If you like Backpacking and you're looking for an out-in-the-middle-of nowhere trail, check out the Lost Coast trail. About an hour north of Fort Bragg, California, off-road from HWY 1, you'll find Sinkyone State Park, a state park so remote that it's mostly left alone by the state, which means rugged, challenging conditions. Starting out at the Car-camping-friendly Usal beach campgrounds is a 22-mile long trail that is a backpacker's paradise.
You Should Know:
-This trail is one-way. There is a shuttle service for hire that will pick you up at the end of the trail and deliver you back to your starting point, or you could just hike the whole way back.
-Depending on how fast you hike, plan on around three days to hike one-way.
-There are no established water sites and no trash collection bins, so bring a water purifier (there are creeks) and haul it out if you packed it in.
-You'll need a bear-proof canister to store your food in.
-Make sure you fill up your gas tank before heading off-road. It may only be six miles in to the trailhead, but driving that six miles takes about forty minutes. 4x4 vehicle recommended, especially in wet weather. (And this place normally has around 300 days of rain per year.)
-Pack for cool, wet weather and bring long sleeves and long pants. Even if you manage to avoid rainy days, the weather changes quite rapidly here and the trail conditions can be extremely overgrown with prickly plants.
NB: I seem to have developed allergies to Northern California this year. So if you're an allergy sufferer, do not, under any circumstances, forget your allergy meds like I did. This place set off my allergies like nowhere I've EVER been!
Just one of the gorgeous floral species along the trail.
My travel-pal, Heidi, trying to hike through a blackberry bush that had taken over the trail-proper.
You Should Know:
-This trail is one-way. There is a shuttle service for hire that will pick you up at the end of the trail and deliver you back to your starting point, or you could just hike the whole way back.
-Depending on how fast you hike, plan on around three days to hike one-way.
-There are no established water sites and no trash collection bins, so bring a water purifier (there are creeks) and haul it out if you packed it in.
-You'll need a bear-proof canister to store your food in.
-Make sure you fill up your gas tank before heading off-road. It may only be six miles in to the trailhead, but driving that six miles takes about forty minutes. 4x4 vehicle recommended, especially in wet weather. (And this place normally has around 300 days of rain per year.)
-Pack for cool, wet weather and bring long sleeves and long pants. Even if you manage to avoid rainy days, the weather changes quite rapidly here and the trail conditions can be extremely overgrown with prickly plants.
NB: I seem to have developed allergies to Northern California this year. So if you're an allergy sufferer, do not, under any circumstances, forget your allergy meds like I did. This place set off my allergies like nowhere I've EVER been!
