The Lost Coast (Usal Road)
King Range / Sinkyone Wilderness · near Redway / Garberville · North Coast
Gravel & Bikepacking
At a glance
- Difficulty
- expert
- Best season
- Late spring–fall (winter storms make it impassable and dangerous)
What is here
- Terrain
- coastal
- Amenities
- Sinkyone Wilderness camps · Black-sand beaches & redwoods · True wilderness solitude · Legendary Lost Coast scenery
- Best for
- A committing wilderness bikepacking adventure
- Features
- California's roadless 'Lost Coast' · Rough, remote dirt over the King Range · Hidden black-sand beaches · A true expedition ride
Worth knowing
- Hazards
- No services, water, or cell coverage · Extremely steep, rutted grades · Impassable/dangerous when wet · Long self-rescue distance
- Good for a first timer
- No
Gravel & Bikepacking detail
- Ride types
- adventure · bikepacking
- Surface
- rough
- Remoteness
- 5
- Riding
- A wild, rough dirt road clinging to California's roadless 'Lost Coast' — steep, rutted, and utterly remote, plunging through redwoods to hidden black-sand beaches
- Terrain note
- Sea level to 1,500+ ft in brutal pitches; no services, no cell, seasonal creek crossings
- Camping
- Yes
- Intl tip
- California's legendary roadless 'Lost Coast' — a rough, steep, remote dirt road (Usal Rd) through redwoods to black-sand beaches. EXPEDITION terrain: NO services/water/cell, brutal grades, and impassable/dangerous when wet (dry season only). Camp in the Sinkyone Wilderness. Carry everything and be fully self-sufficient. One of California's wildest and most beautiful rides — for experienced, prepared riders only.
- Nickname
- California's wildest coast
- Trip lengths
- day · overnight · multi-day
The guide
Usal Road is the gateway to California's Lost Coast — the wild, roadless stretch of King Range and Sinkyone Wilderness so rugge…
In the Guidebook
Everything above is yours for free. The written guide to The Lost Coast (Usal Road) — what it is actually like, and what we would tell a friend before they went — comes with the Guidebook.
Getting there
- Coordinates
- 39.83, -123.85