Date Hiked: January 3, 2026
General Condition: Impassable (completely overgrown or tread obliterated)
I always look forward to viewing the Wild Arroyo Seco during a rain. “Arroyo Seco” is a Spanish phrase that literally means “dry stream” or “dry creek.”
It is not dry today!~
Starting at the Sportsman Club, the "creek" is over 75 feet wide before it joins the very active creek that crosses the Escandito Camp, California Crossing.
Did some preventive clipping up to the river crossing; the trail is in great shape here and is reported above because of the excellent work described below. With this level of flow (must be close to 1000 cfs) , you feel like you're hiking in the Sierras. That makes the flow at the gorge at the campground over 3000, and roaring—a sight to see if you enjoy the power of nature and gravity.
At this time, the trail river crossing is impassable.
Arroyo Seco Trail
Re: Arroyo Seco Trail
Date Hiked: December 8, 2025
General Condition: Passable (some brush and/or deadfalls, tread evident)
The trail isn't completely clear to the top unfortunately. The last .7 miles to the junction with the NCRT have encroaching brush, deadfall, missing tread. I'd rate the last .7 miles Occasionally Difficult, and the lower 4 miles Clear.
Bad weather kept the ACA/SCA trail crews from finishing. The trail they did finish is excellent - a massive improvement from 6 months ago. I worked on opening up the last little switchback at the top.. the spot where I previously lost the trail multiple times.
Attached is a picture showing the excellent trail crew work through the sea of brush. This is within a mile of the top.
General Condition: Passable (some brush and/or deadfalls, tread evident)
The trail isn't completely clear to the top unfortunately. The last .7 miles to the junction with the NCRT have encroaching brush, deadfall, missing tread. I'd rate the last .7 miles Occasionally Difficult, and the lower 4 miles Clear.
Bad weather kept the ACA/SCA trail crews from finishing. The trail they did finish is excellent - a massive improvement from 6 months ago. I worked on opening up the last little switchback at the top.. the spot where I previously lost the trail multiple times.
Attached is a picture showing the excellent trail crew work through the sea of brush. This is within a mile of the top.
Re: Arroyo Seco Trail
Date Hiked: October 17, 2025
General Condition: Passable (some brush and/or deadfalls, tread evident)
Serious work is underway on this trail. The ACE and SCA crews are there right now, until mid November. Working past Madrone Camp. I fully expect the Arroyo Seco Trail to be completely open all the way to the North Coast Ridge Trail. If they finish the trail early, they'll continue on NCRT toward Cone Peak.
Here is a picture of their finished trailwork, just before Madrone Camp.
General Condition: Passable (some brush and/or deadfalls, tread evident)
Serious work is underway on this trail. The ACE and SCA crews are there right now, until mid November. Working past Madrone Camp. I fully expect the Arroyo Seco Trail to be completely open all the way to the North Coast Ridge Trail. If they finish the trail early, they'll continue on NCRT toward Cone Peak.
Here is a picture of their finished trailwork, just before Madrone Camp.
Re: Arroyo Seco Trail
Date Hiked: August 10, 2025
General Condition: Difficult (brushy and/or many deadfalls, faint tread)
Incredible work by Doug opening this trail up. Trail map conditions are accurate.. green to yellow to orange.
The hike from Madrone Camp to the North Coast Ridge Trail is not trivial. Expect at least 2 hours. It took me nearly 2 hours to hike DOWN from the top to the bottom. Plenty of brush pushing, bending and crawling. There is a wonderful open section above the 2nd switch back.
Attached pictures shows the point where I emerged from the almost continuous bushwhack, and into the open area.. close to the switchbacks.
General Condition: Difficult (brushy and/or many deadfalls, faint tread)
Incredible work by Doug opening this trail up. Trail map conditions are accurate.. green to yellow to orange.
The hike from Madrone Camp to the North Coast Ridge Trail is not trivial. Expect at least 2 hours. It took me nearly 2 hours to hike DOWN from the top to the bottom. Plenty of brush pushing, bending and crawling. There is a wonderful open section above the 2nd switch back.
Attached pictures shows the point where I emerged from the almost continuous bushwhack, and into the open area.. close to the switchbacks.
