Resources
California Mission WalkersThe Hiker’s Guidebook by Butch Briery
Ron “Butch” Briery wrote the guidebook, “California Mission Walk ~ The Original Hiker’s Guide to California’s 21 Missions Along El Camino Real” and keeps it up to date. Most mission walkers follow the route detailed in this guidebook.
The Hiker’s Guidebook is available on Kindle (all sales proceeds go directly to the California Mission Walkers organization).
Also, the hardcopy guidebook is available from Butch at rdbriery@yahoo.com
California Mission Walk Route Guides & Blogs
Several California Mission Walkers have shared their experiences on these websites:
Stephanie’s Walk California’s El Camino Real: walkcaliforniaselcaminoreal.yolasite.com
Kurt’s California Missions Trail: walkpuravida.com
Edie Littlefield Sundby’s The Mission Walker: The Mission Walker
Kevin’s Beginner’s Guide to the California Mission Trail
Christian’s Notes from the California Mission Trail
Lin’s interview on Walking El Camino Real: discover-central-california.com/walking-el-camino-real
Robert’s The Mission Walk: a California Pilgrimage
Walking El Camino Real de California facebook page: facebook.com/CaminoRealdeCalifornia
Stephanie’s Walk El Camino Real facebook page: facebook.com/pg/walkelcaminoreal
Bill’s Camino Real facebook page: facebook.com/Bills-Camino-Real
Other Websites about the California Mission Walk
The California Mission Guide to Walking the California Mission Trail
The Mission Walker page on Wikipedia
Mission Soledad’s 21 missions club: missionsoledad.com/21-missions-club
Books written by California Mission Walkers
– Ron “Butch” Briery walked the mission trail with Beppe Sala in 2011 from San Diego to Sonoma in 54 days and wrote the guidebook, “California Mission Walk ~ The Original Hiker’s Guide to California’s 21 Missions Along El Camino Real” which he continues to keep up to date
– “The Mission Walker” by Edie Littlefield Sundby, published July 2017, chronicles her battle with cancer, her California mission walk, and then her epic Baja California mission walk from Misión Nuestra Señora de Loreto Concho, Baja, Mexico, to San Diego, California, journeying 700 miles in 60 days, in the footsteps of Father Serra and Don Gaspar de Portola.
– James Lutz completed the mission trail walk in 2015 and wrote “El Camino Real de California: A Hiker’s Guide to the California Mission Trail: Mission San Diego to Mission Santa Barbara” in 2015: amazon.com/El-Camino-Real-California-Mission-ebook
– Maggie Espinosa completed the California mission walk in 2014 and wrote the book “On a Mission: An 800-mile Walk to Discover California’s El Camino Real”, August 2015
– Jesuit priest Richard H. Roos walked the California mission trail in 1979 and published the book of his religious pilgrimage, “Christwalk”
California Mission Walk Route GPS Maps
– GPS and Google Earth Routes for the California Mission Trail, from One Step Then Another
– Mary’s mission walk GPS maps on Ride With GPS
All journeys have secret destinations of which the traveler is unaware.” —Martin Buber
California Mission Walk Newspaper & Magazine articles
9/24/2020 Angelus News, Christian Clifford: angelusnews.com/local/la-catholics/what-i-learned-walking-in-st-junipero-serras-footsteps
9/21/2020 Knights of Columbus News: kofc.org/en/news-room/knightline/special-edition/week-of-september-21/knight-walks-800-miles-junipero-serra
8/20/2020 Benito Link, Christian Clifford: benitolink.com/walking-the-california-missions
4/1/2020 The Wall Street Journal, Edie Littlefield Sundby: www.wsj.com/articles/the-coronavirus-threat-hasnt-stopped-me-from-walking-11585780196
1/9/2020 Paso Robles Daily News, Christian Clifford: pasoroblesdailynews.com/man-on-quest-to-visit-21-california-missions-by-foot/101978
8/21/2019 The Santa Barbara Independent, Rachael Quisel: www.independent.com/2019/08/21/make-way-for-the-california-mission-walkers
