Trip 39

LITTLE SUR & JACKSON CAMPS

LENGTH AND TYPE: 10.2-mile out-and-back

RATING: Moderate

TRAIL CONDITION: Passable (with brush, poison oak, and deadfalls), tread evident

HIGHLIGHTS: Enjoy mountain views en route to camps nestled amid redwoods beside the Little Sur River.

TO REACH THE TRAILHEAD: At Bottchers Gap, the trail begins 30 feet west of the parking lot at the gated dirt Pico Blanco Road.

SACRED MOUNTAIN

The region’s native Esselen people revered Pico Blanco as a sacred mountain from which all life originated. According to Esselen legend, three creatures—eagle, coyote, and hummingbird—rode out the great flood atop this mountain and went on to recreate the world.

The present owners value the peak in a less sacred light. The Granite Rock Company of Watsonville bought Pico Blanco in the late 1960s, intending to mine the peak for limestone, an essential ingredient in concrete. Fortunately, their plans to lop off the top several hundred feet of the mountain were met with a groundswell of opposition. The resulting environmental lawsuits went all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court and put an end to mining plans on Pico Blanco.

TRIP SUMMARY: You can approach this as either a moderate day hike or an overnight backpacking trip. Little Sur Camp lies 2.6 miles from Bottchers Gap, while Jackson Camp is 5.1 miles from the trailhead. The hike takes you from redwood-lined gullies along Pico Blanco Road into dry mountainous terrain that overlooks marble-capped Pico Blanco. The road winds along the Little Sur River through Pico Blanco Boy Scout Camp, on land donated to the scouts in 1948 by William Randolph Hearst. Hearst first purchased the land in 1921 in order to preserve the redwoods from intense logging pressure. Scouts descend on the camp between mid-June and mid-August, thwarting any plans for a wilderness escape. Crossing the river, the Little Sur Trail heads east toward Jackson Camp, home to two riverside sites.

Trip Description

From the west side of the parking lot at Bottchers Gap (2080'), head south along the gated dirt road toward Pico Blanco Boy Scout Camp. After a gradual quarter-mile descent, you’ll reach the first switchback and views of Pico Blanco, Marble Peak, and Ventana Double Cone. You’ll also see evidence of the 1977 Marble–Cone Fire, which consumed thousands of acres. Covered in chaparral, the dry south-facing slopes burned more completely than the damp, tree-lined north-facing slopes.

Past the first switchback, the trail leads north into a stand of redwoods, hairpins south, then reaches another switchback and the Little Sur Camp Trail junction (1.8 miles, 1230'), on the east side of the road. Pause for views of the Little Sur River drainage and 3709-foot Pico Blanco, the largest single mass of limestone west of the Rocky Mountains.

SIDE TRIP

To reach Little Sur Camp, take the 0.8-mile spur on your right, which leads south along a shady ridge, plunging nearly 600 feet to the banks of the Little Sur. As you meander past live oaks and Douglas firs, keep an eye on the trail for encroaching poison oak. A series of moderate to steep switchbacks drop east into a dense forest of bays, oaks, and madrones. Consider bringing protective head netting once temperatures rise above 70°F, as flies make their presence known. After descending west on an easier grade, you’ll arrive in camp (2.6 miles, 670'), which provides two small riverside sites.

Use caution when scrambling over a couple of large fallen trees across the trail. Due to the camp’s proximity to both Bottchers Gap and Pico Blanco Boy Scout Camp, these sites fill up quickly during spring vacation and between mid-June and mid-August when the scouts arrive.

Past the Little Sur Camp Trail junction, the main route descends north 0.3 mile, returning to the welcome shade of a redwood forest. The next switchback crosses a fault-line creek beside a small waterfall and weaves through several gullies past welcoming signs for the Pico Blanco Boy Scout Camp. The camp’s ranger station is on the west side of the trail, 100 yards past the first sign. Follow signs toward the main camp, as spur roads and trails only lead to camp structures and sites. The road gently roller coasters down to the Little Sur, then crosses it on a wooden footbridge into Pico Blanco Boy Scout Camp proper (3.6 miles, 820').

Just past the bridge and quartermaster’s store, the road forks into three branches. The left branch leads to Camp Geronimo, where it parallels the river upstream to a crossing. The right branch leads through camp to a gravel beach with a refreshing waist- to chest-high wading pool. Instead, follow the middle branch, which soon passes the central kitchen and quickly climbs, passing a small sign for the start of the Los Padres National Forest Trails and a spur on the right marked simply TRAIL (3.7 miles, 950').

You may either follow this spur or continue on the road—both climb roughly 250 feet in 0.3 mile. The road makes a hairpin turn right and then snakes steeply westward, passing a ruin marked by a lonely chimney. The spur climbs more gradually, veering west and then looping around to join the road. From that point, you’ll ascend 25 yards farther to the Little Sur Trail junction (4 miles, 1080').

The eastbound Little Sur Trail to Jackson Camp is essentially a viewless trail that leads south-southeast 200 feet above the Little Sur River in the shade of tanoaks and redwoods. Half a mile from the junction, you’ll reach a seasonal spring that’s little more than a mud puddle in summer. A few hundred yards farther the trail narrows at a small washout. Be especially careful if you’re lugging heavy gear, as this section could erode further over time.

Past the washout, the trail makes a hairpin turn east across a creeklet in a redwood-lined gully blanketed in sword ferns, redwood sorrel, and trillium (4.6 miles, 1120'). Here the trail leaves Boy Scout territory and enters the Ventana Wilderness. You’ll climb another 100 yards, then make the final half-mile descent into Jackson Camp (5.1 miles, 930'), whose two sites lie along the south bank of the Little Sur.

You’ll literally emerge at the first site, while the second site lies just 20 yards downstream. Enjoy the serene backcountry and return when you’re rested. A trail from the Boy Scout camp climbs the river to Jackson Camp, so expect badge-carrying visitors in July and August.