PCT Planning · Southern Terminus
Getting to Campo: San Diego airport to the PCT southern terminus
Campo is 50 miles east of San Diego, served by one weekday bus and a seasonal hiker shuttle. It is the last piece of travel on your whole trip and the one most likely to go sideways, because it runs on a schedule nobody warns you about.
The monument sits about 1.4 miles south of the village of Campo, hard against the border fence. Most hikers land at San Diego International, spend a night in the city, and travel out the next morning. Here is how that works, and what is waiting when you arrive.
Three ways out to the trail
The hiker shuttle
The PCT Southern Terminus Shuttle runs from a central pickup in San Diego out to the terminus through the start of the season, daily from late February into May, with a second morning departure through the busiest weeks. It's run by thru-hikers, it takes you to the monument rather than to the village, and you book it online in advance. If your start date is inside the season, this is the least complicated option, and it runs on weekends when the bus does not.
Trolley plus the 894 bus
Public transit gets you there for a few dollars, and the airport end is easier than most hikers expect. Three legs:
- SAN to Old Town, free. The San Diego Flyer runs between the terminals and the Old Town Transit Center every 20 to 30 minutes, day and night, and costs nothing. It beats paying for a rideshare into a traffic jam.
- Old Town to El Cajon, by trolley. The Green Line runs from Old Town straight through to the El Cajon Transit Center, no downtown detour required.
- El Cajon to Campo, on the 894. About two hours east on MTS route 894.
If you are staying downtown instead, MTS route 992 connects the airport with Santa Fe Depot every 15 minutes, and the trolley lines all meet you there.
The catch is the timetable. The 894 runs weekdays only, a handful of times a day, and takes about two hours. No weekends, no holidays. Miss the last run and you are finding a room in El Cajon. Check the current MTS timetable before you build your flights around it, and plan to be at the transit center with time to spare.
Trail angels, rideshares and taxis
San Diego has a long tradition of trail angels driving hikers to the start. The best current list is Trail Angel Central, which keeps a Google spreadsheet with a tab for each section of trail. Open the Southern Terminus tab and you'll find names, phone numbers and what each person offers: airport pickups, rides to the El Cajon Transit Center, a lift to the monument, sometimes a stop at REI on the way. Angels manage their own entries, so the list is current in a way a printed guide never is.
Treat a ride as a favour to ask politely and early, not a service to book. Text rather than call, say your dates, and have a backup. Rideshare apps will sometimes take the fare out to Campo, but coverage is thin that far east and the return trip is empty for the driver, so don't count on getting one.
Last chance for fuel and anything you forgot
You cannot fly with canister fuel, so nearly everyone buys it after landing. REI's San Diego store on Copley Drive is the practical stop on the way east: canisters, a last look at anything that didn't survive packing, and a chance to swap that too-small pack. Do it the day you land rather than the morning you leave, when everything is running on a bus schedule.
The Green Store in Campo carries stove fuel too, but it sometimes runs out, and arriving in Campo with no working stove is a poor way to start 2,650 miles.
Where to sleep the night before
In San Diego
Most hikers need a night in the city first: flights land late, fuel has to be bought, and the bus out is a morning affair. Samesun Ocean Beach is the hiker-friendly option — a backpacker hostel with co-ed and female-only dorms plus private rooms, a 24-hour kitchen and a simple breakfast, reached by a short rideshare from Old Town Transit Center. It is on the far west side of the city, so leave extra time to cross town to El Cajon if you're taking the 894 in the morning.
In Campo
Camp Lockett Event & Equestrian Facility, on Forrest Gate Road in Campo, is the usual answer. It's a former cavalry post with camp sites, picnic tables and fire rings, horse corrals, and it takes hikers for a small fee. Contact them ahead rather than turning up and hoping, especially in the first half of April when the start dates bunch up.
The other common plan is to skip the night in Campo entirely: sleep in the city, take the early shuttle or the first bus, and walk from the monument in the afternoon. Twenty miles to Lake Morena is a long first day; Hauser Creek and the campsites before it are the usual compromise.
What Campo actually is
A small village with a post office, a store and a lot of railroad history — not a town in the resupply sense. The Green Store is a convenience store with basic groceries and stove fuel when they have it. It is enough to patch a gap, not enough to build your first food carry on. Buy your food in San Diego.
Campo also works as a first mail drop if you want to start light and send yourself the first few days. There are two ways to do it:
- The post office, addressed General Delivery. Held for up to 30 days, but the hours are short and it's closed weekends, so a Saturday arrival means waiting until Monday.
- The Green Store, which also holds hiker boxes. That gets you a package on a weekend, when the post office is shut. Call ahead to confirm how they want it addressed and whether they charge a holding fee.
Either way, confirm before you ship. Small-town hours and holding policies change, and a box you can't collect is worse than no box at all.
A short checklist
- Check whether your start date falls on a weekend before booking flights.
- Book the shuttle, or note the 894's last departure of the day.
- Buy fuel in San Diego, not in Campo.
- Arrange your night in Campo ahead, or plan to start from San Diego in the morning.
- Carry your PCT long-distance permit, printed or on your phone.
- Know where your first water is. The first stretch is dry and hotter than it looks in April.
Know what day you'll reach Lake Morena
Put your start date into ThruSmith and it builds the whole itinerary from Campo north: arrival dates for every resupply stop, the food each carry needs, and mail drop send-by dates. Free to plan.
Open the plannerSources and last checked: September 2026.
- Pacific Crest Trail Association — Getting to and from the Southern Terminus
- San Diego MTS — airport transit, including the free San Diego Flyer and the Route 894 schedule
- Trail Angel Central — hiker-maintained trail angel lists, by section
- PCT Southern Terminus Shuttle · Camp Lockett Event & Equestrian Facility · REI San Diego
Schedules, fares and seasons change every year. Confirm times, prices and availability with each operator before you rely on them.