Need a summer activity in Washington? Vance Creek Rail Riders is open for the season and it is absolutely an experience you want to try yourself. Pedaling a multi-seat “rail rider” is suitable for all ages and something you can enjoy with friends and family!
Imagine this, you are seated comfortably in your adjusted quadricycle chair pedaling at your own pace with three other friends or family members. As you are laughing and having a great time, you are ablt to take in the scenery and the smells and sounds of nature all around you. Surrounded by the canopy of trees, beautiful meadows, and cruising over tiny bridges that span the winding Goldsborough Creek. Sounds amazing, doesn’t it?
The adventure begins on a gravel road with a welcoming quaint little cabin with boxes of flowers on the windows to which you check you and your group in. Others who booked to share this ride with you start trickling in. We waited for instructions and safety tips from a very hilarious guide named Caroline. She gave a fair warning that the trip is 6 miles mainly downhill, in the beginning, one way and 6 miles back going uphill. However, do not panic because there will be a second guide name Ty to help assist the group with a motorized rail rider trailing behind.
Although Vance Creek Rail Riders is a blast, there is more than meets the eye. As you travel on the railway through gorgeous sceneries you are also traveling through history. The railway that is being used for this unique and fun activity was part of a massive network of rails used to haul timber out of the southern parts of the Olympic Mountains. The Simpson Logging Company utilized these rail lines for 120 years and was the last privately owned logging railroad in operation in the continental United States.
What is most special about this company is that it is family-owned and operated by Doug and Cynthia Newman. Their longtime family friends, Kim and Anita Metlen started a rail-riding company of their own in Oregon in May 2014 becoming the first rail riding business on the west coast. Eventually, in 2018, Doug and Cynthia began Vance Creek Rail riders’ operations.
Before you get too excited and travel to Shelton, Washington for this fun adventure, Vance Creek Rail Riders can be booked out for a couple of weeks, especially on weekends, so you need to head to their website and book yourself a spot. You will not regret seeing the countryside while ridin’ the rails!
