Wilder Ranch Ride

Yesterday morning, I took a ride on my mountain bike through Wilder Ranch State Park. When I woke up, it was clear and sunny, so I thought it would be a great day to make this ride. After breakfast and getting ready to ride, the sky had become overcast and a little chilly. I decided to make the ride anyway. I wanted to make this more of a fun ride than a workout. I stopped plenty of times to take pictures and explore the park. Towards the end of the ride, the sky had cleared up and it was a beautiful day.

I entered the park through a meadow and then rode down a canyon along a creek. Towards the bottom of the canyon, you have to cross the creek. Some people cross the creek by riding over these logs. Some walk their bikes across the logs. Not me! It is about a 10 foot drop down to the creek. I have never seen anyone fall off of the logs, but I don't want to be the first. These are the types of "firsts" that I try to avoid. :-) A little farther down the trail, there is a place where you can easily cross the creek on rocks. The chicken route (made just for me!)


After I rode back up the other side of the canyon, I came across these ruins. I believe that they are of some old lime kilns. This area is pretty secluded on a small trail off of one of the main fire roads. Off to the side, there were the remains of a campfire, so I suspect that someone had recently been camping in this area.



I rode for awhile around the upper part of the park. Most of ride was through the coastal redwood forest and meadows, though there were some panoramic 180 degree views of the ocean. On my ride, I saw a few deer, a bunny rabbit and a few squirrels. By the time I was able to stop and get my camera out, they had all scampered into the woods.

Then I descended to the area where the ranch buildings are. There were a few volunteers taking care of the animals. This woman was grooming the goats. There was a girl feeding the chickens and a woman cleaning out the chicken coop. There were also at least 2 elementary school classes there, learning about the ranch.



The state park service is restoring the Meder house. The hope is to restore the home so that visitors will be able to experience what life was like on a working dairy farm around the turn of the century. It is intended primarily for school children. "After waking up in the bunk room, cooking on the big cast iron woodstove, feeding animals, washing clothes, and working in the shop, they'll gather in the parlor around the piano in the evening to sing songs and hear stories of the day. More than restored, the Meder House will become a living museum where school children and visitors can enjoy these living history programs, with exact replica furnishings and supplies flavoring their experience. The children will live a weekend in authentic rural daily life as it was lived at the turn of the last century, in the heyday of this turn-of-the-20th century family farm."

After walking through the ranch buildings, I headed for the coast. After a short ride to the ocean, I came to this beach. Visitors are not allowed on this beach, but can view it from the bluffs. It is a protected preserve. I was really enjoying the views of this beach, until I rode around a corner and ...




came across this view. Wow, it was spectacular. My pictures may not completely capture the scenery, but it was breathtaking.







So I rode a little farther and came across this view. Very nice.








Riding a little farther, I came to this secluded beach. You can easily hike down to this beach. I had previously made lunch plans so I did not have time to stop, but it would be fun to hike down and spend some time on this beach. Atop the bluff, it can get rather windy, however this beach looks well protected.




A little while farther down the trail, I came to this beach. This beach is also open to the public. There is a short easy hike down a side trail to the beach. At this point, the main trail turns back inland, so I turned around and rode back out of the park and then home.




The trail along the ocean bluffs is only about 2 miles from the park headquarters to where I turned around. Yet there are several spectacular views during that short ride. During summer weekends, it is pretty popular for walkers and bikers. Yesterday on a Thursday morning, I saw only 2 walkers and 1 other biker. All and all, it was quite a nice ride and I got home in time to clean up and meet my friends for lunch!


More of my pictures can be found here.

More information on Wilder Ranch can be found here and here and here.