FELTON, CALIFORNIA
Named for San Francisco Judge John B. Felton, this historic logging community (SantaCruzMountains.com) served as the lower terminus of the San Lorenzo Valley Logging Flume. Expanded by a rail line transporting logs to the Santa Cruz wharf, lime kilns and forests in this area provided repair materials for the 1906 San Francisco earthquake.
The area's first railroad, Santa Cruz & Felton, began carrying tourists to the Big Trees and the beach in 1875. Roaring Camp Railroads (RoaringCamp.com) offer two excursionsRedwood Forest Steam Train and the Santa Cruz Beach Train.
Using 1890 steam engines, the trains travel over trestles, through redwood groves and up a winding 9.5-percent grade to Bear Mountain summit. Conductors narrate the use of narrow-gauge steam locomotives.
The Beach Train departs Santa Cruz Mountains, travels through Redwoods State Park, down the San Lorenzo River Gorge, across a 1909 steel truss bridge and through an 1875 tunnel, arriving at the Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk.
SEEING AND DOING
The unique Bigfoot Discovery Museum (Bigfoot Discovery Project.com) showcases facts about mystery primates, including Bigfoot. San Lorenzo Valley Museum (SLVMuseum.com) is housed in an historic church.
Stroll across the pedestrian-only 1892 Felton Covered Bridge, believed the tallest such bridge in the U.S. Nature enthusiasts can explore the Henry Cowell Redwoods State Park offering many outdoor activities.
EATING AND SLEEPING
With "portions big enough for a cowboy," the Cowboy Bar & Grill (FeltonCowboy.com) serves food ranging from prawns to tacos. "One of the legends of the Santa Cruz Mountains" is Monty's Log Cabin (Montys-Log-Cabin.edan.io).
Denne historien er fra July - August 2022-utgaven av True West.
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Denne historien er fra July - August 2022-utgaven av True West.
Start din 7-dagers gratis prøveperiode på Magzter GOLD for å få tilgang til tusenvis av utvalgte premiumhistorier og 9000+ magasiner og aviser.
Allerede abonnent? Logg på
Where Did the Loot Go? - This is one of those find the money stories. And it's one that has attracted treasure hunters for more than 150 years.
Whatever happened to the $97,000 from the Reno Gang's last heist? Up to a dozen members of the Reno Gang stopped a Jeffersonville, Madison and Indianapolis train at a watering station in southern Indiana. The outlaws had prior intelligence about its main load: express car safes held about $97,000 in government bonds and notes. In the process of the job, one of the crew was killed and two others hurt. The gang made a clean getaway with the loot.
Hero of Horsepower - Los Angeles lawman William Hammel tamed one of the West's wildest towns with hard work and horseless carriages.
Los Angeles lawman William Hammel tamed one of the West's wildest towns with hard work and horseless carriages.
From the Basin to the Plains
Discover Wyoming on a road trip to Cody, Casper and Cheyenne.
COLLECTING AMERICAN OUTLAWS
Wilbur Zink has preserved the Younger Gang's history in more ways than one.
Spencer's West
After the Civil War, savvy frontiersmen chose the Spencer repeating carbine.
Firearms With a Storied Past
Rock Island gavels off high profits from historic firearms.
She Means Business!
An energetic and ambitious woman has come to Lincoln, New Mexico, to restore the town's legendary Ellis Store.
Ride that Train!
HERITAGE RAILROADS KEEP THE OLD WEST ALIVE ACROSS THE UNITED STATES.
Saddle Up with a Western
Old West fiction and nonfiction are the perfect genres to fill your summer reading list.
RENEGADES OF THE RAILS
RAILROADS WERE OPEN SEASON FOR OKLAHOMA AND INDIAN TERRITORY OUTLAW GANGS.
