Book Talk-Cycling the California Missions Trail

Guidebook to hiking or cycling the 800 mile (1289km) California Missions Trail between San Francisco Bay and San Diego. The pilgrimage trail takes in 21 historic Spanish missions and can be completed in 50-60 walking days or 2-3 weeks cycling. With 1:100,000 mapping, route description, and details of accommodation and facilities for each stage. Ancient footpaths became connecting routes between the Spanish missions, pueblos, and presidios in the period 1769 to 1823. Over time these routes became automobile roadways and were marked with bells starting in 1906 to promote and preserve the El Camino Real. Today, the California Missions Trail follows a pedestrian route through urban cities and historic towns, through forest paths and country lanes, to each of the twenty-one historic Spanish missions.

Sanford ‘Sandy’ Brown is an author, community activist, long-distance walker, and ordained minister from Seattle, Washington. After reading The Pilgrimage by Paolo Coelho in 1992, he planned his 2008 trek on the Camino de Santiago and since then has walked over 13,000km on pilgrim trails in Europe. He records his pilgrim adventures in his popular blog, www.caminoist.org.