Fort Bragg: 3 ways to play on the Mendocino coast
From the Skunk Train to a pioneer craft brewery and a winery with whale watching, here's where to eat, drink and play on the Mendocino coast.
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There are all sorts of ways to eat, sip and play in Fort Bragg, the bustling fishing town on Mendocino County’s spectacular, craggy coast. Here are three ideas to get you started.
North Coast Brewing
Whales and ales? Why, yes. The taproom, gift shop and restaurant at North Coast Brewing’s Fort Bragg campus are just as whale crazed as the rest of Mendocino County at this time of year. Whale festivals unfurl in a different town each weekend in March, with Fort Bragg joining in on March 16 with a clam chowder competition, wine and beer tastings — North Coast Brewing, of course — and a 5K/10K run.
But you can enjoy a taste of that any day of the year at the brewery’s taproom. Sample North Coast Clam Chowder ($6/$10) and sip a pint of Scrimshaw pilsner as you nibble piping hot beer-battered shrimp ($21) — there’s Scrimshaw in the batter, too. Then check out the gift shop, where whale-shaped beer-bottle openers are arrayed next to those bars of beer soap you’ve always wanted. They’re guaranteed to make your shower experience hoppier.
Details: Open daily for lunch and dinner, plus live jazz Friday and Saturday nights at 444 N. Main St., Fort Bragg; https://northcoastbrewing.com
Skunk Train
The Skunk Train has run these rails since 1885, traveling the same gorgeous path through old-growth redwood forests and over trestle bridges ever since the Western California Railroad got its aromatic nickname in the 19th century. Apparently the combination of gasoline-burning engines and crude oil-stoked pot-bellied stoves yielded a distinctive fragrance.
Be sure to check out the Model Railroad Barn at the Fort Bragg Depot, before you climb aboard the Pudding Creek Express for an hour-long, 7-mile round-trip to Glen Blair. There’s a bar car, too, with snacks, drinks, beer and wine for sale. Well-behaved dogs are welcome aboard.
Details: Tickets are $11 for tots and pups, $16-$26 for kids and $27-$42 for adults. 100 W. Laurel St., Fort Bragg; www.skunktrain.com
Pacific Star Winery
There aren’t many wineries that offer tempranillo with a side of cetacean. Of course, the Pacific Star Winery is hardly your ordinary winery. Perched on the Mendocino coast just north of Fort Bragg, it’s a prime spot for watching the great grey whale migration. Bright red Adirondack chairs line the cliff edge so you can spot flukes as you sip flights of pinot blanc, perhaps, or a charbono, encouraged in your seaward gaze by the chalkboard noting the last whale sighting.
As if whale sightings weren’t enough, this may also be the only winery in the world with a seismograph and an earthquake fault of its own. Discovered by geologist Dorothy Merritts and her colleagues, the Pacific Star Fault was named in 2006. Make sure you pick up a bottle or two of winemaker Sally Ottoson’s ode to that geological rift. It’s My Fault ($19) blends pinot blanc, pinot gris, chenin blanc and roussanne, and the red It’s My Fault ($22) combines dolcetto, negroamaro, barbera and charbono grapes.
Details: Open from 12 to 5 p.m. Thursday-Sunday during the winter and Thursday-Monday beginning in April at 33000 Highway One, between Fort Bragg and Westport; www.pacificstarwinery.com. Note: Leave the kids and pups home. The clifftop setting is not safe for little ones.