The California Missions Trail: What It Is and Why You Should Walk It

At a sustainable pace, one leg (approximately 30 miles, or 48 kilometers) takes most walkers a few days. Walking the full 800-mile route, to all 21 missions, takes around 55 days. If you’d like to do the walk with others, you can reach out to walkers like Steven Woody, president of the California Mission Walkers, who has organized group walks in the past. If you’d rather head out on your own, you might want to pick up their guidebook, which details many of the experiences that can be found along the route, from the Festival of the Bells in San Diego to grape stomping contests at Solano.

“Why do people walk it? The reasons are as varied as the people who do it,” says Woody. He explains that although some people walk the trail as true religious pilgrims, many folks are contemplating changes in their lives or walking in remembrance of a loved one. The biggest trend he’s seen recently is people who are looking for a thrill. “They do it for the challenge and the adventure of it.”

Because 55 days is a big commitment, pilgrims will often walk a leg at a time, at different times of year or even over the course of many years. One of the most highly recommended segments is the southernmost, which takes you from San Diego through ​​San Luis Rey de Francia to San Juan Capistrano. It takes about seven days and runs along the California coast. “It’s a good starter segment,” says Woody, “and it’s at the beginning of the walk, so if you decide to continue, you can come back next summer or the next time you get a week off of work.”

Most of California’s missions are still active parishes with regular masses—and gift shops. Some have museums that show what life was like during the Spanish period. But many people, including many Native Americans, feel the picture the missions paint is too rosy. “I think, given what actually happened there, missions should be treated differently,” says Dr. Jonathan Cordero, who is an ethnohistorian and the metush (chair) of the Ramaytush Ohlone peoples, whose ancestral land encompasses the San Francisco Peninsula. “My ancestors painted the mural [at Mission Dolores]. But it’s hidden and the public can’t visit it.”

He thinks visiting the missions should be a more solemn occasion, and that the sites should take an approach like that taken at the Holocaust Memorial Museum or the Whitney Plantation. “When you tell the truth, people appreciate it,” he says. There are currently several stops where walkers can learn more about what life was really like for Native Americans under colonial Spanish rule, including Putuidem Village, in Orange County, and Olompali State Historic Park, in Marin.

More information about the history of these sites will soon be publicly accessible, thanks to grants and funding that enable Native American scholars like Cordero to share the brutal truth with the public. “We’re still here,” says Cordero. “We’ve survived. But we’re not still wearing grass skirts with bones through our noses, which a lot of people would want to see.” (He and other Indigenous scholars are working on a forthcoming history book with the University of California.)

Travelers like Edie Littlefield Sundby suggest that the walk itself can also help you understand the region in a visceral way. Sundby walked the trail alone, with just one lung, after a cancer diagnosis left her with just three months to live. “We need to walk,” Sundby explains. “We’re starved for joy, and you can’t read about joy. You have to experience it. And when you’re out there walking, it’s impossible not to feel it.” Sundby survived her diagnosis, and she continues to walk for her health.

The various branches of the Mission Trail offer a variety of options for all travelers, from monarch butterfly groves to busy streets, and for those who do the full walk, there’s plenty to do along the way. “Probably half the days, we’ve got either a winery or brewery located at the end of the day, so that you can enjoy the tastes of California,” says Woody. About half of the routes end near campsites, but there’s also a network of home-hosts—people who offer their guest bedrooms and couches to visitors—as well as plenty of motels and hotels. Many walkers create blogs to document their journeys, and there are shops along the way that offer discounts for pilgrims. Woody recommends looking for stickers that say “Mission Walkers Welcome Here.”

Santa Barbara County is also working on establishing an official Mission Trail with signage and pathways. Once that’s in place, Woody says, other counties will soon follow. “It encourages your community to get out and walk, which makes for a vibrant and healthy community that people want to live in.” And if you can only visit one mission, David Bolton, executive director of the California Missions Foundation (and a knight of Spain’s Royal Order), says Mission Santa Barbara is the one to hit. “From an architectural standpoint, Santa Barbara really brings together all the elements that have become such a big part of the California landscape.”

That said, whichever portion of the trail you decide to take, you're sure to have a unique and memorable experience. “This is not your typical European pilgrimage trail at all,” cancer survivor Sundby explains. “It’s rough, wild, and crazy—just like California.”