The Coast Highway Couldn't Follow
When California built Highway 1, they couldn't get it through the King Range — the mountains simply drop too steeply into the ocean. The resulting 25-mile gap in the coastal highway became the Lost Coast, and it remained genuinely lost until the King Range National Conservation Area formalized trails and a permit system. Today it's a backpacking bucket list item: completely roadless, cell-service-free, with two tidal sections that require reading tide charts rather than following a map.
The classic route runs south from Mattole Beach (near Ferndale) to Black Sands Beach at Shelter Cove, 24.5 miles of black sand, sea stacks, wildlife, and camp with the Pacific crashing 20 feet from your tent. A permit is required April 1–October 31 and you need to plan around tides.
Trip Overview
- Duration: 5 days / 4 nights (or 4 days hard pace)
- Total distance: 24.5 miles (one-way, requires shuttle)
- Direction: North to south (Mattole → Shelter Cove) recommended — wind at your back
- Difficulty: Moderate-Strenuous — soft sand and rocky outcroppings slow pace; two impassable headland tidal sections
- Start: Mattole Beach, Honeydew, CA (BLM parking area)
- End: Black Sands Beach, Shelter Cove, CA
- Permit: Required April 1–Oct 31: $8/person/night, reserve at recreation.gov (quota: 60 people/night entering at Mattole). Walk-up permits available at BLM Arcata Field Office.
- Best months: April–June (wildflowers, elk), September–October (less fog, warm)
- Shuttle: Required — Lost Coast Shuttle (locoastshuttle.com) or arrange personal shuttle
Tidal Sections — Read Before You Go
Two sections of the Lost Coast Trail are impassable at high tide: Sea Lion Gulch (Miles 3–5 from Mattole) and the headlands between Randall Creek and Buck Creek (Miles 18–20 from Mattole). At these sections, you must wait for a tide below approximately 3.5 feet. Check NOAA Tides for Shelter Cove, CA — plan your campsite timing to hit these sections at the right tide. The BLM permit system provides a tidal passage planning guide with your permit.
Day 1 — Mattole Beach to Cooskie Creek (5 miles)
Begin at the Mattole Beach trailhead (BLM parking, no fee). The first miles walk the most open stretch of beach on the route — wide black sand bars backed by low bluffs, with views back to the King Range rising immediately inland. Roosevelt elk are frequently seen on the bluffs and meadows near Punta Gorda Lighthouse (Mile 3) — a decommissioned 1912 lighthouse accessible by trail from the beach.
Camp at Cooskie Creek (Mile 5) — reliable water, sheltered site behind beach grass dunes. Check the tide for tomorrow's Sea Lion Gulch passage before setting up camp.
Day 2 — Cooskie Creek through Sea Lion Gulch (7 miles)
Time your departure for the Sea Lion Gulch tidal passage (Miles 3–5 from Mattole, or approximately Miles 5–9 from camp). The passage requires navigating rocky outcroppings with 4–6 foot cliffs on one side and ocean on the other — completely blocked at high tide, comfortably walkable at low tide. Beyond the passage, the trail opens onto wide beaches backed by the dramatic King Range peaks, which rise from sea level to nearly 4,000 feet in just 3 miles.
AllTrails: 4.8★ (3,892 reviews) — search "Lost Coast Trail King Range"
r/backpacking▲ 5.6k upvotes"The Lost Coast is everything backpacking is supposed to be. No trail markers, no crowds, just ocean and mountains and the feeling that you walked somewhere most people haven't."
Camp at Miller Flat (Mile 12 from Mattole) — wide beach camp, good water from Miller Creek, reliable surf fishing.
Day 3 — Miller Flat to Big Flat (6 miles)
The trail passes through Gitchell Creek — the best swimming hole on the route in summer, a freshwater pool where the creek meets the beach. Continue through Spanish Flat to Big Flat (Mile 18 from Mattole), the largest and most protected campsite on the route. Big Flat offers a reliable creek, flat sandy ground above the tide line, and views back north to the full sweep of the King Range.
Days 4–5 — Big Flat to Shelter Cove (6.5 miles)
Time Day 4's departure for the second tidal section above Randall Creek. The final miles pass through the most dramatic scenery on the route: the beach narrows at Gitchell Creek Headlands, the terrain becomes rockier, and the King Range peaks close in directly above the trail. The final approach to Black Sands Beach at Shelter Cove is a long, photogenic straight-shot beach walk with the lighthouse at Punta Gorda visible far behind you on clear days.
Shelter Cove has a small grocery/deli and the Lost Coast Brewery tasting room for the finish-line pint.
Gear Notes
- Waterproof boots — mandatory; multiple creek crossings and tidal splash zones
- Gaiters — sand gets into everything on soft beach sections
- Tide chart printed or downloaded offline — cell service nonexistent on trail
- Bear canister — required (black bears and raccoons); Ursack accepted
- Extra food — tidal delays can add 4–6 hours to your schedule
