The seemingly simple landscape is incredibly complex, the natural monument is no longer what it seems once you are introduced to the history and the use of the sites at play. Within these beaches, the human altered landscape has been interpreted and created from the natural environment to increase positive sexual performances during the pursuit of anonymous sex. Over the years, unclothed men have developed rituals in walking these paths, wandering in and out of areas covered by dense brush, into open canyons marked by a single, almost mythical looking, untamed palm tree. On the edges of the beach near the canyon walls, “desire paths” can be found snaking through the landscape. Because of this, the beaches have made it popular for men cruising for anonymous gay sex. Famous for their hard to access and unstable “goat trails”, the hikes hold mythical and sacred qualities, far from the real world and society. Goat Trails examines the gay nude cruising beaches that are isolated and hidden up and down the coast of California.