3/13/2019 The Capistrano Dispatch, Christian Clifford: www.thecapistranodispatch.com/high-school-teacher-visit-san-juan-missions-trail-pilgrimage
1/14/2019 The Clymb Blog, Edie Littlefield Sundby: blog.theclymb.com/out-there/how-cancer-survivor-edie-sundby-walked-1600-miles
6/13/2018 La Jolla Light, Edie Littlefield Sundby: www.lajollalight.com/lifestyle/outdoors/sd-cm-sd-ljl-el-camino-real-20180608-htmlstory
1/15/2018 Regnum Christi, Fr. Thomas Vendetti: regnumchristi.org/en/bike-path-st-junipero-serra
12/18/2017 Catholic Exchange, Brother Anthony: catholicexchange.com/following-footsteps-saint-junipero-serra
12/9/2017 Discover Baja Blog, Edie Littlefield Sundby: www.discoverbaja.com/2017/12/09/the-mission-walker-trekking-el-camino-real
11/10/2017 San Diego Union-Tribune, Maggie Espinosa: sandiegouniontribune.com/lifestyle/people/sd-me-one-espinosa-20171101-story.html
8/17/2017 Angelus News, Edie Littlefield Sundby: angelusnews.com/articles/the-mission-walker-back-on-el-camino-real
7/26/2017 New York Post, Edie Littlefield Sundby: nypost.com/2017/07/26/after-79-rounds-of-chemo-cancer-survivor-completes-1600-mile-trek/
7/25/17 Benito Link, Edie Littlefield Sundby: benitolink.com/the-mission-walker
7/9/2017 Parade Magazine, Edie Littlefield Sundby: parade.com/584584/ccopelan/exclusive-excerpt-from-the-mission-walker-by-edie-littlefield-sundby
6/25/2016 Maggie Espinosa: 52perfectdays.com/california/800-mile-walk-californias-21-historic-missions
9/18/2015 Wall Street Journal, Edie Littlefield Sundby: wsj.com/articles/the-walker-and-the-saint
6/1/2015 Benito Link, Ilia Carson: benitolink.com/mission-walking-and-bicycle-tourismgood-for-san-juan-bautista
4/2/2015 Mercury News, Maggie Espinosa: mercurynews.com/2015/04/02/hiking-californias-el-camino-real
3/20/2015 Times of San Diego, Maggie Espinosa: timesofsandiego.com/opinion/2015/03/20/a-san-diegans-year-long-800-mile-trek-on-el-camino-real
1/3/2015 San Diego Union Tribune, Maggie Espinosa: www.sandiegouniontribune.com/lifestyle/travel/sdut-california-mission-trek-2015jan03-htmlstory
7/18/2013 New York Times Blog, Edie Littlefield Sundby: well.blogs.nytimes.com/2013/07/18/walking-800-miles-away-from-cancer
3/21/2013 Santa Ynez Valley News, Edie Littlefield Sundby: syvnews.com/lifestyles/one-woman-s-walk-of-gratitude-after-surviving-stage-cancer
3/20/2013 Angelus News, Edie Littlefield Sundby: angelusnews.com/content/a-walk-of-joy-along-the-el-camino-real
3/9/2013 Lake County News, Bill Morgan: lakeconews.com/clearlake-man-walks-800-miles-along-california-missions-route
10/31/2012 Ventura County Star, Kurt Buckley: vcstar.com/news/ventura-resident-journeys-on-foot-to-visit-all-california-missions
4/22/2012 San Jose Mercury News, Stephanie Dodaro: mercurynews.com/mission-all-her-own-shes-walking-californias-royal
2/22/2012 SLO Tribune, Ron Briery and Beppe Sala: A new mission for mission hiker: sanluisobispo.com/news/local/article39195858
4/28/2011 SLO Tribune, Ron Briery and Beppe Sala: Missions accomplished: Pair completes walk www.sanluisobispo.com/news/local/article39150699
4/27/2011 SLO Tribune, Ron Briery and Beppe Sala: Men aiming to walk to California’s missions complete their journey sanluisobispo.com/news/local/article39150507
4/4/2011 SLO Tribune, Ron Briery and Beppe Sala: Men journey to California missions on foot sanluisobispo.com/news/local/article39148476
California Mission Walk Videos
Sandy Brown’s daily Mission Walk (Bike) videos, 7/14/2020
Edie Littlefield-Sundby: The Mission Walker, 6/1/2020
Edie Littlefield-Sundby: Follow The Bells: Walking El Camino Real 800 Miles From San Diego to Sonoma, 2/2/2017
Maggie Espinosa: Maggie’s Mission Walk, 5/24/2015
KSBW Action News 8, Ron Briery and Beppe Sala: 2 Walking From San Diego To Sonoma, 4/7/2011
California Mission Walk Podcasts
11/26/2020 Sacred Steps Podcast: Interview with Camino Pilgrim & Author Sandy Brown
