pct · resupply · tehachapi
Tehachapi Plant Based Food Guide for PCT Hikers
Buy your food in Tehachapi. Albertsons, Save Mart and Walmart cover a full vegan resupply, Kelcy's has drawn vegan praise from hikers every season since 2022, and Thai Hachapi veganizes easily. Stock up for the long, dry stretch to Kennedy Meadows. Town is about nine miles off trail at the Highway 58 crossing, mile 566.6.
The short version
Tehachapi sits off the PCT at mile 566.6, where the trail crosses Highway 58. It is one of the easiest vegan towns in Southern California. Three full supermarkets cover the resupply, so a mailed box is optional. For a sit-down meal, Kelcy’s in the old downtown is the place hikers keep naming for vegan food, and the Thai restaurants are a good second choice.
Buy more than you think you need. The next real shop for most hikers is Kennedy Meadows South, about 135 trail miles on, and the stretch between is long and dry. It took me six days.
Stores and restaurants
| Business | What a vegan can get | Status, with evidence date |
|---|---|---|
| Albertsons, 775 S Tucker Rd | Full supermarket with a produce department and chain vegan staples | Store page live October 2026; listed in Halfmile’s 2023 town notes |
| Save Mart, 841 Tucker Rd | Full supermarket with chain vegan staples | Uber Eats store listing live October 2026; listed in Halfmile’s 2023 town notes |
| Walmart Supercenter | Full supermarket with chain vegan staples | Hiker comments through June 2026 |
| Kelcy’s, 110 W Tehachapi Blvd | Hikers report vegan and vegetarian options (2022, 2023), a homemade vegan chili (May 2024) and a good breakfast for vegans (May 2025). Free coffee and soda for PCT hikers (2025). Ask which dishes are vegan when you order | Hiker comment June 2026 calls the menu extremely vegetarian friendly; new patio opened June 2026 (The Loop). Its own menu lists vegan chili with a choice of dairy or vegan cheese, a hummus wrap and vegan chicken tenders; ask for vegan sides and sauces |
| Thai Hachapi, 119 E F St | Hikers say lots of dishes were easily veganized (May 2023) and named it their top vegan pick in town (May 2024) | Listings updated August 2026; hours differ between sites, so call ahead |
| Taste of Siam | The other Thai restaurant; a May 2024 hiker said it did vegan options well | Featured in The Loop in December 2024; no 2025 or 2026 hiker report found |
| Petra Mediterranean, 200 S Green St | Falafel, hummus, baba ghannouj and a veggie plate are on the menu. Ask what goes in the sauces and skip the tzatziki, which is yogurt based | Tagged vegan friendly on Uber Eats, October 2026; no hiker report found |
| Kohnen’s Country Bakery | A hiker got a vegan sandwich here in 2018. No newer vegan report | Closed Wednesday and Thursday (hiker comment April 2026) |
| Red House BBQ | In 2019 hikers reported potato wedges, fried buffalo cauliflower and an Impossible burger night. That is old news, so ask | Hiker note April 2026: closed Mondays per Google |
The newest vegan reports for Red House BBQ and Kohnen’s date from 2019 and 2018, so treat those two as leads. The supermarkets and Kelcy’s are the safe bets.
What I ate here
My food records for Tehachapi are thin. I stayed at the SureStay Best Western from May 31 to June 2, 2021, days 32 to 34, and I don’t have a restaurant receipt from town.
What I do have is the photo of my bar haul on day 33 (#815): Bobo’s in coconut and chocolate chip, Clif Bars in blueberry crisp, coffee dark chocolate mocha, cool mint chocolate and oatmeal raisin walnut, a Larabar apple pie, a ProBar protein bar, a Lenny & Larry’s Complete Cookie and a bag of dried fruit. I didn’t record which store it came from. I think it was one of the grocery stores near the hotels by the highway. That load carried me out on June 2 and through six days to Kennedy Meadows, which I called the hardest section yet on Instagram when I got there.
Getting to town from the trail
The trail crosses two roads near town: Tehachapi Willow Springs Road in Cameron Canyon, and Highway 58 at the overpass near mile 566.6 (The Loop, April 2026). From the Highway 58 crossing, town is about nine miles west (Halfmile notes, 2023). Plan on a ride. The local trail angel contact sheet is posted at the Greater Tehachapi Chamber of Commerce and the Tehachapi Visitors Center, and there is a Facebook group called Tehachapi Pass (Tehachapi and Mojave) PCT Trail Angels (The Loop, April 2026).
My Strava title for day 32 reads “to Tehachapi lil run in the end.” My messages from that day put the hitch at mile 558.5, Tehachapi Willow Springs Road.
Mail drops
You don’t need one for food. If you want TVP, bulk dehydrated beans or a favorite meal you can’t find in a chain store, send it General Delivery to the Tehachapi post office, 1085 Voyager Dr, Tehachapi, CA 93561 (hiker note, January 2026). Check the post office hours before you plan a pickup.
Related pages
The full trail-order table is in the vegan PCT resupply guide, and the rest of the section is on the Southern California desert page.
Checked October 8, 2026: FarOut hiker comments through September 2026, web listings and store pages (Kelcy’s own menu, Thai Hachapi, Albertsons, Uber Eats, MenuPages, The Loop, Halfmile’s 2023 town notes), and my own 2021 hotel record, Strava log and photos.
From my 2021 stop
