California Criptid Walks – Seven Places for the Paranormal

When there’s something strange and it don’t look good, it can be quite a thriller of a ride, but lest you fall into the Twilight Zone by accident -or if you want to go looking for trouble- here are a few places for California Criptids and paranormal pacers.

Moro Rock Trails – Tulare, CA
Starting off easy in Tulare, there’s the Moro Rock Trail, where the walk may be beautiful, but when you try to take a picture of the scenery, you may find yourself with some Phantasmic Photobombers trying to get in the picture. I wonder if they’ll pose for a selfie?

Alum rock Trail – San Jose, CA
On a slightly more delayed schedule, the Alum Rock Trail in San Jose’s state park has visitors reporting not spooky daytime apparitions, but unsettling nightmares for long after, as if being chased through the park by a sinister but unknowable presence. Maybe, like Orpheus, we shouldn’t turn back around. It’s for the best.


Lost Coast Trail – Petrolia, CA
Things get Twilight-Zone-esque on the Lost Coast Trail in Petrolia, where hikers report the timeline being a bit wibbly-wobbly, and space and time get a little bit warped. Some say they’ve traveled back in time while hiking it, and disappeared for several minutes. A glitch in the Matrix? One too many drinks? I kinda want to find out. I wonder if you’ll run into any hikers from any other timeline?

Pear Lake

Pear Lake Trail – Sequoia National Park
The Pear Lake trail in Sequoia National Park is tough, and if you linger, you may hear others walking parallel to your trail, somewhere in the woods to your left. Some have reported seeing unearthly cloaked figures. To be fair, if I saw another human being in a hooded robe, I’d probably walk faster even if they were standing in a brightly-lit walmart, but let’s not dwell on what they were doing walking hidden in the forest.


Mount Diablo trail – Contra Costa County
Mount Diablo trail in Contra Costa County has its own legends. The name of the mountain may be explained by a plaque at the top, but some locals believe a somewhat more sinister tale involving a missionary feeling something sinister, with worrying visions and thoughts. Maybe he had a run-in with the guys from the Pear Lake trail.


Lake Chabot trail
In Castro Valley, Lake Chabot trail is great for hooking a few fish or getting a nice walk, but if you walk for too long, you may start to experience your worst fears clamoring into your mind as visions. Or, you know, you might have anxiety. You should probabl hike with a buddy either way.


Crystal Cave Trail – Sequoia Nat Park
Last, the Crystal Cave trail (no, not the videogames) in Sequoia National Park. Maybe you should just avoid walking in Sequoia National Park alone, considering this is the second trail of theirs on this list.
This one features a terrifying white, slimy creature hiding in the stalactites on the roof, preying on anyone who wanders off from their group. Yet, in spite of my investigations (read as: first page of google search results) I couldn’t find any more details about the creature except “White and slimy”, nor what it does to the hikers it finds.

Anyone want to go hiking with me?

by Sam Morstan

Sources: GoogleMaps, CA Wildlife, CA Hiking Associations