-
Doug Major
Re: Arroyo Seco Trail
Date Hiked: April 25, 2025
General Condition: Difficult (brushy and/or many deadfalls, faint tread)
This is in response to past reports that the top of the Arroyo Seco trail (4E10) is impassable and impossible. After taking up the challenge and 12 hours of trail work, I would rate this trail a “difficult but passable” with this caveat. Expect at least 5 “crawl unders” and 12+ blow-downs to go over, as well as a sketchy slide area to navigate. The trend is evident from top to bottom, with some signage at both ends. Previous work efforts were present on the top and bottom of this upper section.
Notably, the Commander of the Hunter Liggett base attempted the climb with his son a few weeks ago, using machetes. They were turned back at the first switchback past Madrone and instead went up Rodeo Flats.
Here is a more detailed, point-to-point assessment. I suited up in my “hazmat poison oak gear” for some severe clipping, remembering the pre-fire field of the stuff. I was genuinely stunned by the lower trail work done by Betsy and her team on the section to the Forks. An amazingly wide path now, with a tremendous amount of earth moving at the previous slide areas, and as one making some slight improvements earlier this year, this section is truly rated now a wilderness freeway, or in my estimation, better than “short pants” accessible (higher rating, swimming suit?). The lower river hop is an easy pass with many small springs still flowing, and it has areas of abundant wildflowers. After connecting with the old fire road that becomes Rodeo Flats, the marker post, without a sign, marks the intersection to move towards the river and the Forks Camp.
Crossing the well-flowing river here with its massive rock steps, the clipping and poison oak work began in earnest. I missed my last post-fire attempt at this section and even to locate the trial. Thanks for the job done to clear the route up an old creek drainage to False Madrone. Just past a huge rock with an interior cave, go up to the left, seemingly away from the river, instead of closer to the river with a massive maze of blowdowns that confused me last time. The tread is evident this time, with even less poison oak content as I looped my way to False Madrone camp, with its large area and a fire circle. Here, you descend back to cross the river and see the trail proceeding on the other bank. After some low-level push-through, you follow the tread tacked on the river's side with anchored massive trees and dry rock waterfalls. There are a few climbs over fallen trees, but this section is very passable if your goal is Madrone Camp. Old Sign at Madrone is still there, tacked to a massive tree that bears its name.
You can start to see evidence of the old telegraph line stretching from the Fire Lookout atop Cone Peak down to Indian Station. It is easy to imagine Ranger Kinder, the last resident of Cone Peak, relaying fire information about forest conditions to the station. As you go up the trail, more remnants of the line can be observed, including one under the metal wire and a downed but intact power pole, complete with insulators. Further up, this line crosses the upper Carrizo Trail and a post closer to Cone Peak.
IF you make it to the first switchback, the brush encroachment challenge begins in earnest, as previously reported. Clipping was done here to the point where it was possible to find the trail and push through, with extra time devoted to the switchback to avoid losing the trail. Following the contour up the slope, you will find a steep slide area just before the first large drainage area. Just past here, I was able to do some major cutting of downed, burned brush - the hardest to get through and the worst to clip off. The trail clears as you enter the more exposed and burn-scarred area and make an elevation towards the second switchback. You can now see the upper forested area of the Arroyo Seco headwaters and some large Santo Lucia Fir survivors across the drainage. At this location, you enter what was a young pine forest that is now a “pick-up sticks” pile of downed pines, mostly 6 to 12 inches across. With their roots now mostly rotted, I could unstack and move them off the tread. Scores of these burned trees were stacked to mark the trail. Minimal lower-level looping was done to identify the trail tread better. There might be a problem in the future with hundreds of new pine seedlings taking root on the trial. The next switchback is around some still-standing pines with great views as you climb higher. There is one area where many trees have fallen down the slope, but a larger tree is pinning them down over the trail. This can be traversed like a “cattle crossing” if careful.
You will encounter about five large blowdowns in the upper gullies at this upper level; they can all be traversed by bypassing the drop-down from the trail before the tree tangles and then climbing up to find the tread. As you enter the brushed-in areas, the last half mile to the Coastal Road, you encounter more “crawl unders” and a few burned-clean regions where it is more challenging to locate the trail entrances. There is some old and new flagging to help, but GPS trail mapping is vital for success, especially when coming down from the top. I use AllTrails, which did not have this trail in its directory (an indication of the trail's current state). Upon my request, they installed 4E10, the Arroyo Seco trail, into their system.
