About this permit
Usal Beach Camp is the drive-in camp at the southern end of Sinkyone Wilderness State Park. The park offers eight environmental camps, two horse camps, and two primitive camps; primitive camps offer drive-in access, while environmental camps do not, and Usal Beach is one of the two primitive camps. Usal Beach Campground is free, and there are no day-use fees at Usal Beach.
Sinkyone is about 7,700 acres on the southern portion of the Lost Coast, and its conditions are the point. There is no potable water anywhere in the park, and you have to haul out your own trash. When wet, the park's twisting dirt roads are impassable for passenger cars. As the park quotes one of its own rangers: the Sinkyone lets you go when it wants to let you go.
Usal is the trailhead for the Lost Coast Trail's southern section, which parallels the coastline for 22 miles within the park and is described by the agency as rugged, strenuous, and not recommended for beginner backpackers or hikers. No trails in this park are ADA-accessible.
The park's site counts come from its 2006 Preliminary General Plan and Draft EIR, which records thirty vehicle accessible campsites at Usal Beach and notes that a large number of them are not officially designated sites but have been established by long-term use patterns.
The route
Usal Beach is the southern access to Sinkyone Wilderness State Park, about an hour north of Fort Bragg on the Pacific Coast Highway or 15 miles west of Leggett from Highway 101. Look for mile marker 90.88 on the PCH, then turn north for about 6 miles onto an unpaved, steep, narrow road.
The park's 2024 map labels Usal Beach Camp as primitive, meaning drive-in access with fire rings, picnic tables and pit toilets, as distinct from the environmental camps, which do not offer drive-in access. Usal Beach Campground is free, and so is day use.
The Lost Coast Trail begins at the south end of the park at Usal Beach Campground and remains a foot trail until it reaches Bear Harbor. Within Sinkyone the trail runs 22 miles of the 47-mile total, and the park is blunt about it: though beautiful, this trail is rugged, strenuous, and not recommended for beginner backpackers or hikers. The Hotel Gulch trail runs from Usal Beach Campground to Wheeler and is available for horses.
Why it matters
Usal is the southern gateway to Sinkyone Wilderness and one of the park's two drive-in primitive camps. It is also the trailhead for the 22 miles of Lost Coast Trail that run through the park.
