Three weeks ago I did the Big Sur Trail Loop. I went up the Boronda Trail and then did a big loop on the North Coast Ridge Road (NCCR), Big Sur Trail, Pine Ridge Trail, Terrace Creek Trail, and NCCR again. I wrote up some of my experiences in the Trail Reports forum. That led to an e-mail discussion...

Date Hiked: April 1, 2022 General Condition: Wilderness Freeway (Heavily used and well maintained) I did this from the Terrace Creek Camp to the North Coast Ridge Road. Lots of up, but the trail is in great shape. Outlaw Camp is just a wide spot in the trail. There appears to have once been another...

Date Hiked: March 31, 2022 General Condition: Wilderness Freeway (Heavily used and well maintained) Section: Big Sur Trail Junction to Terrace Creek Camp Really great shape all the way, so there’s not much to write. Just a few sections of narrow trail and tight turns on the way down to Redwood. I w...

Date Hiked: March 29, 2022 General Condition: Wilderness Freeway (Heavily used and well maintained) I went up on March 29 and back down on April 1. Save a very few places where some broom or deerweed was leaning into the trail, this was wide open. Stiff grades. Great views. I enjoyed the fields of ...

Date Hiked: March 30, 2022 General Condition: Clear (no obstacles and tread well defined) I hiked the entire trail, from Cold Spring to Cienega Camp on the 30th and from Cienega Camp to the Pine Ridge Trail junction on the 31st. As Betsy and others have noted, trail conditions vary from wilderness ...

The perennial spring (really a stream that's one of the Carmel River headwaters) is about 3/4 mile west of the Divide Camp junction. The Big Sur Trailmap (https://bigsurtrailmap.net/) shows the spot.

Date Hiked: April 12, 2021 General Condition: Clear (no obstacles and tread well defined) Section: Church Creek Divide Junction to Pine Valley -- Clear Were it not for a few low shrubs brushing against the knees and thighs, plus the one duck-under deadfall, I’d have rated this as Wilderness Freeway...

Date Hiked: April 13, 2021 General Condition: Passable (some brush and/or deadfalls, tread evident) Section: Pine Ridge Trail to the Church Creek Use Camp – Passable This is a mighty short trail segment – about a half mile – so there’s not much to say. Some open trail, some easy brush and deadfall ...

Date Hiked: April 13, 2021 General Condition: Passable (some brush and/or deadfalls, tread evident) Like the adjacent Bear Basin Trail, this mixes brushy and open sections. In some places the brush is coming in from both sides, and if the whole trail had been like that, I’d have rated the trail as ...

Date Hiked: April 13, 2021 General Condition: Passable (some brush and/or deadfalls, tread evident) Section: Pine Valley to Bear Basin Connector Junction As others have indicated, much is clear but there are several places where you need to slide through some brush. It’s a bit worse at the top than...