An All Trails flyover of the route is here: https://www.alltrails.com/explore/recor ... &sh=uscmw4
It had started to rain as I made my way to the Coastal Road. So I was soaked, pushing through wet vegetation, and the coastal fog was whipping over the ridge. I found the sign down, so I fastened it to a tree. It was now 6:00 p.m., so my planned hike, at least up to Tin Can Camp, was abandoned. To give you an idea of the state of the AST now, I was able to push and climb my way to my car next to the Sportsman Club, as it became dark at 8:20, and I'm an old guy!
With this intel, I hope the Carrizo to Cone Peak, Cook Camp, and the Arroyo Seco Trail Loop would be considered open to adventurers. It should be regarded as the more efficient and direct route than taking the extra miles down the steeper Rodeo Flats trail if your end goal is Indian Station. Expect some pull-unders and additional time if you have a large pack.
General Condition: Difficult (brushy and/or many deadfalls, faint tread)
This is in response to past reports that the top of the Arroyo Seco trail (4E10) is impassable and impossible. After taking up the challenge and 12 hours of trail work, I would rate this trail a “difficult but passable” with this caveat. Expect at least 5 “crawl unders” and 12+ blow-downs to go over, as well as a sketchy slide area to navigate. The trend is evident from top to bottom, with some signage at both ends. Previous work efforts were present on the top and bottom of this upper section.
Notably, the Commander of the Hunter Liggett base attempted the climb with his son a few weeks ago, using machetes. They were turned back at the first switchback past Madrone and instead went up Rodeo Flats.
Here is a more detailed, point-to-point assessment. I suited up in my “hazmat poison oak gear” for some severe clipping, remembering the pre-fire field of the stuff. I was genuinely stunned by the lower trail work done by Betsy and her team on the section to the Forks. An amazingly wide path now, with a tremendous amount of earth moving at the previous slide areas, and as one making some slight improvements earlier this year, this section is truly rated now a wilderness freeway, or in my estimation, better than “short pants” accessible (higher rating, swimming suit?). The lower river hop is an easy pass with many small springs still flowing, and it has areas of abundant wildflowers. After connecting with the old fire road that becomes Rodeo Flats, the marker post, without a sign, marks the intersection to move towards the river and the Forks Camp.
Crossing the well-flowing river here with its massive rock steps, the clipping and poison oak work began in earnest. I missed my last post-fire attempt at this section and even to locate the trial. Thanks for the job done to clear the route up an old creek drainage to False Madrone. Just past a huge rock with an interior cave, go up to the left, seemingly away from the river, instead of closer to the river with a massive maze of blowdowns that confused me last time. The tread is evident this time, with even less poison oak content as I looped my way to False Madrone camp, with its large area and a fire circle. Here, you descend back to cross the river and see the trail proceeding on the other bank. After some low-level push-through, you follow the tread tacked on the river's side with anchored massive trees and dry rock waterfalls. There are a few climbs over fallen trees, but this section is very passable if your goal is Madrone Camp. Old Sign at Madrone is still there, tacked to a massive tree that bears its name.
You can start to see evidence of the old telegraph line stretching from the Fire Lookout atop Cone Peak down to Indian Station. It is easy to imagine Ranger Kinder, the last resident of Cone Peak, relaying fire information about forest conditions to the station. As you go up the trail, more remnants of the line can be observed, including one under the metal wire and a downed but intact power pole, complete with insulators. Further up, this line crosses the upper Carrizo Trail and a post closer to Cone Peak.
IF you make it to the first switchback, the brush encroachment challenge begins in earnest, as previously reported. Clipping was done here to the point where it was possible to find the trail and push through, with extra time devoted to the switchback to avoid losing the trail. Following the contour up the slope, you will find a steep slide area just before the first large drainage area. Just past here, I was able to do some major cutting of downed, burned brush - the hardest to get through and the worst to clip off. The trail clears as you enter the more exposed and burn-scarred area and make an elevation towards the second switchback. You can now see the upper forested area of the Arroyo Seco headwaters and some large Santo Lucia Fir survivors across the drainage. At this location, you enter what was a young pine forest that is now a “pick-up sticks” pile of downed pines, mostly 6 to 12 inches across. With their roots now mostly rotted, I could unstack and move them off the tread. Scores of these burned trees were stacked to mark the trail. Minimal lower-level looping was done to identify the trail tread better. There might be a problem in the future with hundreds of new pine seedlings taking root on the trial. The next switchback is around some still-standing pines with great views as you climb higher. There is one area where many trees have fallen down the slope, but a larger tree is pinning them down over the trail. This can be traversed like a “cattle crossing” if careful.
