Date Hiked: August 16, 2025
General Condition: Passable (some brush and/or deadfalls, tread evident)
Trail was on good condition with only one large log that requires some climbing. pretty early on. Up to Jackson camp is navigable!
Jackson Camp Trail
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Alan Harder
- Posts: 15
- Joined: Wed Nov 09, 2022 6:27 pm
- Location: Sunnyvale, CA
Re: Jackson Camp Trail
Date Hiked: February 16, 2025
General Condition: Passable (some brush and/or deadfalls, tread evident)
This trail is in great shape (maybe the volunteers made another pass after the last post?).
From the Boy Scout camp to Jackson Camp I encountered just one log to crawl under, one log to climb over and a fallen madrone that I was able to clear. Also one ~10ft slide/washout section with sketchy footing. Impressive work by the crew.. several of the cut logs were huge! Thanks!
General Condition: Passable (some brush and/or deadfalls, tread evident)
This trail is in great shape (maybe the volunteers made another pass after the last post?).
From the Boy Scout camp to Jackson Camp I encountered just one log to crawl under, one log to climb over and a fallen madrone that I was able to clear. Also one ~10ft slide/washout section with sketchy footing. Impressive work by the crew.. several of the cut logs were huge! Thanks!
Re: Jackson Camp Trail
Date Hiked: September 29, 2024
General Condition: Passable (some brush and/or deadfalls, tread evident)
VWA Trail Crew volunteers have worked on this trail over two weekends and cleared 55 trees. There are still over 40 trees left, but these remaining trees are smaller and easy to get past. Hikers no longer need to scramble up the hill on bypass trails, or wiggle under huge redwoods. We also repaired the tread in the first half of the trail. Huge thank you to the volunteers!
The Jackson Camp Trail from Pico Blanco Camp to Jackson Camp still has trees down and some tread issues. But the trees are easy to get over and there is flagging where necessary to show the route. Poison oak encroaches in the section between the two creek crossings just before you reach Jackson Camp. We didn't go beyond Jackson Camp.
And why the heck is Palo Colorado Road still closed after 8 years? It has some slip outs. But it is perfectly driveable. Monterey County Roads? When there was a fire on Skinner Ridge, fire trucks and a bulldozer were able to get there. The ever-expanding road and trail closures make it very difficult for the public to access our public lands.
General Condition: Passable (some brush and/or deadfalls, tread evident)
VWA Trail Crew volunteers have worked on this trail over two weekends and cleared 55 trees. There are still over 40 trees left, but these remaining trees are smaller and easy to get past. Hikers no longer need to scramble up the hill on bypass trails, or wiggle under huge redwoods. We also repaired the tread in the first half of the trail. Huge thank you to the volunteers!
The Jackson Camp Trail from Pico Blanco Camp to Jackson Camp still has trees down and some tread issues. But the trees are easy to get over and there is flagging where necessary to show the route. Poison oak encroaches in the section between the two creek crossings just before you reach Jackson Camp. We didn't go beyond Jackson Camp.
And why the heck is Palo Colorado Road still closed after 8 years? It has some slip outs. But it is perfectly driveable. Monterey County Roads? When there was a fire on Skinner Ridge, fire trucks and a bulldozer were able to get there. The ever-expanding road and trail closures make it very difficult for the public to access our public lands.
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redshift83
Re: Jackson Camp Trail
Date Hiked: June 18, 2023
General Condition: Difficult (brushy and/or many deadfalls, faint tread)
Well flagged, but one of the "detours" is "legit". bear hug a very large dead fall with not enough purchase to be certain you wont fly. would be very with 50l pack. after the crux, easier, but the going was super slow. plenty of encumberance, but not as bad as the bad trails. took me 2 hours to get to jackson and had to give up due to time. given it takes ~8 miles just to reach the start of the jackson trail, it seems like an impossible marathon to get to the circular pools right now.
As an aside, whats the deal on palo colorado? the road is clearly passable -- you see people driving on it. seems like usfs is prioritizing private property owners over usage of the trail system. did a bit of skiner ridge, but it was not remotely pleasant.... hard to get the drive to go back when you start with 4 miles of suck.
General Condition: Difficult (brushy and/or many deadfalls, faint tread)
Well flagged, but one of the "detours" is "legit". bear hug a very large dead fall with not enough purchase to be certain you wont fly. would be very with 50l pack. after the crux, easier, but the going was super slow. plenty of encumberance, but not as bad as the bad trails. took me 2 hours to get to jackson and had to give up due to time. given it takes ~8 miles just to reach the start of the jackson trail, it seems like an impossible marathon to get to the circular pools right now.
