Trails & Coastal Access
We believe that trails and natural areas are for everyone. Every member of our community deserves easy access to enjoy beautiful vistas and healthy recreation opportunities.
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Visitors from around the world come to admire the unique beauty of Mendocino County’s beaches, bluffs, redwood forests, oak woodlands, and agricultural lands. We want visitors and locals alike to have safe places to enjoy these treasures, while limiting negative impacts to valuable natural areas. Mendocino Land Trust builds trails for you. We wholeheartedly believe in the importance of spending time in nature, so that we can connect to land, upon which our lives depend. Hiking and being outside is good for the heart, mind and spirit. That’s why we have a coastal trails program — so that we can help you get outside and into the wild and experience the rugged beauty of the Mendocino Coast.
The Mendocino Land Trust pioneered the way for nonprofits to accept and open coastal access easements by opening the Mendocino Bay Viewpoint in 1996. As of 2022 Mendocino Land Trust has opened 14 public access easements and leads the state in operating public coastal accessways. And there are more coastal trail projects in the works!
Coastal access easements are public access through private land. MLT works with the Coastal Commission to accept “Offers to Dedicate” that grant a public access easement across private property for future public recreational use. The OTD simply offers the area; several steps must then be taken to turn the easement into a useable public accessway. This process can take some time but in the end it means everyone can enjoy these beautiful areas.
Additionally, MLT has been a major player in the development of Mendocino County sections of the California Coastal Trail.
Learn more
Check out MLT’s trail guide. It contains information about 32 adventures along the Mendocino Coast and includes downloadable maps!
Read about our trail building process and behind-the-scenes stories about trails MLT has built
