The trail climbs and descends and climbs again to Palmer Mountain on a combination of roads and trails.įinding places to camp on the C2C Trail was challenging. The following 22 miles of trail are on Forest Service land (camping is legal, but there are few flat and open camping areas). The trail turns on Grant Creek Road for a mile, onto a Forest Service road to the right.

The campground has water, pit toilets, picnic tables, fire pits, and a designated hiker/biker campsite. The junction to Big Elk Campground is at mile 32.9 (the campground is 0.8 miles off trail one way). The next 4 miles are on a gravel road through Harlan, an old mill town. Over the next 7 miles, the trail goes in and out of Forest Service land, so watch the signs for legal camping areas (it's clearly marked on the trail signs). See our description below.Īt mile 19.5, the trail again goes through private land where camping is not allowed. If you don't want to do 19 miles on the first day, you'll need to make arrangements to camp at Marys River Grange Hall or have someone drop you off at Old Peak Road to avoid the pavement walking and shorten your first day. This land is the first place that camping is allowed on the C2C Trail. However, camping is not allowed along this trail because it is in the Corvallis Watershed restricted area.Īt mile 19, the trail joins a road on Forest Service land for 0.5 miles, where camping is allowed. It continues for 2.2 miles on public land to the junction of the Marys Peak alternate. The C2C hits the first single-track trail around mile 16.8 at the North Ridge Trail. You'll need your Starker Forests permit here.

Old Peak Road is paved for 2 miles, then turns to gravel. The junction is beyond Old Peak Road if you plan to camp at Marys River Grange Hall. Leaving Philomath, the trail briefly joins Highway 34 for about a mile and then turns on Old Peak Road. If you want to stop for lunch in Philomath, the main street is only a block away with many restaurant options. The trail then enters the City of Philomath but stays off the main highway on a parallel street through a neighborhood. The trail leaves downtown on a paved bike path, where it stays for 5.3 miles. The C2C Trail begins in Shawala Point Park in downtown Corvallis, at the confluence of the Marys River and the Willamette River. It's a great way to do a gear shakedown before a longer thru hike, such as the Pacific Crest Trail. The C2C route uses existing trails, rural roads, and Forest Service roads in its journey across the Oregon Coast Range. If you’d like to support it, you can visit the Corvallis-to-the-Sea Trail Partnership page. The C2C Trail is located within the traditional homelands of the Ampinefu band of Kalapuya, Wusi’n, and Yaqo’n People.Ī true labor of love, the C2C Trail is the result of 50 years of volunteer effort. Solitude and silence round out this hiking experience. Wildlife, from newts to elk to owls, is common. If you time your trip right, you can feast on native berries such as huckleberries, blackberries, thimbleberries, and salmonberries. You'll pass through beautiful thick and lush Oregon coastal forests, open vistas, wildflowers (and some unfortunate clear cuts). We've been waiting for this for decades in the Pacific Northwest, and it's finally here! One of the first of its kind, the Corvallis-to-the-Sea Trail has finally accomplished what many have tried to do-connect the Willamette Valley to the Pacific Ocean via a footpath.

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