Black Sands Beach

The sand is dark because it's ground-down graywacke and shale off the King Range, and it's loose, which is why every mile of the Lost Coast Trail takes longer than the map suggests. Black Sands Beach sits at the north edge of Shelter Cove at the end of Beach Road. BLM treats it as one thing above all: the southern trailhead of the northern Lost Coast Trail.

That framing matters, because BLM publishes no page for the beach itself. A trailhead parking lot sits at the end of Beach Road, but capacity, restrooms and any site-specific rules aren't documented on any official source. Plan for facilities you haven't confirmed to not be there.

Walk north and it's 24.6 miles of coast to Mattole Beach, a route BLM says takes three days minimum. Most hikers go the opposite way, starting at Mattole so the prevailing northwesterly is at their back, which makes Black Sands the finish line and the shuttle pickup. Day walkers can go as far as the tide allows. Miller Flat to Gitchell Creek is the nearest impassable-at-tide stretch, and BLM's rule is to travel those sections on an outgoing tide of three feet or less.

Camping at the trailhead is prohibited outright. The first legal camping along the trail is north of Telegraph Creek, and every overnight trip needs a backcountry permit through Recreation.gov.

BLM's July 2026 roads and trails report flags active landslides within the southernmost four-mile impassable zone north of Buck Creek, spontaneous falling rock, and coastal erosion making navigation harder. At Split Rock, pass on the east side.

This isn't a swimming beach. The drop-off is steep and BLM strongly discourages entering the water anywhere in the King Range.