Date Hiked: June 7, 2026
General Condition: Passable (some brush and/or deadfalls, tread evident)
The report is for the trail starting at the bottom of the Prewitt ridge use trail to the intersection with the Prewitt loop trail then along that trail to Stag Camp, then 1/2 mile past Stag.


From hwy 1 at the Prewitt ridge use trail locked gate to the intersection with Prewitt loop trail the condition is "wilderness freeway". This section of trail appears to have been recently maintained by the Pacific Valley Station forest service personell. There is a mowed trail to their area and the maintenance done on this section is extensive including lots of tread work and extensive aggressive trimming of the pampas grass along the trail

Continuing from the intersection for about 1/2 mile the condition is wilderness freeway then switches to Clear through the redwoods and to the spur trail which goes to the ridgeline.

Continuing to Stag Camp the trail has more encroaching brush and poison oak. The trail enters a large sloping meadow and seems to disappears as there is no tread and a lot of tall grass. In the middle of this meadow is the three-horse-trough spring. The spring is hard to miss so just plow through the grass and go to the green patch in the middle of the meadow. The inlet to the highest of the three troughs is a good place for water, it comes clear and cool. Continuing past the spring maintain the same elevation or maybe slightly higher and look for a cairn at the far side of the meadow. Before getting to Stag Camp there is a jumble of large down trees that must be passed below then back up to the trail. In the area between the spring and Stag Camp expect poison oak to be unavoidable.

Past Stag Camp is Difficult/Impassable as tread is missing and dense plugs of brush and fallen trees block the "trail". I made it to 1/2 mile past Stag Camp, expect extreme difficulty if you intend to complete the next section of "trail" to Kelly camp.

Stag Camp
The water source at Stag Camp doesn't look great, it is spread out over a wide rocky area and is very shallow making it difficult to fill a bottle.
It seems like it would run dry or very difficult to collect in late summer.
The tent site is decent, there is a table but there is no fire ring or grill area or any evidence a fire was every had at the camp.

Date Hiked: February 7, 2026
General Condition: Passable (some brush and/or deadfalls, tread evident)

Hiked 2-3 miles up the northern arm of the Prewitt Loop trail, from the old north entrance gate at Highway 1 to roughly 500 feet past the 100-yard spur from the Prewitt Ridge use trail. I attempted to hike to Stag Camp but didn't make it due to poor/hazardous trail conditions.

Segment 1: From Highway 1 old north entrance gate (50 ft from private road) to intersection with Prewitt Ridge use trail: Difficult---Very overgrown most of the way, causing me to lose the trail a few times. Shoulder high poison oak and heavy brush made this a miserable segment to hike. There is a large slipout at a switchback about 50-100 yards before this trail intersects the Prewitt Ridge use trail. I was able to cross it but can't recommend others do so. This slipout, together with what seems to be a VERY inaccurately oriented USFS trail sign 50 feet north of the Highway 1 entrance gate, may help explain why this trail segment has fallen into such disrepair.

Segment 2: From Intersection of Prewitt Loop trail and Prewitt Ridge use trail all the way to the spur connecting the closely parallel Prewitt Ridge and Prewitt Loop trails: Clear to Passable---This part of the trail is in much, much better condition than the lower part just described, aside from the shin-high poison oak encroaching on the trail in spots and two oak deadfalls that required some effort to pass through. Mostly a very pleasant hike on a little-used trail with a couple of nice, shady redwood groves.

Segment 3: From spur connecting the Prewitt Ridge and Prewitt Loop trails to a slipout approximately 500-750 ft further along Prewitt Loop trail: Difficult to impassible---This trail segment becomes much worse immediately past the spur from the Prewitt Ridge use trail. The trail is evident in a few spots but quickly becomes faint to indiscernible. A relatively narrow but steep 40-ft slipout stopped me from proceeding further along the Prewitt Loop trail toward Stag Camp. A shame because the trail seemed to be getting clearer once I reached this grassy slope.

After hiking down the steep ridge trail on the way back, the best route seemed obvious: Hike the Prewitt Ridge use trail from Highway 1 to the intersection of the use trail and the Prewitt Loop trail, then take the Prewitt Loop trail all the way to the spur trail. Take that spur to the Prewitt Ridge use trail, then hike up or down the ridge trail to wherever you want to go.

