Another great hiking state is California, in the southwest and bordering on the Pacific Ocean.
A number of high mountain ranges can be found in this state – Sierra Nevada, Cascades, Coast Range – canyons, desert, wild coastline.

The main part of the Pacific Crest Trail – 1680 miles out of 2638 miles – lies in this state. Other trails are the John Muir Trail, the Tahoe Rim Trail, and the Tahoe-Yosemite Trail. The Sierra High Route is one of the most demanding alpine trails (195 miles).

Next are the American Discovery Trail (6356 miles), the Bigfoot Trail, the Bay Area Ridge Trail, and some long distance trails still under construction.

The Yosemite National Park is beautiful, but overcrowded, unless you escape to the remoter wilderness areas.

In the Sequoia and Kings Canyon National Parks you can still find virgin forests. With 14,495 feet, Mount Whitney in the Sierra range is the highest mountain outside Alaska. The tall 300 feet high redwoods can be found in the Humboldt Redwoods State Park.

There are many more parks and forests, all with hiking possibilities. Yes, California!