As an aside, whats the deal on palo colorado? the road is clearly passable -- you see people driving on it. seems like usfs is prioritizing private property owners over usage of the trail system. did a bit of skiner ridge, but it was not remotely pleasant.... hard to get the drive to go back when you start with 4 miles of suck.
Re: Jackson Camp Trail
Date Hiked: July 9, 2022
General Condition: Passable (some brush and/or deadfalls, tread evident)
The trail from the scout camp to Jackson Camp is passable in that there is little brush encroachment and the it's pretty clear where to follow. The whole route is flagged, thank you very much to whomever did this and also worked on the trail. This being said, the trail has been re-routed in half a dozen spots to avoid deadfalls, and some of the re-routes are steep and improvised. It was still much better then I expected. Fish camp is sort of a mess because of fallen trees. Jackson camp is in good condition, as is Fox Camp. the flagging past Jackson camp is evident, but you have to be observant.
General Condition: Passable (some brush and/or deadfalls, tread evident)
The trail from the scout camp to Jackson Camp is passable in that there is little brush encroachment and the it's pretty clear where to follow. The whole route is flagged, thank you very much to whomever did this and also worked on the trail. This being said, the trail has been re-routed in half a dozen spots to avoid deadfalls, and some of the re-routes are steep and improvised. It was still much better then I expected. Fish camp is sort of a mess because of fallen trees. Jackson camp is in good condition, as is Fox Camp. the flagging past Jackson camp is evident, but you have to be observant.
Re: Jackson Camp Trail
Date Hiked: April 18, 2020
General Condition: Difficult (brushy and/or many deadfalls, faint tread)
Hiked in to Fox Camp from the hoist.
From the Boy Scout Camp to Fish Camp: Trail is not evident in many places. Serveral downed trees that would need to be cross-cut. Fish camp has a large downed tree close to the fire pit and is slightly overgrown but the camp is very much usable. The firepit would either need to be moved or some cross-cutting would need to be done due to the downed redwood.
Fish Camp to Jackson Camp: A few creek crossings to get to the camp. Camp overall is in great shape.
Jackson Camp to Fox Camp: Several points where you need to cross the river, sections should be reflagged as we only saw maybe 3 or 4. Fox camp is in great condition and definitely worth the effort in my opinion.
River crossings were mostly shin to knee high with one or two coming up to my mid-thigh. I'm approximately 5'7 tall.
Ticks, Oak, and blackberry vines were abundant all along the trial, mostly in the sections requiring creek crossings.
General Condition: Difficult (brushy and/or many deadfalls, faint tread)
Hiked in to Fox Camp from the hoist.
From the Boy Scout Camp to Fish Camp: Trail is not evident in many places. Serveral downed trees that would need to be cross-cut. Fish camp has a large downed tree close to the fire pit and is slightly overgrown but the camp is very much usable. The firepit would either need to be moved or some cross-cutting would need to be done due to the downed redwood.
Fish Camp to Jackson Camp: A few creek crossings to get to the camp. Camp overall is in great shape.
Jackson Camp to Fox Camp: Several points where you need to cross the river, sections should be reflagged as we only saw maybe 3 or 4. Fox camp is in great condition and definitely worth the effort in my opinion.
River crossings were mostly shin to knee high with one or two coming up to my mid-thigh. I'm approximately 5'7 tall.
Ticks, Oak, and blackberry vines were abundant all along the trial, mostly in the sections requiring creek crossings.
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seagoat1724
- Posts: 28
- Joined: Sun May 26, 2019 3:39 pm
Re: Jackson Camp Trail
Date Hiked: December 2, 2018
General Condition: Difficult (brushy and/or many deadfalls, faint tread)
Editor's Note: this report describes conditions from October, 2018.
Between Little Sur Trail and Jackson Camp
Trail is difficult. Large redwood falls across trail make passage more than difficult as you have to climb over many over 5 feet in diameter. Tread is followable and evident until actual camp.
Between Jackson Camp to Fox Camp
Trail follows along creek to camps. Creek crossing many, higher water makes most crossing wet. Evident routes wherever land is flat. Trail is occasion ally present. Birds with parrot like call heard.
Between Fox Camp and Little Sur Trail
Trail a bit challenging to stay on towards top of the ridge although visible from the next ridge over going over towards grassy meadows towards Pico Blanco.
General Condition: Difficult (brushy and/or many deadfalls, faint tread)
Editor's Note: this report describes conditions from October, 2018.
