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 CCT History

The first actions taken to establish the Coast to Cascade Trail began in 1992 with a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) to form a Joint Agency Trail Committee and was signed by Six Rivers National Forest, California State Parks, Redwood National Park, and others (1992 Joint Agency Trail Committee MOU (450kb)). There were some on-the-ground surveys done but the final plan was not completed and apparently fell to the wayside.

California Conservation Corps youth crew working on the historic Kelsey Trail above the South Fork of the Smith River, Smith River National Recreation Area. This trail will connect Redwood State and National Parks with the Siskiyou Wilderness, California.

Efforts to establish the trail were recently revived by a grant awarded to the nonprofit Rose Foundation for the purpose of restoring the historic Kelsey Pack Trail, a supply route established in 1850 between Crescent City and the gold fields at Yreka, California. The location of the historic trail was unknown until a person trying to get from the South Fork Road down to the river happened to come across it as he made his way down the steep slope through thick brush. He followed the extremely overgrown tread and found where it came close to the road. From that point, the rest of the trail was located and is now being renovated for the Coast-Cascade Trail. This section of trail is needed to establish a link between Redwood State and National Parks with the Siskiyou Wilderness where existing trails allow hikers to continue east toward the Cascades.  At the north end of the Siskiyou Wilderness, hikers will encounter an eight mile section of ridge with no trail. This is the eight mile segment discussed in this website.

Historic Trails

Maps from the early 1900s show historic trails in the vicinity of Poker Flat and  Bolan Lake.