With the King Range on one side and the Pacific Ocean on the other, the Lost Coast Trail is a rewarding backpacking trip along California’s longest stretch of undeveloped coastline.

This trip is great for experienced and new backpackers alike, as long as you pack your sense of adventure! It’s a true backpacking trip, which means everyone will be required to carry their own weight- including a tent, sleeping bag, and food (all together these items will amount to about 30-40 lbs)!

Keep in mind that this hike is more challenging than it seems based on the hiking distances in the itinerary. Carrying this amount of weight, while walking on sand is a lot more difficult than your standard walk on the beach. Be sure to thoroughly read the Daily Breakdown and make sure you’re fully prepared for the distances and fitness level this entails.

We rated our Lost Coast trip a 3.5 out of 5 on the WHOA Adventure difficulty scale because while the hiking distances are unassuming, you are hiking on sand with all your backpacking gear with all 30-40 lbs of your backpacking gear (and if you’ve ever tried running on a beach, you know how difficult this can be)!

Each day of the hike, we’ll be syncing up with Mother Nature and timing our hikes to the tides. Although the Lost Coast Trail can be hiked most of the year, it can still experience unpredictable weather like rain and high, blustery winds. One of the most challenging parts is navigating the trail's uneven terrain, sandy beaches and rocky coastlines while wearing a heavy pack, so ensure you’ve broken in all your gear (and have moleskin to help prevent blisters, just in case)!

Bottom line, be ready to embrace what Mother Nature throws our way, and put on a layer and dance when things get wet. Remember, the difference between an adventure and an ordeal is your attitude!

The better trained you are, the more enjoyable your experience will be. Stay active and start breaking in your boots and backpack, and conditioning your legs now for lots of uneven terrain. While training, ensure you’re wearing your pack with weight inside. Start with a little and work your way up to 30-40 lbs. Wearing a loaded pack for extended periods of time (6+ hours) will ensure you are prepared to carry your pack for the trip. Bottom line, prep yourself as much as possible - your future self will thank you!

We plan our adventures with most of the logistics taken care of, so you can focus on lacing up your hiking shoes and being your best adventure self! Here’s a complete list of everything that’s included, and what’s not.

INCLUDED:

• 4 day female-led guided backpacking hike in The Lost Coast Trail

• 2 nights in Santa Rosa hotel (1 before + 1 after hike, double occupancy)

• Signature WHOA Welcome and Celebratory Meal

• All meals during the hike and listed as included in the Daily Breakdown

• All necessary permits and fees to camp and hike

• Sleeping bag and pad

• 60-65 L backpack

• 2 person tents

• Transfers to/from trailhead/finish and San Francisco

• Professional and passionate hiking guides

• Tips to show gratitude to our amazing guide team (and to save you from having to carry extra cash)

• Tons of WHOA TLC and a passionate and experienced WHOA GAL (Group Adventure Leader) on the ground to make sure things run smoothly

• The support of the WHOA team leading up to and during your adventure to make sure you feel as mentally and physically prepared as possible!

• 1% for the planet, as in 1% of what you pay goes towards grassroots environmental groups making a difference in their local communities.

• Offsetting of this trip’s negative impact on the environment and carbon footprint, from the transportation to lodging to meals

  
  NOT INCLUDED:

• Flights

• Early arrival accommodation and transportation

• Travel Insurance (mandatory)

• Gear (not listed as included above)

• Additional food, drink and tips (not listed as included above)

*For our carbon offsetting, we do our best to crunch the numbers and accurately calculate the carbon footprint the best we can with the information that we have. It’s not a perfect system and carbon offsetting isn’t an exact science, but we believe it’s more important to take action now, in every way that we can. All our offsetting programs are certified by our partners at Sustainable Travel International. At the moment, our traveler’s international airfare to the destination is beyond our scope, and not included. Flights are the largest carbon emitter on most of our adventures, so we encourage all our travelers to consider doing it independently through the airline or with our partners at STI.

On our first hiking day we’ll trek along a mix of soft sandy beaches, small boulder fields, and hard-pack trails. Starting on sand, we’ll hike down the beach for three miles before climbing onto the bluff above, which is where we’ll come across the abandoned Punta Gorda Lighthouse. This hard-pack trail will continue for a couple miles before dropping back onto the beach and rocks. The last section is impassable at high tide, so we’ll time our hike to pass during low tide, ultimately reaching our camp spot for the night on the beaches near Cooksie Creek.

Hike Time: 5+ hours
Distance: ~6.5 mi / 10.5 km
Included Meals: Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner
Stay: Cooksie Creek Camp

Most of this day will be spent hiking a well-tread, hard trail on the bluffs and dunes overlooking the beach. We’ll cross many streams that flow down from the mountains, giving us amazing views all the way down the coast. We’ll pass Big Flat, the largest plateau along the trail and a popular destination for skydivers and surfers, and continue on to Miller Flat to set up camp.

Hike Time: 6+ hours
Distance: ~10 mi / 16 km
Included Meals: Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner
Stay: Miller Flat Camp

We’ll head back to The City by the Bay and say our farewells until our next adventure!

Drive Time: ~1.5 hours
Included Meals: Breakfast
Departure Logistics: Drop offs will be at a central San Francisco location. Details to follow in prep emails before the trip.

Itinerary subject to change based on availability and unforeseen conditions, but that's part of the adventure! Even when things change, trust you'll be well taken care of with WHOA quality, professionalism, and TLC!

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It’s of the utmost importance to us that any giving back we do is sustainable and fills a need that is of value to our partners. For that reason, our visits and partnerships can and do vary depending on the season, the organization's needs, and the abilities and desires of our group. Bottom line, in each case, we do our best to seek out local partners that are doing great, sustainable work, and we work closely with them to understand their needs to create an experience that will truly be of value to them and you!