Date Hiked: February 5, 2026
General Condition: Impassable (completely overgrown or tread obliterated)

I followed the trail from the south to 1 mile past Kelly Camp, that point at 2000ft elevation is flat and has unobstructed views of the ocean and the Prewitt drainage, would make a nice camp site if water was available.
The trail as far as Kelly camp is passable/clear (1 or two trees to go under)
To one mile beyond/north of Kelly camp the trail is passable until the switchback. The switchback is in a grassy area where no tread is visible so it is easy to miss.
After the switchback the tread is often missing and route finding is not obvious. For about 200 ft the trail disappears into deadfall and brush with no apparent use trail around it and very thin evidence of trail before or after. I continued below and around this until the tread appeared again so maybe there is evidence of "trail" bypassing that now.

GPS, gloves and a strong will to proceed against difficult conditions would seem to be required to follow this trail beyond where my hike terminated 1 trail mile north of Kelly camp.

The good news is that only 2 miles separate the endpoint of my hike and Stag camp and water is 1/2 way between.
The bad news is that that 2 miles to Stag appears be extremely difficult traveling

Date Hiked: January 21, 2026
General Condition: Passable (some brush and/or deadfalls, tread evident)

I took the last few miles of the North section of trail in a downhill direction from the Prewitt ridge trail to the highway. This section of trail was looking very nice last winter after some productive trailwork days. However, just after the junction of the use trail from Prewitt ridge, there are a few new large trees down which require some considerable effort to get over and will require a chain saw.
It even appeared that the cattle gate had been knocked down or been removed but I didn’t stop to inspect. The trail had copious amounts of poison oak and growth and had a mid/late spring feel to it; very different from this time last year. The lower section was much better to the area where it reconnects to the Prewitt Ridge trail which I took to the highway.

Date Hiked: October 22, 2025
General Condition: Passable (some brush and/or deadfalls, tread evident)

I camped at Kelly camp and followed the trail north counterclockwise, to past the switchback. The switchback is in an open grassy area and is not locatable without gps so I rate beyond that as difficult.
Plenty of water in the spring near Kelly camp

Date Hiked: March 4, 2025
General Condition: Clear (no obstacles and tread well defined)

Hiked up the Prewitt trail from the North entrance (Prewitt Ridge gate)
Loaded with tools and enthusiasm. Worked the trail in several spots up to the junction of the use trail which accesses the ridge trail. This 2-3 mile stretch of trail is cleaning up quite nicely and travels well. The poison oak is healthy and encroaching on the trail in many spots.
I detoured up to the ridge and worked a few spots that needed some tread work
Then I headed back on the trail towards Stagg Camp. This section of trail was much more raw. The trail was a bit indiscernible across the open brush and a bit of downed branches through the dense oak ravines. It was sunny and the views from up above were spectacular
Being tired, I returned back down the trail to the highway
9 hour day with a lot of successful trail work
8.41 miles
2541 elevation

Date Hiked: December 14, 2024
General Condition: Passable (some brush and/or deadfalls, tread evident)

Hiked S. Prewitt loop trail on a day that was supposed to be stormy but never did rain
Late start from Pacific Valley Station
Hike up the switchbacks was smooth. There is a short section on middle switchbacks that could use some brushing but is very passable
Upper switchbacks and the long traverse into the valley was in very good shape
I last visited this area in 2020 and it was a mess
Trail is now clear and all of the downed trees have been cleared
There is one downed tree that requires a little work but easily climbed around
I was forced to turn around near Kelly camp and am a bit frustrated as I would really like to explore the middle section of trail with hopes to complete the full loop someday

7.75 miles
2100 elevation

Date Hiked: December 13, 2024
General Condition: Clear (no obstacles and tread well defined)

Hiked up Prewitt Ridge which has healed quite nicely from Dolan Fire and subsequent dozer work
I hiked back down N. Prewitt loop trail

Hike up the ridge was brutal but beautiful
The hike back down N. Prewitt loop trail has been worked and is very clear and enjoyable. The trail is still raw with some off camber trail and vegetation that had me tripping and stumbling on a few occasions but likely due to my fatigue

Both the ridge and trail are clear and very enjoyable

5.03 miles
1926 elevation

Date Hiked: November 1, 2022
General Condition: Clear (no obstacles and tread well defined)

Very nice views and easy trail from the south to the top of the switchbacks.

Date Hiked: October 8, 2022
General Condition: Difficult (brushy and/or many deadfalls, faint tread)

Not pleasant at all. Started off ok then degraded into bushwacking, trees fallen on the trail and trail wearing away along ridge sides. After two plus hours reached a blow down that seemed to end many other hikers trip as the trail when later found only became worse. Did not make it to Kelly Camp instead using a rare flat spot for the one night excursion. Poison oak was dormant still had some coming off the trail, no way would I go there with it in bloom.

I suggest you pass on this one until it is repaired.