You will encounter about five large blowdowns in the upper gullies at this upper level; they can all be traversed by bypassing the drop-down from the trail before the tree tangles and then climbing up to find the tread. As you enter the brushed-in areas, the last half mile to the Coastal Road, you encounter more “crawl unders” and a few burned-clean regions where it is more challenging to locate the trail entrances. There is some old and new flagging to help, but GPS trail mapping is vital for success, especially when coming down from the top. I use AllTrails, which did not have this trail in its directory (an indication of the trail's current state). Upon my request, they installed 4E10, the Arroyo Seco trail, into their system.
An All Trails flyover of the route is here: https://www.alltrails.com/explore/recor ... &sh=uscmw4
It had started to rain as I made my way to the Coastal Road. So I was soaked, pushing through wet vegetation, and the coastal fog was whipping over the ridge. I found the sign down, so I fastened it to a tree. It was now 6:00 p.m., so my planned hike, at least up to Tin Can Camp, was abandoned. To give you an idea of the state of the AST now, I was able to push and climb my way to my car next to the Sportsman Club, as it became dark at 8:20, and I'm an old guy!
With this intel, I hope the Carrizo to Cone Peak, Cook Camp, and the Arroyo Seco Trail Loop would be considered open to adventurers. It should be regarded as the more efficient and direct route than taking the extra miles down the steeper Rodeo Flats trail if your end goal is Indian Station. Expect some pull-unders and additional time if you have a large pack.
-
dougmajor
Re: Arroyo Seco Trail
Date Hiked: December 14, 2024
General Condition: Clear (no obstacles and tread well defined)
Hiked the first section from the Sportsman Club firepit to the first crossing. This was the day after some good rains, some light blow downs cleared and mild clipping but the trail is in great shape. Water of the Arroyo Seco was raging at the first crossing, impossible to cross must have been 800 cfs ,like a good day at the lower gorge. The road to Escondido Camp was also impassable at the water crossing. Just to remind hikers about how fast and far the wild Arroyo Seco can change.
General Condition: Clear (no obstacles and tread well defined)
Hiked the first section from the Sportsman Club firepit to the first crossing. This was the day after some good rains, some light blow downs cleared and mild clipping but the trail is in great shape. Water of the Arroyo Seco was raging at the first crossing, impossible to cross must have been 800 cfs ,like a good day at the lower gorge. The road to Escondido Camp was also impassable at the water crossing. Just to remind hikers about how fast and far the wild Arroyo Seco can change.
Re: Arroyo Seco Trail
Date Hiked: December 3, 2024
General Condition: Passable (some brush and/or deadfalls, tread evident)
Many thanks to the VWA crew and solos working on this trail, especially dealing with the slides and downed trees.
The trail from SLMC is clear for the first mile or so (attached picture), then some minor brush encroachment after the slides. The first river crossing is easy, only a foot deep.
Forks camp is perfect, good for one sizable party. Its surprisingly colder and wetter overnight, compared to up on ridges.
After Folks camp, the flagging is helpful to find the stream crossing, then the trail to False Madrone use-camp becomes a real challenge.. "passable-difficult". Trail is lost a couple times, due to downfall and brush.
After False Madrone use-camp, the trail to Madrone Camp has numerous downed trees and brush, and occasional clear sections.
After Madrone Camp, the trail gets much more difficult, turning into "impassable" after the first switchback, where the trail peters out. Constant downed trees and brush.
I'll be watching for any VWA events to help clear this trail.. as its beautiful and is the direct route to Cone Pk, as advertised at the TH sign.
General Condition: Passable (some brush and/or deadfalls, tread evident)
Many thanks to the VWA crew and solos working on this trail, especially dealing with the slides and downed trees.
The trail from SLMC is clear for the first mile or so (attached picture), then some minor brush encroachment after the slides. The first river crossing is easy, only a foot deep.
