Ten Mile Coastal Trail

A Brief History

Train on Trestle Silhouette (34k)
 
 
Although a coastal trail running from Fort Bragg to the Ten Mile River was probably used by the local Pomo and Coast Yuki people for centuries before the arrival of European settlers, a trail route was first documented in 1857.  As the southern end of the Humboldt trail running to Eureka, the trail ran north along the coastal bluffs then dropped to the beach north of Ward Avenue to the Ten Mile River.
 
In 1915-16 the Union Lumber Company built a logging railroad parallel to the trail and just inland from the beach.  The first train carrying logs from the Ten Mile River to the mills in Fort Bragg ran on January 3, 1917.  There are some remains of the old railroad which can be seen underlying the logging road north of Ward Avenue where both have been eroded by the ocean.  The railroad ran across five trestles, one spanning Pudding Creek (545 ft long, 44 ft high), one at Virgin Creek (360 ft long, 32 ft high) another west of Lake Cleone (867 ft long, 25 ft high) and two smaller trestles farther north. The trestle at the lake burned and was replaced by an earth berm.  The only trestle remaining today is the Pudding Creek trestle.  In the summer of 1949 the railroad was paved over in just 21 days to allow trucks to carry logs over the same route.  Later, the lumber company opened the road for public access on weekends.

Erosion has been a constant problem throughout the history of the logging road. When sections of the road were washed out in 1983 the Georgia Pacific Company, which then owned the road, stopped using it.  After 1986, the Department of Parks and Recreation maintained and operated the logging road through an agreement with Georgia Pacific. The agreement terminated in the spring of 1992. The Department acquired the northern portion of the logging road and the Pudding Creek trestle in the summer of 1992 and the rest of the road in early 1995 and the road became part of MacKerricher State Park.  State Parks is currently in the process of restoring the road as a multipurpose trail for hikers, bicyclists, equestrians and park maintenance.
 

Ten Mile Coastal Trail Foundation
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