading creeks. Your journey continues through the forest and up and over the Northern Coast Range to the northern part of Sonoma County along the Russian River for lunch in a small town framed by oak-studded rolling hills and vineyards. From this point, your journey travels northwest on a curvy twisty road through the Mendocino Coastal Mountains then explores a remote dirt road through a majestic redwood forest. This scenic dirt road leaves civilization behind as it ventures into the forest and past redwood trees surrounded by lush jungle plants. The majestic redwood forest provides an almost transcendent experience as you venture deeper into the forest that can’t really be described in words but can only be truly experienced in person as emotions evoke a feeling from another world.

Beyond the forest, your journey breaks through the trees as your view suddenly opens up to the sights and sounds of the amazing Pacific Coast. From this point, your journey veers north along the Pacific Coast as the sounds of waves crash against the rugged coastline. Eventually, your journey reaches the coastal town of Fort Bragg California for dinner drinks, and a night’s stay.

Day two of your adventure travels south of Fort Bragg and before long veers west of the (PCH) to explore the scenic Mendocino Headlands which consists of 347 acres of undeveloped seaside bluffs and islets surrounding the charming town of Mendocino. Beyond Mendocino, your adventure travels away from the coast on a scenic curvy road through another redwood forest and eventually onto an old-growth redwood grove nestled in a quiet valley. This redwood grove is an excellent example of both a magnificent old-growth coastal redwood grove and a beautiful fern forest. Beyond the old-growth grove, your journey climbs up and out of the valley on a twisty corkscrew road and eventually breaks free of the dense forests and meanders along a grassy ridge with panoramic views. Beyond the ridge, your journey travels to the eastern side of the coastal range to a vibrant city nestled in a picturesque valley. Before long, your journey ventures west on a curvy road and up and over the mountains and back to the Pacific Coast. From this point, your journey travels south along the Pacific Coast then veers west of (PCH) to the tallest Lighthouse on the Pacific Coast where you will have the opportunity to climb to the top of the 115' tall lighthouse tower and enjoy the best views of the Pacific Ocean, and Manchester Beach. The first lighthouse was constructed in 1870. Its brick-and-mortar tower featured ornate iron balcony supports and a large Keepers' residence with enough space to house four Light Keeper families. In April of 1906, a devastating earthquake struck the tower. Damage from the trembler occurred all along the San Andreas Fault, which runs very close to the lighthouse and nearby town itself, many buildings were reduced to rubble, and at the light station, the Keeper’s residence and Lighthouse were damaged so severely that they were rendered condemned, and ultimately torn down.

The United States Lighthouse Service contracted with a San Francisco-based company to build a new lighthouse that could withstand any future earthquakes. The company-built factory smokestacks, which accounts for the final design of the current lighthouse. The new design featured steel reinforcement rods encased in concrete and was the first lighthouse to be built in this manner.

The new lighthouse began operation on September 15, 1908, nearly 29 months after the earthquake. It stands 115 feet tall and features a 1st Order Fresnel Lens, seven feet in diameter and weighing 4,700 pounds. The lens is made up of 258 hand-ground glass prisms all focused toward three sets of double bulls eyes. It is these bull's eyes that gave the lighthouse its unique “light signature” of two flashes every six seconds. This incredible optic, which holds an appraised value of over $3.5 million, is set in a solid bronze framework and was built in France.

Before the introduction of electricity, the lens was rotated by a clockwork mechanism. The Keepers, or “wickies” as they were called, had to hand crank a 160-pound weight up the center shaft of the lighthouse every 75 minutes to keep the lens turning. Light was produced by a “Funks” hydraulic oil lamp that needed to be refueled every four hours, and whose wicks would have to be trimmed regularly. Later, a 1,000-watt electric lamp was installed to replace the oil lamp and a 1/8 horsepower electric motor was installed to turn the gearset that rotated the lens. Eventually, the historic lighthouse lens was replaced with an automated modern beacon that was installed on the lighthouse tower balcony. After visiting the historic Point Arena Lighthouse, you will have the opportunity to enjoy a tasty lunch at a local cafe before continuing south along the Pacific Coast.

Beyond the lighthouse, your journey continues south along the scenic Pacific Coast and past Fort Ross State Park. Fort Ross is a former Russian establishment on the Pacific Coast in what is now the northwest corner of Sonoma County, California Fort Ross was the hub of the southernmost Russian settlements in North America from 1812 to 1841. Notably, it was the first multi-ethnic community in northern California, with a combination of Native Californians, Native Alaskans, Russians, Finns, and Swedes. Fort Ross is now a designated Historical Landmark, a National Historic Landmark, and on the National Register of Historic Places. including part of California's Fort Ross State Historic Park.

Beginning with Columbus in 1492, the Spanish presence in the Western Hemisphere traveled west across the Atlantic Ocean, then around or across the Americas to reach the Pacific Ocean. The Russian expansion, however, moved east across Siberia and the northern Pacific. In the early nineteenth century, Spanish and Russian expansion met along the coast of Spanish Alta California, with Russia pushing south and Spain pushing north. By that time, British and American fur trade companies had also established a coastal presence, in the Pacific Northwest, and Mexico was soon to gain independence. Mexico ceded Alta California to the United States of America following the Mexican–American War (1848). The history of the Russian Fort Ross settlement began during Spanish rule and ended under Mexican rule.

Beyond Fort Ross, your journey continues south before veering away from the coast and traveling east along the Russian River area. The Russian River is one of the major northern streams that drain the sparsely populated, forested coastal area that stretches from the Golden Gate Bridge to the Oregon border. Beyond the Russian River, your journey eventually travels back to Santa Rosa to complete your amazing ADVENTURE ride!