Blog
Guides, trip ideas, and practical know-how for backpacking California.
Bear Canister Rules for California Backpacking
Where bear canisters are required in California, why the rule exists, which containers are approved, and how to store food correctly in the Sierra and on the coast.
The Best Beginner Backpacking Trips in California
The easiest real backpacking trips in California, ranked by difficulty score and climbing — gentle miles, honest permits, and what to know before your first overnight.
Backpacking California: The Complete Planning Guide
How to plan a backpacking trip in California — choosing a route, permits and lotteries, seasons, snow, bear canisters, campfire rules, and water, with cited data for every step.
California Backpacking Season: Snow, Bugs, and Fire, Month by Month
When backpacking season starts in California — snow-free windows by elevation, mosquito peaks, heat and smoke risk, and the best months for every region from the desert to the Lost Coast.
California Wilderness Permits: How They Work and When to Book
How California backpacking permits work — Recreation.gov quotas, Inyo's 60/40 release, Yosemite's lottery, free-permit areas, and the booking calendar that actually gets you a trailhead.
How the CaliPeaks Difficulty Score Works
The CaliPeaks Index (CPI) — how our 0–100 backpacking difficulty score is calculated from climbing, distance, altitude, technicality, and trip length, with worked examples.
Welcome to CaliPeaks: how to use the trip finder
How CaliPeaks works: structured trip data, permits and campfire rules, citations, and how to find your next California backpacking trip.