A Backpacker's Guide to the California Coastal Trail
A detailed guide to backpacking and supply availability on the northern and central portions of the CCT, by Bernie Krause; photos by Stacy and Bernie Krause
Through-Hiking the CCT
Thoughts on through-hiking the trail, ways to do it and basic essentials for a successful trip.
Hiking the Coast from Hostel to Hostel
Jessica Gauvreau provides notes on her 2008 walk of the CCT north to San Francisco with a day pack and hostel stays.
Experience the California coast!
Two men take an exploratory walk of the coastline from Oregon to San Francisco in 1995, by Dinesh Desai.
Impressions of the California Coastal Trail
Two experienced backpackers take on the CCT. Here are their impressions and photos--a walk in process, by Bernie Krause; photos by Stacy and Bernie Krause
Other Useful Links
Agencies, Land Trusts, & Trail Organizations
Photos of the coast from the California Records Project
GPX file from 2016 MoJo thru hike. More about their adventure on the MoJo Coastwalk page.
Hiker Guide Articles
The Golden Gate National Recreation Area
The Golden Gate National Recreation Area (GGNRA) is not only the largest urban park in the world at 74,000 acres but also one of the most dramatic meetings of land and sea on the planet. GGNRA grew out of years of efforts to save open space in urban San Francisco and neighboring Marin and San…
Point Reyes National Seashore
Farming, logging and development have severely altered much of California’s coast, so to experience the coast in a relatively original and unaltered condition, visit Point Reyes National Seashore. The United States Congress recognized the extraordinary value of this wild and scenic place, creating the National Seashore in 1962, preserving it permanently for public recreation and…
The California Coastal Trail Whole Hike of 1996
ON NATIONAL TRAILS DAY, June 1, 1996, six hikers rendezvoused at the Oregon-California border to begin a hike of nearly 1200 miles along the spectacular, diverse California coast to Mexico. When they completed the trek three months and three weeks later, this remarkable journey became the first group hike of the entire California Coastal Trail.…
We Want a Marine Sanctuary, not Offshore Oil!
Imagine, as you walk along the north coast on the Coastal Trail, looking out over the Pacific and seeing ten oil drilling platforms. That’s what Big Oil wants and the U.S. Department of Interior has proposed in Lease Sale #53, currently on hold thanks to intense public opposition. As long as our society is dependent…
Marine Terrace Geology and the Pygmy Forest
From Mendocino County south to San Diego, an irregular series of marine terraces, or wave-cut benches, occur between the shoreline and the coastal foothills. Carved by waves and wind-driven water at sea level, these terraces feature a vertical, or steeply rising, cliff face at their seaward edge (bluffs) backed by a level or gently sloping…
Thar She Blows! Whale Watching
The California Coastal Trail provides some of the best whale watching in the state. If you hike the coast between December and May, you’ll have excellent chances to see some of the 18,000 California gray whales that swim the west coast each year. If you hike CCT in summer or autumn, you might get lucky…
The Coast Miwok and Their Neighbors
As we move south along the California coast, the fate of its native cultures grows increasingly harsh. While all native cultures suffered from white settlement, some of the northern tribes like the Tolowa and Yurok discussed earlier were able to maintain sufficient population to retain much of their cultural identity. North of the Russian River,…
Tomales Bay
Tomales Bay exists as a feature of the San Andreas fault. Here two huge plates of the earth’s crust move against each other, the Pacific plate west of the bay and the North American plate to the east. The crack in the earth’s surface between the plates sinks in some locations, forming what geologists call…
Why It’s Called the Kortum Trail
For the past forty years, virtually every time Sonoma County’s environment or public access has been threatened, Bill Kortum has been there fighting for the earth and for your rights. When PG&E started building a nuclear power plant atop the San Andreas fault on Bodega Head in the early 1960s, no environmental movement was fighting…