California Coastal Trail
California boasts one of the most diverse and spectacular coastlines in the world. Visitors and residents alike are drawn to its sandy beaches, tide pools, dramatic coastal cliffs, densely forested coastal mountains, and large bays. The variety and breath-taking beauty of its coast are a critical component of California’s economy and quality of life for its citizens.
To make the coast more accessible, encourage non-motorized transportation, and foster appreciation and stewardship of the scenic and natural resources of the coast, the California Coastal Trail (CCT) is being developed to create a continuous, interconnected public trail system spanning over a 1200 miles from Oregon to Mexico
The California Coastal Trail (CCT) is one of the pre-eminent trails in our nation and was designated as federal Millennium Legacy Trail in 1999. It is used for recreation as well as alternative transportation and is increasingly seen as an economic asset to local communities as a tourist attraction and community amenity. The CCT takes a variety of forms designed to fit the surrounding environment, level of use, and available land rights. Whenever possible, the trail is designed to accommodate hiking, biking and equestrian use and be fully accessible. To achieve this, in many areas the trail consists of a braided network of trails.
The Coastal Trail will enable Californians to enjoy our coastal treasures and will attract visitors from around the world.
Today, roughly 60% of the CCT is complete, and the Coastal Conservancy has been tasked by the legislature to help complete it. The Conservancy pursues this mandate in part by awarding grants to public agencies and nonprofit organizations to acquire land rights, and to develop, operate, or manage lands for public access to and along the coast. The Conservancy also works with other state agencies including the Coastal Commission and State Parks to coordinate development of the CCT.
Coastal Trail Videos
KCET has been airing a series of short films of stories along the California Coastal Trail. View them all on the KCET website
A Wheelchair Riders Guide to the California Coast
California’s spectacular coast offers many outdoor adventures for wheelchair riders, parents pushing strollers, and others who need accessibility features such as a wide, fairly level and firm path of travel. This guide can help you choose the destinations that suit your needs from among the coast’s many wheelchair-accessible parks, trails, beaches, viewpoints, and other sites of interest. A full guide can be found here: Wheeling Cal’s Coast
Coastal Trail News
- Coastal Conservancy Awards Nearly $18 Million for Coastal Restoration, Preservation and Public AccessBoard approves funding for land acquisitions, accessways, wharf repairs Oakland, CA – Today, the Board of the California State Coastal Conservancy awarded $17.9 million to 18 projects to protect and restore the California coast and San Francisco Bay, and increase public access to these natural resources. Among these grants was $5 million to […] (Read more on Coastal Conservancy Awards...)
- Working with the Conservancy during Coronavirus PrecautionsA message from our Executive Officer, Sam Schuchat: This message is to let you know how we at the Conservancy are coping with the Coronavirus outbreak, and what you as a grantee, contractor, prospective grantee, or interested citizen can do to help us keep moving forward. As you are aware, seven of the nine […] (Read more on Working with the...)
- Request for Partnership Proposals/Letters of Interest for the US Fish and Wildlife Service’s National Coastal Wetlands Conservation Grant ProgramNOTE: This is a call-for preproposals for projects who would like to partner with the California State Coastal Conservancy in order to apply for US Fish and Wildlife Service’s National Coastal Wetlands Conservation (NCWC) Program funding. a) This is NOT the official NCWC call for applications. b) Projects hoping to receive NCWC funding are NOT […] (Read more on Request for Partnership...)


