The Great California Loop follows three long trails - most of the California section of the Pacific Crest Trail on the east side of the loop, most of the California Coastal Trail to the west, and the majority of Bigfoot Trail to the north. The southern connector option shown has been routed to utilize as much trail as possible without crossing private property (this connection is open-route).

Two long trail terminuses are included in this route: the southern terminus of the PCT and the NW terminus of the BFT.

Northern Wisconsin’s great white pine forests. The local economy still depends on lumber, as sawmills are at work in Medford and Prentice, located at either end of the trail.

The trail follows a section of the Wisconsin Central Railway, which launched rail service in 1876 between Lake Superior and Chicago. The Soo Line took over until 1985, when the Wisconsin Central Ltd. got the rail bed, but it ceased to use the line in 1988. Price and Taylor Counties then acquired it for use as a trail.