Lost Coast Trail

The Lost Coast is the longest roadless stretch of coastline in the contiguous United States. Highway 1 turns inland here because the King Range rises about 4,000 feet straight out of the Pacific and the terrain defeated the engineers — King Peak is 4,088 feet, three miles from the water. The name comes from the 1930s, when the region depopulated and the stretch was simply left off.

The northern route runs 24.6 miles from Mattole Beach to Black Sands Beach at Shelter Cove, and it takes at least three days. It is nearly flat and still strenuous: soft sand, cobble, boulder fields, unbridged creek crossings and a full pack. Plan on about one mile an hour.

Tides are the real hazard. Three stretches have no bench, no bluff and no escape — at higher tides the surf runs directly against the cliff and the route is physically impassable. Punta Gorda needs a tide under 6 feet. Sea Lion Gulch to Randall Creek, four to five miles of it, needs under 2.5 feet. Miller Flat to Gitchell Creek needs under 3 feet. Always enter on a receding tide, never a rising one, and never with too little daylight left. BLM reports too many close calls.

Pick your dates off a tide chart before you look at a calendar. In late summer the daylight low tides often aren't low enough to get through at all.

Permits are required for overnight trips, through Recreation.gov on a 90-day rolling release at 7am Pacific — $6 plus $12 a person. A hard-sided bear canister is mandatory; bags and hangs are not accepted. Campfires are prohibited June 19 through September 30.

Elephant seals haul out below Punta Gorda and rest on the trail. At 1,500 to 4,500 pounds they look like driftwood until they move. Give them room and leash dogs between Punta Gorda and Sea Lion Gulch.

There is no cell service. Carry a satellite communicator.