Trip 41

PICO BLANCO

LENGTH AND TYPE: 14.8-mile out-and-back or 12.4-mile point-to-point

RATING: Strenuous

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

HIGHLIGHTS: Follow a magnificent, steep-sided canyon through redwood groves to a perfect swimming hole at Pico Blanco Camp.

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

TRIP SUMMARY: This route leads 7.4 miles to Pico Blanco Camp. You can approach it as a strenuous day hike, a one- to three-night out-and-back, or a point-to-point trip. On a two- to three-night trip, consider staying at Little Sur Camp (2.6 miles from Bottchers Gap) or Jackson Camp (5.2 miles from Bottchers Gap), then hiking on to Pico Blanco Camp (see TRIP 39 Little Sur & Jackson Camps). For a rewarding 12.4-mile point-to-point passage, leave a shuttle vehicle at the trailhead along Coast Road (see TRIP 40 Coast Road to Pico Blanco Camp).

The hike descends into the Little Sur drainage via Pico Blanco Road, promising panoramic views of Pico Blanco, the largest marble and limestone deposit in the Lower 48. The road follows the banks of the Little Sur into Pico Blanco Boy Scout Camp. Scouts descend en masse between mid-June and mid-August, thwarting any plans for a wilderness escape. Past the camp, you’ll join the Little Sur Trail, which leads east 1.2 miles to Jackson Camp and west 2.6 miles to Pico Blanco Camp. Pico Blanco is nestled along the edge of a redwood-lined gorge. Just upstream, a waterfall oasis harbors a deep emerald swimming hole.

The Manuel Peak Trail junction leads to remote and isolated areas of Ventana Wilderness.

Trip Description

See TRIP 39 Little Sur & Jackson Camps for the first 4 miles of this route to the Little Sur Trail junction.

Assuming you’re not headed to Jackson Camp, you’ll turn right and head westbound on the Little Sur Trail, climbing through a dense forest dominated by tanoaks, madrones, and redwoods. Fondly referred to as “Cardiac Hill,” the following steep 1350-foot ascent to the top of Launtz Ridge over less than a mile ends at a minor 2194-foot crest. Pause to rest and take in impressive views of the Little Sur drainage.

From here the trail forks. The faint trail to the right leads to an unofficial campsite atop a grassy knoll. Branch left on the Little Sur Trail, which descends gradually from the crest into dense woodland. You’ll soon arrive at the signed Manuel Peak Trail junction (5.3 miles, 2090').

Branch right at this junction and continue west on the Little Sur Trail. The next 0.3 mile drops steeply into Duveneck’s Hole, a dilapidated group of hunting huts amid a shady redwood canyon. Skirt the north edge of the canyon beyond the shacks for your first foreboding glimpse of Pico Blanco’s marble-strewn south face. The cool redwood and tanoak canopy abruptly changes to dry scrubby oaks and chaparral, which is replaced in turn by arid, yucca-studded grassy slopes—a stark contrast brought on by the peak’s mineral composition. Pico Blanco’s marble and limestone slopes drain water quickly, leaving only plants adapted to such dry conditions.

The trail switchbacks three times across the lower slopes before turning southwest for a quarter-mile descent. Consider wearing long pants for this stretch, as the narrow trail is choked with poison oak, coyote brush, and yucca. Stop every few hundred feet and check for ticks, a factor in all but the driest months.

The trail forks again at the Pico Blanco Camp Trail junction (7.3 miles, 1385'). The right branch leads 5.9 miles west to Coast Road (see TRIP 40 Coast Road to Pico Blanco Camp). Head down the left branch 0.1 mile southeast to Pico Blanco Camp (7.4 miles, 1300'). Just upstream from camp is a scenic waterfall oasis and swimming hole, the perfect spot for a refreshing dip. (For details about the camp and swimming hole, see TRIP 40 Coast Road to Pico Blanco Camp.)