The Pacific Crest Trail is one of the longest and most scenic continuous trails in the world, running 2,650 miles through the United States from the Mexican border to the Canadian border. Dedicated in 1968 as part of the National Trails System Act, it became one of the nation's first National Scenic Trails. The trail passes through diverse lands, including 25 National Forests, 6 National Parks, 51 Wilderness Areas, and numerous state and county parks, and traverses 9 ecoregions ranging from desert and alpine country to forest and volcanic landscapes. It climbs more than 100 major mountain passes and skirts countless bodies of water. In Vasquez Rocks, the trail was rerouted in the late 1980s from its original 1960s alignment to pass through the park, which now contains about 2 miles of the route. There it enters through a long concrete tunnel under the SR-14 Freeway, originally built in the early 1960s to carry Escondido Creek beneath the new freeway, and then follows much of a historic road dating to the 1920s and 1930s from the park's homestead era, when tiny wooden cabins dotted the ridge. Each year, thousands of hikers and equestrians use the trail, from day hikers covering a mile or two to thru-hikers completing the full route in a single season, and many pass through this area heading north from April to June or heading south in fall and winter. A nearby private residence run by Trail Angels Jeff and Donna Sauley hosted hikers for more than 20 years, offering places to camp, shower, resupply, and recuperate, and became a cherished stop for many travelers and locals.