Forks camp is perfect, good for one sizable party. Its surprisingly colder and wetter overnight, compared to up on ridges.
After Folks camp, the flagging is helpful to find the stream crossing, then the trail to False Madrone use-camp becomes a real challenge.. "passable-difficult". Trail is lost a couple times, due to downfall and brush.
After False Madrone use-camp, the trail to Madrone Camp has numerous downed trees and brush, and occasional clear sections.
After Madrone Camp, the trail gets much more difficult, turning into "impassable" after the first switchback, where the trail peters out. Constant downed trees and brush.
I'll be watching for any VWA events to help clear this trail.. as its beautiful and is the direct route to Cone Pk, as advertised at the TH sign.
Re: Arroyo Seco Trail
Date Hiked: November 3, 2024
General Condition: Clear (no obstacles and tread well defined)
A group of VWA trail crew volunteers followed up on the work done by the previous poster. This work had made the trail quite passable. We focused on clearing the remaining trees, including the one at the first River crossing. We brushed about half the trail between the trailhead just beyond Santa Lucia Memorial Camp and Forks Camp.
There are 3 slide areas, and they all need to be repaired. But the work previously done has made them safe to cross.
The junction where Rodeo Flats Trail turns off is marked by a sign post, but no sign. It was difficult to see the Arroyo Seco Trail continuing left, across a side creek, at this junction. After we brushed back some of the riparian vegetation, you can at least see where the trail goes.
General Condition: Clear (no obstacles and tread well defined)
A group of VWA trail crew volunteers followed up on the work done by the previous poster. This work had made the trail quite passable. We focused on clearing the remaining trees, including the one at the first River crossing. We brushed about half the trail between the trailhead just beyond Santa Lucia Memorial Camp and Forks Camp.
There are 3 slide areas, and they all need to be repaired. But the work previously done has made them safe to cross.
The junction where Rodeo Flats Trail turns off is marked by a sign post, but no sign. It was difficult to see the Arroyo Seco Trail continuing left, across a side creek, at this junction. After we brushed back some of the riparian vegetation, you can at least see where the trail goes.
-
dougmajor
Re: Arroyo Seco Trail
Date Hiked: June 1, 2024
General Condition: Passable (some brush and/or deadfalls, tread evident)
This is a work report regarding the past report of the washouts and the reported difficulty of this trail to the Forks Camp.
I spent the morning clipping and clearing, 10 downed small trees moved off the trail, and 3 cut trees to clear the trail. There are 3-4 larger downed trees but all are easy to get over.
NOTE: the first river crossing has a large tree push down, but branches are now cleared and you can do a go under and follow the rock hop across the river, which is still flowing nicely. 4 small tributaries are still flowing on the west side to the Forks and then two more larger flowing past the Forks turn out on the Rodeo Flats trailer. SO plenty of water.
Time was spent making the 2 new washouts passable with steps carved out and tread widened to make these crosses possible but imperfect and safe.
Still some push to through the flowering vegetation but the rest was clipped going up and down the trail so the woodier encroaching brush has mostly been cleared. The tread is easy to follow and except for the repaired washouts, has a reasonable slope. A camping group with large packs, coming down from the coastal road, beat me to the Indians!
General Condition: Passable (some brush and/or deadfalls, tread evident)
This is a work report regarding the past report of the washouts and the reported difficulty of this trail to the Forks Camp.
I spent the morning clipping and clearing, 10 downed small trees moved off the trail, and 3 cut trees to clear the trail. There are 3-4 larger downed trees but all are easy to get over.
NOTE: the first river crossing has a large tree push down, but branches are now cleared and you can do a go under and follow the rock hop across the river, which is still flowing nicely. 4 small tributaries are still flowing on the west side to the Forks and then two more larger flowing past the Forks turn out on the Rodeo Flats trailer. SO plenty of water.
Time was spent making the 2 new washouts passable with steps carved out and tread widened to make these crosses possible but imperfect and safe.
Still some push to through the flowering vegetation but the rest was clipped going up and down the trail so the woodier encroaching brush has mostly been cleared. The tread is easy to follow and except for the repaired washouts, has a reasonable slope. A camping group with large packs, coming down from the coastal road, beat me to the Indians!
