California Coastal Trail

The California Coastal Trail, or CCT, is an environmental project by the California Coastal Conservancy, an organization developed to enhance coastal resources and promote access to the shore in 2001.

The trail is designed to connect the entire coast of California by forming an extensive multi-use trail. When complete, the trail will be 1,200 miles (1,900 km) long—spanning from Oregon to Mexico. As of January 2017^[update], the trail is about 30 percent complete with signage (60 percent with mixed or no signage) and expenses are predicted to reach $668m when finished.

"The California Coastal Trail will not be one single pathway that connects the entire coastline. It will consist of different, and approximately parallel trails that accommodate the needs of varying visitors. Some portions of the trail will be for beach walkers, and other sections will be for bicyclists and equestrians. The trail will also have paths to detour around seasonal nesting grounds or other sensitive sites. Though the paths may not all be physically connected, whenever possible all trails will be “within sight, sound, or at least the scent of the sea."

A two-volume trail guide has been written about the California Coastal Trail entitled Hiking the California Coastal Trail.

Exploration of portions of the California coast by Europeans began in 1769. The Portola Expedition was the first European group to explore the coast in southern California, and the de Anza expeditions followed the Portola Expedition soon after. The paths the expeditions took are now commemorated in the Juan Bautista de Anza National Historic Trail. The Juan Bautista trail shares a portion of its route with the Coastal Trail.

The Coastal Initiative stating that “A hiking, bicycle, and equestrian trails system shall be established along or near the coast” and that “ideally the trails system should be continuous and located near the shoreline” was passed in 1972 with 55% popular vote. Policy makers and coastal managers have envisioned a continuous coastal trail in California for generations. Governor Gray Davis and the White House Millennium Trail Council designated the California Coastal Trail as California's Millennium Legacy Trail in 1999. Due to its new recognition, federal agencies began to aid in the development of the trail. In 2001, state legislation approved the completion of the trail, which led to its designation as a state trail. In 2001, the State Coastal Conservancy was directed to provide the specifications needed to complete the coastal trail and their report came out in 2003. Activity on the project since 2003 is listed in the "What's New" section on the California Coastal Trail website.

The California Coastal Conservancy has six goals for the California Coastal Trail, to:

The conservancy expects the trail to improve the economy. The trail will attract tourists, create jobs, and make selling surrounding real estate easier. They expect the trail to help protect the environment. People enjoying nature can do so without hurting sensitive areas if they stay on the trail. Another goal is to improve quality of life through recreation by encouraging people to use the trail for exercise. Finally, the conservancy wants people to think of trails as a means of transportation (SB 908 Report 9). To achieve these goals the trail must meet four requirements—it must: