How Indigenous Adventures Connect Travelers to California

To Hoopa Valley Tribe member John Acuna, the Klamath River is a link to the past, to a sacred duty, to a better future for his community and the many endangered species that’ve long called the river home. It’s a perspective that makes it more than a destination for nature lovers in California’s northern extreme—and part of why Indigenous experiences in the state can help travelers experience a more profound sense of place as they bask in its natural beauty.

Today, nearly 50 million acres in California (just under half of the state’s total landmass, including almost a third of its coastline) remain protected, according to the California Protected Areas Database. For many Native Californians like Acuna, safeguarding the land is about conserving a way of life that existed in harmony with nature for thousands of years, and empowering others to do the same for millennia to come. As a course leader and mentor with Ríos to Rivers’ Paddle Tribal Waters program, he helped a group of Indigenous youth make the historic first descent down the Klamath following the removal of four of its dams in 2024. Here, and in a recent episode of Afar’s Unpacked podcast, Acuna shares what the journey was like and recommends ways to experience the river as a traveler.

The Klamath community

Courtesy of Ríos to Rivers/Erik Boomer

The Klamath River has sustained communities like the Yurok, Karuk, and Hoopa for as long as anyone can remember, connecting villages, providing food, and offering spiritual guidance among Indigenous tribes for at least 7,000 years. “I always talk about the Klamath as being the backbone of the people,” says Acuna. “It’s our lifeblood. It was our highway that connected us. It was our food source.” And with that relationship, he adds, comes the duty to protect it.

It took two decades of negotiation to allow the free flow of California’s second-largest river. Two weeks after the dams were removed, fish returned to spawn in areas of the Klamath where they hadn’t been in more than a century, a promising sign for Chinook salmon, plus region-specific species like c’waam and koptu, that populate these waters.

Then, on June 12, 2025, after around four years of preparation, Acuna and the nonprofit Ríos to Rivers Paddle Tribal Waters program set off with a contingent of Indigenous youth to kayak down the Klamath River. For the first time in generations, the group paddled in the wake of their ancestors, kayaking the full 310-mile length of the Klamath over a month.

“Every one of our paddle strokes was a prayer,” Acuna says, as the group faced severe headwinds and violent waves. On July 11, 2025, they reached the town of Requa, where Redwood National Park gives way to the Pacific. (Pro tip: Stay at the Afar-recommended Historic Requa Inn when visiting the Klamath.)

Visiting the new Klamath

Courtesy of Visit California

Thanks to their efforts, travelers can now enjoy the benefits of the restored river. With the support of a local Indigenous guide, you can go fly-fishing with Beaver Creek Guide Service (which Acuna personally recommends); tour the Klamath via jet boat or canoe during the warmer months; or, if you’re lucky, take a multiday kayaking trip with Acuna himself. He also suggests tours of the lagoons and village sites with the Yurok Tribe.

“When you’re coming into spaces that might be sensitive, whether culturally or in that realm, it’s always nice to have a guide,” says Acuna. Those who seek out Native knowledge can learn to treat the river with respect and help ensure its protection for generations to come. “The most important thing I think about in coming into these spaces is really having the openness to be educated and to be vulnerable,” he says.

Kayak, ski, and surf in Six Rivers National Forest

Having been born in a small town at the foot of the Shasta Cascades before spending his younger years working as a firefighter for the Forest Service, Acuna’s experience isn’t limited to the river. For those interested in exploring dry land during their trip to the Klamath, he recommends a visit to Six Rivers National Forest, which encompasses 1 million acres of woodland (and, yes, six rivers) to navigate.

Courtesy of Visit California

“It’s the one place where you can go kayaking, skiing, and surfing all on the same day,” he says. Plus, miles of trails (and the rivers) weave through the massive trees of the area’s redwood forests.

Hiking and more Indigenous outdoor experiences in California

Courtesy of Visit California

Beyond the Hoopa Valley, California offers many other ways to explore the great outdoors with a Native Californian perspective. In Southern California’s Anza-Borrego Desert State Park, the Pictograph Trail leads to remarkably well-preserved rock art created by the Kumeyaay people thousands of years ago. Near Palm Springs, Tahquitz Canyon offers hikes led by the Agua Caliente Band of Cahuilla Indians, where visitors might encounter Cahuilla bird singers performing traditional songs passed down through generations using rattles made from gourds and shells. You can also hike through the Indian Canyons, including the Palm Canyon Trail, to explore more of the region’s distinctive flora and fauna.

The Juan Bautista de Anza National Historic Trail traces a 1,200-mile route across the traditional homelands of more than 70 Native communities before ending at San Francisco Bay. Today’s trail, with sections managed by multiple California tribes, interprets colonial and Indigenous histories to provide extra context to the enormity of the hike. In the Santa Monica Mountains, just northwest of Malibu Beach, the Satwiwa Native American Cultural Center helps preserve Chumash, Tongva, and Ventureño heritage through traditional workshops, demonstrations, and art shows throughout the year.

The Old Woman Mountains Preserve protects part of the Salt Song Trail, a 700-mile song cycle that Chemehuevi, Mojave, and other Colorado River tribes sing to mark sacred sites found throughout the Mojave Desert. The preserve offers primitive camping with interpretive materials explaining how these sacred songs help the singer navigate the trail while protecting their cultural traditions.

California’s mountains are excellent proving grounds for the boldest of adventurers, often carrying deep Indigenous significance as well. Mount Shasta, sacred to tribes such as the Karuk and Shasta, features prominently in creation stories and remains a ceremonial site. Lassen Peak holds significance as a meeting ground for multiple tribes, including the Atsugewi, Yana, and Yahi. Mount Diablo served as a sacred site and navigational landmark for the Ohlone people, with views from its summit spanning their entire ancestral territory.

How (and why) to support Indigenous tourism

Those interested in supporting Indigenous initiatives like Paddle Tribal Waters can donate directly through the Ríos to Rivers website to help cover gear, instruction, and expedition costs for future participants. Check out Visit Native California for stories of Indigenous Californians and responsible, Native-led experiences, helping ensure that travel profits directly support tribal communities.

When done responsibly, Indigenous ecotourism has the potential to benefit everyone—and everything—by promoting conservation efforts, land-back initiatives, and a crucial, often overlooked side of American history that could help pave the way to a better future. As Acuna says, “The best way that people can support these things is to come hang out in the space.”