Sinkyone Wilderness (Southern Lost Coast)
Sinkyone Wilderness SP (Needle Rock to Usal) · near Whitethorn · North Coast
Hiking
At a glance
- Difficulty
- strenuous
- Route type
- point-to-point
- Distance
- 16 miles
- Elevation gain
- 4,500 ft
- Time needed
- multi-day
- Best season
- Late spring–fall (May–Oct); wet in winter; Usal Rd impassable when wet
Permits and booking
- Permit required
- Yes
- How the permit works
- California State Parks (Sinkyone Wilderness) - camp registration/fees at the Needle Rock Visitor Center (self-register or call 707-986-7711). No Recreation.gov permit or bear-canister mandate like the King Range, but store food properly. Rough dirt Usal Road access; unbridged creek fords; long shuttle.
- How hard the permit is to get
- 2 of 5
What is here
- Features
- The southern, wilder half of the Lost Coast · Old-growth redwoods meeting the sea · Roosevelt elk herds & Bear Harbor · Relentless steep headland climbs, near-total solitude
Worth knowing
- Dogs
- Not permitted
- Good for a first timer
- No
Hiking detail
- Intl tip
- The wilder southern Lost Coast - a strenuous ridge-and-canyon backpack, not a beach walk, with thousands of feet of climbing. Register for camps at the Needle Rock Visitor Center. Usal Road is rough (impassable when wet). Best May–Oct; no dogs.
The guide
The Sinkyone is the Lost Coast's wilder, lonelier southern half - a rugged 16-mile stretch of the Lost Coast Trail through Sink…
In the Guidebook
Everything above is yours for free. The written guide to Sinkyone Wilderness (Southern Lost Coast) — what it is actually like, and what we would tell a friend before they went — comes with the Guidebook.
Getting there
- Coordinates
- 39.9948, -123.9236