This gorgeous book really excited me when I found a copy at the San Diego REI store. The California Coastal Guide, by the California Coastal Commission, is a delicious menu of beaches, cliffs, boardwalks, marshy estuaries, tide pools and baysides. For under 25 dollars, this makes a great gift for anyone planning to move to or travel along the long, endlessly changing California coastline.
From San Diego, my plan was to drive along the coast to Seattle, camping and hiking enroute. This book showed me the BEST places to leave the highway and get to the water, and includes everything there is to see - even the tiny, hidden gems only locals know of. Each section includes a map of the local town or city, and how it fits into the coast at that area. Mileages are given between areas for reference.
Places to camp and hike on EVERY SECTION of the coast are included - thank goodness! It's hard to get this kind of information from any one resource. I didn't want to drive north with a gazillion guidebooks to each part of California.
The guidebook starts with the northern coast and works south, so I mentally had to read backwards while I traveled, which was fine. Each section of the coast is also given an introductory treatment with highlights of flora and fauna (ie. - want to identify sand verbenas and pickleweed? Know a sanderling from an avocet? Dig for clams? There's a lot of fun stuff here.
My main regret about this cool book was that it did not continue up into Oregon and Washington! I felt like I was abandoned once I crossed the border. Not their fault. :)
This book is a work of art and science for anyone who loves California and hiking along the sunniest beaches of the Pacific Ocean.
