Coastal Trail (Gold Bluffs section)

This stretch of the Coastal Trail is a tale of two worlds stitched together by one spectacular route. You'll start along windswept bluffs high above the Pacific, where the grass ripples like water and the views stretch to the curve of the earth. The trail dips through corridors of Sitka spruce before delivering you to Gold Bluffs Beach — a wild, driftwood-strewn strand that feels like the edge of the continent. The real prize is the spur into Fern Canyon, where fifty-foot walls drip with five species of fern in a scene so primeval Spielberg filmed dinosaurs here. The elevation changes are steady rather than brutal, but the cumulative effort over soft sand and uneven terrain earns that strenuous rating honestly. This one belongs to hikers who want dramatic coastal scenery without sharing it with a parking lot full of day-trippers.