Between Little Sur Trail and Jackson Camp
Trail is difficult. Large redwood falls across trail make passage more than difficult as you have to climb over many over 5 feet in diameter. Tread is followable and evident until actual camp.
Between Jackson Camp to Fox Camp
Trail follows along creek to camps. Creek crossing many, higher water makes most crossing wet. Evident routes wherever land is flat. Trail is occasion ally present. Birds with parrot like call heard.
Between Fox Camp and Little Sur Trail
Trail a bit challenging to stay on towards top of the ridge although visible from the next ridge over going over towards grassy meadows towards Pico Blanco.
Re: Jackson Camp Trail
Date Hiked: July 3, 2016
General Condition: Passable (some brush and/or deadfalls, tread evident)
Tread was always easy to find from boy scout camp to Jackson Camp. There were a couple deadfalls and streams on the way to Fish. I think all the deadfalls had footholds carved in, but one consists of two trunks and is a little tricky to pass due to erosion between the two trunks (especially with a pack on.) All the streams had little log jam bridges that were fairly stable. A couple parts of the trail are a bit narrow or very steep, but nothing unmanageable. Fish camp was in great shape. The two river crossings between Fish and Jackson were very tricky if you weren't willing to remove shoes or get feet wet. We spent the night at the bigger site at Jackson, the smaller one is looking a little overgrown, but still ok. Continued up use trail to Fox, there was some flagging at river crossings, but hard to find (we only noticed one flag on the way in, though saw several on the way back.) Easy to lose tread in section between Jackson and Fox, seems like people have bushwhacked trails on both sides of the river in some areas. We were able to relocate the tread each time we lost it, but required a bit of searching.
General Condition: Passable (some brush and/or deadfalls, tread evident)
Tread was always easy to find from boy scout camp to Jackson Camp. There were a couple deadfalls and streams on the way to Fish. I think all the deadfalls had footholds carved in, but one consists of two trunks and is a little tricky to pass due to erosion between the two trunks (especially with a pack on.) All the streams had little log jam bridges that were fairly stable. A couple parts of the trail are a bit narrow or very steep, but nothing unmanageable. Fish camp was in great shape. The two river crossings between Fish and Jackson were very tricky if you weren't willing to remove shoes or get feet wet. We spent the night at the bigger site at Jackson, the smaller one is looking a little overgrown, but still ok. Continued up use trail to Fox, there was some flagging at river crossings, but hard to find (we only noticed one flag on the way in, though saw several on the way back.) Easy to lose tread in section between Jackson and Fox, seems like people have bushwhacked trails on both sides of the river in some areas. We were able to relocate the tread each time we lost it, but required a bit of searching.
Re: Jackson Camp Trail
Date Hiked: February 27, 2016
General Condition: Passable (some brush and/or deadfalls, tread evident)
Ran from the Scout Camp to Fish Camp. Tread is in good condition. Things are much as pantilat reported previously. Nothing too major; never had to crawl or climb over anything. The one big log has a foothold chopped in in. A runthrough with loppers and a saw would make this trail more or less clear. Fish Camp was in great shape.
General Condition: Passable (some brush and/or deadfalls, tread evident)
Ran from the Scout Camp to Fish Camp. Tread is in good condition. Things are much as pantilat reported previously. Nothing too major; never had to crawl or climb over anything. The one big log has a foothold chopped in in. A runthrough with loppers and a saw would make this trail more or less clear. Fish Camp was in great shape.
Re: Jackson Camp Trail
Date Hiked: February 16, 2015
General Condition: Passable (some brush and/or deadfalls, tread evident)
There are a couple new blowdowns across the trail, one is a tanbark near the beginning and the other is at the spot where the prior posters mentioned the large redwood down near the creaklet. It appears more redwoods have fallen at this spot. Unfortunately, the crown of the recent blowdown fell right over the trail (and reroute?) so it is messy. Other than that, the trail is in fine condition. Beyond Fish Camp to Jackson Camp there are two river crossings and the way is clear. Continuing upstream to Fox Usecamp there are a few new blowdowns but still no real difficulties.
General Condition: Passable (some brush and/or deadfalls, tread evident)
There are a couple new blowdowns across the trail, one is a tanbark near the beginning and the other is at the spot where the prior posters mentioned the large redwood down near the creaklet. It appears more redwoods have fallen at this spot. Unfortunately, the crown of the recent blowdown fell right over the trail (and reroute?) so it is messy. Other than that, the trail is in fine condition. Beyond Fish Camp to Jackson Camp there are two river crossings and the way is clear. Continuing upstream to Fox Usecamp there are a few new blowdowns but still no real difficulties.
