Condor Trail Guide: Hiker's Guide to the 400 Mile Condor Trail

by Brian Sarvis with Bryan Conant, 2021. Paperback, 198 pages.

Your complete guide to one of California’s true hiking treasures:

Stretching over more than 400 miles across the length of Los Padres National Forest, the Condor Trail is a distance hiking route that travels coastal mountain ranges and canyons deep in the backcountry of California's central coast. The trail highlights outstanding natural features, the best parts of seven wilderness areas, wild and scenic rivers, hot springs, wildlife sanctuaries, botanical reserves, and some areas that will test a hiker's pathfinding ability.

This essential guide describes the route in detail with route maps, photos, waypoint distances, elevations, water availability, best access points and resupply opportunities. The book also highlights topographic map recommendations, history, descriptions of interesting features, and notes from early hikers of the trail. It provides critical information about finding your way and finding water.

Hiking the Condor Trail can be a serious thru-hike or a challenging series of section hikes. The route extends from Lake Piru in the south to Bottcher's Gap near Carmel. It explores such diverse sections as river canyons, backcountry chaparral, grassy meadows, fields of wildflowers, oak studded hillsides, forested mountains, and redwood valleys. Hiking the route can be a great adventure as it celebrates wilderness and nature with views that are spacious, often spectacular.