Re: Arroyo Seco Trail
Date Hiked: May 5, 2024
General Condition: Impassable (completely overgrown or tread obliterated)
Followed Arroyo Seco Trail from SLMC to Forks Camp, then Rodeo Flat to Volunteer Camp, and back.
From the trailhead to Forks, there was much more deadfall and scrub to whack through than I anticipated. Generally the trail is not hard to follow, difficult but “passable”. However my progress was at or under 1 mph overall. A lot of the downed trees and overgrowth seemed recent. At least a half dozen of these were completely blocked and thick, very time consuming to navigate. The number and difficulty of these surprised me.
That would have been Passable/Difficult but there are two slides. One of them has a sketchy entry into it but the center is flat and overall this slide is passable (my opinion...). The other one is absolutely not. I did cross it (both ways) but I made a choice I don't recommend and it really should not be attempted. It is 6-8 feet wide, very steep and loose, no footing, 100+ ft down to the river, with little to stop you. There is no way around.
I have to rate this section impassable solely because of this slide. Maybe someone would disagree but I consider this a deadend at this time.
Coordinates of both slides included here (pics of the dangerous one).
Slide is hazardous but passable, mainly level through the center
36°06'45.6" N, 121°29'00.7" W
Slide is dangerous
36°06'47.7" N, 121°28'53.9" W
Forks is a lovely camp. I avoided the trail up to Madrone given other trail reports about the thick brush. The ascent on Rodeo Flats from Forks to the ridge is essentially clear. The road is often deeply gullied and steep with slippery gravel, but I enjoyed it and had little trouble. Deadfall was easy to navigate. Gorgeous views all the way up.
The rest: Weather was perfect. Virtually no bugs or flies. Approx 32F low, 60 high. Tons of poison oak as expected. Beautiful wildflowers everywhere. NOTE: On May 5 the AS crossing near the trailhead by Santa Lucia was knee to waist deep and rushing (I'm 6'2") — doable but it was generally strong so I scrambled upstream about 100-150 yards to find a crossing without getting wet (this was challenging...) and then looped back to rejoin the trail.
Huge gratitude to VWA for making any of this possible. If I lived nearby I’d ask to join you.
Thank you!
General Condition: Impassable (completely overgrown or tread obliterated)
Followed Arroyo Seco Trail from SLMC to Forks Camp, then Rodeo Flat to Volunteer Camp, and back.
From the trailhead to Forks, there was much more deadfall and scrub to whack through than I anticipated. Generally the trail is not hard to follow, difficult but “passable”. However my progress was at or under 1 mph overall. A lot of the downed trees and overgrowth seemed recent. At least a half dozen of these were completely blocked and thick, very time consuming to navigate. The number and difficulty of these surprised me.
That would have been Passable/Difficult but there are two slides. One of them has a sketchy entry into it but the center is flat and overall this slide is passable (my opinion...). The other one is absolutely not. I did cross it (both ways) but I made a choice I don't recommend and it really should not be attempted. It is 6-8 feet wide, very steep and loose, no footing, 100+ ft down to the river, with little to stop you. There is no way around.
I have to rate this section impassable solely because of this slide. Maybe someone would disagree but I consider this a deadend at this time.
Coordinates of both slides included here (pics of the dangerous one).
Slide is hazardous but passable, mainly level through the center
36°06'45.6" N, 121°29'00.7" W
Slide is dangerous
36°06'47.7" N, 121°28'53.9" W
Forks is a lovely camp. I avoided the trail up to Madrone given other trail reports about the thick brush. The ascent on Rodeo Flats from Forks to the ridge is essentially clear. The road is often deeply gullied and steep with slippery gravel, but I enjoyed it and had little trouble. Deadfall was easy to navigate. Gorgeous views all the way up.
The rest: Weather was perfect. Virtually no bugs or flies. Approx 32F low, 60 high. Tons of poison oak as expected. Beautiful wildflowers everywhere. NOTE: On May 5 the AS crossing near the trailhead by Santa Lucia was knee to waist deep and rushing (I'm 6'2") — doable but it was generally strong so I scrambled upstream about 100-150 yards to find a crossing without getting wet (this was challenging...) and then looped back to rejoin the trail.
Huge gratitude to VWA for making any of this possible. If I lived nearby I’d ask to join you.
Thank you!

