Alaska | California | Hawaii | Oregon | Washington
I’m starting this blog series with the region of the US that I know the most intimately: the Pacific Coast. My intention with this hike roundup is to offer a suggestion of one place to go in each state, not because it’s the “best” hike (impossible), but because I like it and I think it showcases something interesting in that state. It is in my nature to challenge what people think is normal and expected, so you’re likely to find lots of surprises on this list. I guarantee you that few to none of these selected hikes will be in the top Google searches for each state.
I have personally done each of the featured hikes and I’ve linked to the blog I wrote about it at the time. Note that I’ve spent way more time in some places than others, so my suggestions are heavily biased based on what I’ve had the opportunity to do. Not all of these hikes will be accessible to every single person or in every season. That’s the nature of the outdoors. But if you cannot personally experience all the hikes on the list, I hope that you will enjoy the photos, stories and observations I have gathered and shared with you!
One more thing: dividing the United States into cohesive regions is…impossible. I have chosen to use the official Census Bureau Designated Regions and Divisions. For the larger regions, I’ve broken them into multiple blog posts. Without further ado, here are the first five hikes on the list, plus links to my experiences in each of these places. Let’s see what Pacific Coast hiking is all about!
Alaska
Alaska is bigger than what most of our brains can understand. How to sum up Alaska in one word? Impossible. Here, you’ll find old growth forest, endless tundra, undulating coastlines, 24 hour sunlight and a vast diversity of people and culture. You’ve got to make an effort to get up to Alaska, and I think it’s well worth the trip. Here’s one hike that stood out to me.
A-B Mountain: Most people get to Skagway via a cruise ship. With maybe a few hours to explore the little town, they don’t get more than a few blocks from the dock. But if you have more time to spend in this picturesque fishing village, I highly recommend hiking up A-B Mountain as far as your legs will take you. It is a brutal trail, climbing steeply up a rocky and muddy mountainside to a ridge that carries on for many miles. But if you can make it up to any of the viewpoints along the trail on a clear day, you will get a vista that will lodge in your brain for the rest of your life. This one is worth the sweat and sore legs for sure! The wildflowers along the way will help encourage you when you don’t want to take another step. This is a vantage point of Skagway that most visitors will never get!
California
California, love it or hate it. As with many states, I think California gets a lot of hate from people who…have never been there and have no idea what it’s about. California is large and diverse. If it was located in Europe, it would probably be split into at least 10 different countries. There’s so much to see and do! No one experience in California tells the whole story. You’ve got dense, moody forests along the Northern Coast; the tallest peaks in the continental US in the middle; deserts dotted with rare plants and animals in the south. Plus: grasslands, beaches, rocky shores, volcanoes and much, much more.
As much as I am a huge fan girl for Death Valley, I’ve decided to highlight another place on the opposite end of the state: Lava Beds National Monument.
Catacombs Cave: What I loved most about this adventure is just *how* adventurous it was. At the visitor center, the staff recommended we purchase a small booklet with a map of the cave before going inside. Once you’re in the cave, there are no signs, no lights, no indication of where you are or how to get out. You can’t walk upright for very long, there are some confusing intersections and many passageways where you must wriggle on your belly to get deeper in the cave. We did NOT go through the smallest passages, meaning we missed about half of the cave. Still, we spent hours underground. This cave is ranked as “most difficult” among the many lava caves you can explore at this NPS managed site. If you’re not up for the Catacombs, don’t worry. There are a number of other caves to explore at a variety of accessibility levels, including a cave with a paved walkway, lighting, educational signage and ceilings that are so tall you don’t have to stoop at any point.
Hawai’i
Tourists flock to Hawai’i for lots of reasons and hiking is usually not in the top 5. However, those who do wander onto trails generally pile on to the same ones. That means, adventure awaits to the hiker who does a little research. Each of the Hawai’ian islands has something a bit different to offer, from volcano views to green sand beaches to bamboo forests and tropical botanizing. One of my favorite hikes was quite an outing that required getting muddy feet and choosing your route wisely! Note that this trail may periodically be inaccessible due to road, weather and trail conditions. Be sure to get up to date information before embarking on this or any other hike.
Alaka’i Swamp: This trail travels through a series of high elevation bogs with plants that grow nowhere else in the world. It’s an excellent habitat for weird birds and plants, so if you look and listen closely, you’re guaranteed to find some cool stuff. What I remember from this trail is how muddy and chaotic the trail was. I cannot vouch for the condition of the boardwalk today, since it was in a state of disrepair and construction when we visited in 2016. But, if you’re ready to get your feet wet, it will truly be a unique Hawai’i experience.
Oregon
Though many people assume Oregon is all waterfalls and rainforest, there are 9 ecoregions in Oregon with wildly variable climate and terrain. Much of the state is a sea of sagebrush and ponderosa pine. There are several distinct mountainous ranges that were created by a variety of geological processes. Plus the canyons, coastline, prairie, need I say more? You could spend your whole lifetime doing a new hike in the state every day and still not get the picture. Since it’s the state in which I’ve done most of my hiking, it was really hard to choose just one hike, but here it is…
Wildhorse Lake: This idyllic, high alpine lake is located in the remote Steens Mountain Wilderness in southeast Oregon. I’ve chosen this hike in an effort to encourage both native Oregonians and travelers alike to get way out to the east side. Only accessible for a few months of the year, Wildhorse Lake lies in a basin below the summit of lonely Steens Mountain. During the summer, the area surrounding the lake explodes in a profusion of wildflowers. It’s a magical, magical place. Though the hike itself is only a few miles roundtrip, it requires descending over 1,000 vertical feet on a steep trail down to the lake. But once you’re there, you can relax and read a book, poke around the wildflower fields, take a nap, eat a picnic and savor the peaceful quiet that you can only find in such a faraway place. Its distance from any major city and lack of amenities will keep this place fairly quiet for now. Go take a look while it’s still off the beaten path.
Washington
Just like Oregon, Washington is a state with dueling personalities. There’s a wet side and a dry side. Everyone knows about Seattle and Mt. Rainier. But have you heard about the channeled scablands? Besides being the most popular post on my website (I cannot tell you why), it’s a really cool landscape that was scoured by the Missoula Floods tens of thousands of years ago. There’s also the gorgeous Washington coast with all its inlets and islands and rocky outcrops. The borderlands along the Columbia River Gorge. The North Cascades with towering, craggy, remote peaks and turbulent weather systems. The peaceful rolling hills ambling east towards Idaho.
Though I’ve climbed rugged peaks in remote wildernesses, raced the tides on the coast and navigated cross country in vast landscapes in Washington, one particular trail comes to mind when I think of (ironically) the evergreen state…
Klickitat Rail Trail: I love a nice rail trail. It’s such a wonderful way to repurpose a resource. The trail is currently 31 miles long. With multiple access points and a gently grade, anyone can enjoy any length of hike (or bike ride!) along this beautiful route. It traverses a variety of habitats, so you can see a number of different plants and animals along the way. Each season provides a different experience, too. Since it crosses spaces presently and historically used by people, you’ll see old rusty cars, railroad trestles, farm buildings and more.
There you have it! This concludes a roundup of just a few hikes in the Pacific Coast Region of the United States. I hope you found a few surprises on this list. Wherever you go in this beautiful part of the country, you’ll find something that caters to your abilities, interests and time constraints. I hope this article has inspired you to think a little differently about this region and perhaps check out something new the next time you’re in one of these five states. Stay tuned for the rest of the installments of this series that will take you all across the country!