7/6/2020 Slow Baja: Edie Littlefield Sundby: The Mission Walker A 1600-Mile Journey On The El Camino Real From Loreto Mexico To Sonoma California
10/29/2019 Christian Clifford: breadboxmedia.com/lisa-hendey-friends-episode-73-christian-clifford-st-junipero-serra-and-the-california-missions
5/1/2017 The Camino Podcast: Ron Briery and Stephanie Dodaro: soundcloud.com/user-939742370/episode18-walking-californias-missions
4/2/2017 The California Frontier Project, Maggie Espinosa: Walking the Mission Trail with Maggie Espinosa
1/4/2016 Two Boomer Broads, Maggie Espinosa: Walking the California Missions with Maggie Espinosa
One’s destination is never a place, but a new way of seeing things.”—Henry Miller
Other Resources
Other Books by Mission Walkers
The Spirit Within Saint Junípero, by Craig Alan Huber
The Spirit Within: The California Missions, by Craig Alan Huber
California’s Mission History, by Christian Clifford
The Missions and other Mission-Era historic sites
Wikipedia’s Spanish missions in California
Spanish and Mexican Heritage Sites in California
Ruben Mendoza’s info on mission San Juan Bautista
Ruben Mendoza’s site about the mission illuminations
Californios Ranchos and Adobes
The California Missions Foundation
The California Missions Museum in Sonoma, at Cline Cellars Winery
Mission History
The California Frontier Project
Tom Simondi’s mission overview
El Camino Real
The California Missions Trail, South to North overview by the California Department of Parks and Recreation
Wikipedia’s El Camino Real
Juan Bautista de Anza National Historic Trail
Unesco World Heritage ‘Cultural Corridor’ Nomination for El Camino Real de las Californias
California Mission Guide for the El Camino Real
Gaspar de Portola
The California Bell Company
Mission Bells along California Highway 101
Historic Highway 101
LA Social Bikers El Camino Real tour
The El Camino song by Amos Lee
Adventure is the essence of life.”—Dick Rutan
Bicycling El Camino Real
Along the King’s Road: A Guide to Touring the California Missions by Bicycle, book by Meredith Cherry, published in 2015
Sandy Brown’s Saddling up to ride the California Mission Walk video blog of his journey, July – August 2020
Ride With GPS bicycle route by Meredith Cherry
Touring the California Missions by Bicycle Blog, 2013
In May 1995, Brian Wood and Matt Labovitz bicycled from Mission Buenaventura to Mission San Francisco Asís, sending daily digital updates to elementary school students
On the 200 year bicentennial of the De Anza expedition, Frank Riley bicycled from the border of Mexico to San Francisco, along the mission trail and wrote the 1976 book De Anza’s Trail Today
Other California trails that overlap with El Camino Real
Juan Bautista de Anza National Historic Trail, maintained by the National Park Service,
with an interactive trail map
Santa Barbara County Trails Council
California Coastal Trail
The California Hiking Map, shows ALL of the trails in California, including the Mission Trail!
The Old Spanish Trail, from Santa Fe to Los Angeles
Commercial Tour Groups for the El Camino Real
Sandy Brown’s Bike Sonoma to San Diego on California’s El Camino Real — April 10-26, 2021
Other long walkers
Longwalking tips
SF Bay Area Hikers facebook page
John Sears travels all over California on foot with his 3 mules, advocating a walking trail system
Planet Walk, modeled on Dr. John Francis’s worldwide pilgrimage, works to sponsor walks nationally and internationally with the purpose of promoting environmental education and responsibility and a vision of world peace and cooperation
“This is our country. Let’s walk it.” New York Times article by Ken Ilgunas
American Volkssport Association (AVA), a national walking organization
The Great Trail, connected coast to coast 24,000 km across Canada
That other Camino: The Camino de Santiago de Compostela
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