The trail promised a prominent peak with world-class views. We’d be able to see the surrounding redwood forest from above, with perspective on the King Range and Humboldt Redwoods State Park. And turning around: nothing but the wild beaches and open sea of The Lost Coast. Where is this magical place, you ask? This is King Peak!
The first time we tried to get to this mountain in the King Range Wilderness, a rainstorm scared us away. Already nervous about the extremely exciting backroads, we opted to save our King Peak adventure for a sunny day.
But even in dry weather and (a little) daylight, the road to the trailhead was daunting. A steep drop-off on the driver’s side had Kent driving with white-knuckles and intense focus. The grade only increased as the access narrowed.
We quickly realized that we were not going to make it to the trailhead in our two-wheel drive car. Instead, we decided just to make it as far as we could. We’d gotten a hot tip (thanks Sandy!) about a turnout with great views of the sea, so we set our sights on that. We could park there and just run the remainder of the road!
Only…the road was too rough for us to make it there! After slipping out on a hairpin turn, we called it quits on the driving portion of our expedition. We parked just off the road in a bunch of bushes, then set off on foot.
After a few minutes of steep uphill running, we rounded a bend and saw the viewpoint we’d heard about. The Lost Coast took my breath away, all over again. Perfect solitude. Perfect views. Maybe it was a good thing we didn’t park there: we might never have wanted to leave!
On foot as we were, we opted to keep going. And ahead, still far in the distance, we could see the green crest of King Peak! We ran towards it, making good time on a flat stretch of dirt road.
Still, it took us about 45 minutes to reach Saddle Mountain Trailhead – where we’d once dreamed of parking. And this wasn’t even the trailhead closest to the peak: there exists another which we knew we couldn’t attempt. Lightning Trailhead is multiple gnarly kilometers further along the treacherous road: it’s only for the brave and 4×4 enabled. But about running long, we were unperturbed: a little extra distance on a scenic forest road is no sweat (figuratively – literally it was quite a lot on this humid morning)!
We ducked behind a locked gate to find…more dirt road! Although we were slightly surprised to be continuing on similar terrain, it quickly became apparent that this road had not seen any use in some time. There were bushes growing completely over it in places, and downed trees lying completely across it at others. It was a natural obstacle course!
For the most part, we remained in the forest, with few glimpses out to the sea or ahead to the peak. Eventually, our fire road dead-ended into a stand of trees and we continued on single-track trail. We popped out of the forest above a steep cliff for great views, then ducked back into the green shade again.
Eventually we left the forest behind and wound through scrubby, drought-resistant bushes on our way to the top. There were splendid views in every direction, but we had just one focus: King Peak! Once there, we could take it all in. We climbed hard to the top.
Rising 1,247 meters directly from the sea, King Peak towers over coast and forest. Only Punta offers closer views of the Lost Coast – but King Peak is higher!
It was also even windier than Punta. In what felt like a gale, we scanned the eastern horizon for the telltale fire tower on top of Grasshopper Peak from our adventures in Humboldt Redwoods State Park. Then we dropped down behind some rocks to recover, with views of the sea.
To stay warm, we’d have to keep moving. So after snacks and a few minutes of vistas, we began to descend. But our adventure wasn’t over! We decided to run the loop to Maple Camp before retracing our steps on the King Ridge Trail. We saw no one: just lizards and birds and bear poop.
Because it is much more seldom trekked than the parallel Lost Coast Trail, we continued to have the King Crest Trail to ourselves on the return trip. With no people, no signs of civilization and a silence of windy white noise enveloping us, it felt really remote.
But now it was familiar territory. We climbed over, ducked under or shimmied around the same set of natural obstacles. We gained speed going downhill, and were pretty quickly back past the trailhead and running on the main road.
When we had ocean views, we paused and spent a significant amount of time playing the game Wave or Whale? Though happy to find our car safe and sound, I was already feeling nostalgic about our King Peak adventure.
We slowly bumped, jolted and slid our way down to the highway. But instead of turning left toward home, Kent made a right. Turns out he didn’t want the fun to be done either!
We thought an hour or two at Shelter Cove’s Black Sand Beach would be a perfect addendum to our trip. But then Kent found two ticks embedded in his skin – and I had to try to pull them out. Itchy and freaked out, we stripped out of our clothes for a thorough check, but it was impossible to feel at ease.
Next up, a parade of interesting humans with unusual requests. First, an older gentleman in the parking lot offered to kick Kent in the shins. And then a young guy told us his life story and asked for a ride. Finally, a drunk dude from Texas needed a boost for his stalled truck, and wanted to give Kent a handful of weed in exchange for help.
Suffice to say, we’d had more adventure than we’d bargained for on this outing! We shortly hit the road, headed for home and a hot shower.
Don’t let the ticks deter you from the great views on King Peak! Wear long pants, tuck in your top and consider insect repellent. It’s worth it! As for humans, choose your own engagement level and proceed with caution.
As the highest point in the King Range National Conservation Area, King Peak is a must-do in my opinion. It’s a great companion hike for the Lost Coast Trail. There are many ways to access this peak, and all of them are rugged, remote and challenging. That’s what makes this a wonderful, worthwhile adventure.
Next, hit the King Range main page for more of my stories, this King Range map to help with trip planning, or the Bureau of Land Management homepage for more general info about the area. Happy trails!