Bear Harbor to Wheeler

Length 10.6 mi · Climbing 2330 ft
California > Southern Humboldt County > Sinkyone Wilderness State Park

The Lost Coast Trail


The Lost Coast Trail runs through miles of lush, attractive coastal woodland high up on top of the rugged coastal cliffs. There aren't a whole lot of ocean views; most of the trail is lushly wooded and on summer days is often in the fog. Although it's in a wilderness, the trail is fairly popular and is generally in good condition. Because it's built to state park standards there aren't any really steep or technically difficult sections.

Although there aren't actually a lot of redwoods here, the trail does pass through a small stand about 5 miles in, which is the destination for this hike. There are also a few smaller stands of redwoods, particularly Chase Grove, of which perhaps a few dozen trees can be seen from the trail in a scenic ravine. The redwoods tend to be slightly twisted and gnarled and lack the height or the magnificent, straight-as-an-arrow appearance of the redwoods in the major redwood parks. The woodland as a whole, though, is quite scenic and varied.

Long pants are recommended to protect against poison oak. Although there isn't a lot of it (the first two and a half miles hardly have any), parts of the trail are somewhat overgrown and the occasional small sprig of poison oak hiding in the undergrowth among the many other 3-leafed plants can be difficult to spot.

The Lost Coast Trail


Click here to see the trailhead location in Google Maps.

The trailhead is about an hour and a half from Highway 101. Take one of the Redway exits and continue to the town of Redway, then turn onto Briceland-Thorn Road toward Shelter Cove. The road climbs though attractive countryside. Turn left onto Briceland Road. Interestingly, there are a few isolated old-growth redwoods along the side of the road. Just past the Mendocino county line, the road passes a larger old-growth grove to your right. This grove is actually an isolated part of Sinkyone Wilderness.

Go straight at the "four corners" intersection, where the road becomes dirt. Wind your way down until you reach the Needle Rock visitor center, where there's a gate across the road. Pay the parking fee and continue past the gate. The road undulates up and down along the coast, crosses a small stream, then ends at the trailhead.

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Hike description

The trail starts out with a pleasant stroll along a level path cut through tall, dense blackberry brambles. The trail passes some campgrounds. A short spur to the right crosses a footbridge and leads to a beach; here you can see the cliffs that you'll be walking on top of. The main trail continues to the left, becoming somewhat faint and overgrown as it passes through a meadow. Fortunately it soon opens up again as it comes under the tree canopy. In general, the trail is overgrown whenever it comes out from under the trees, but most of the trail is under the trees and in good condition.

The trail climbs along a ravine, then turns and winds its way up a hillside, passing a few stumps and the remains of an old road. The trail levels out and passes through an attractive fir grove. Eventually it descends slightly into another ravine with trickling creek where a few good-sized redwoods grow.

The trail continues at a roughly constant elevation, although there still seems to be a lot of up-and-down as it meanders engagingly through dense green woodland.

Typical redwoods on the Lost Coast Trail

After an extended climb, the trail tops out at a pair of small knolls, then begins to descend. For a while, the trail leaves the forest and becomes a little faint and overgrown, though it's always easy to discern the trail. Finally, the trail re-enters the forest, turns away from the coast, and begins to descend through a fir grove that soon gives way to redwoods. It comes as something of a relief to have a mile-long stretch of straight (at least between the switchbacks), clear trail where you can walk at a normal speed. The trees get larger as you descend, reaching their largest size right at the point where the trail bottoms out at Wheeler Camp. The campground itself is located in a small clearing next to the redwoods.

This is the end of the hike, but you may want to continue along the trail as it passes through an attractive alder grove, if for no other reason than to enjoy the perfectly flat, wide stretch of trail, an unusual thing in this area. A trail to your left ascends for about two miles to the Sally Bell Grove, another old-growth grove.

Old-growth redwoods in School Marm Grove


© 2010 David Baselt