Date Hiked: July 25, 2026
General Condition: Wilderness Freeway (Heavily used and/or well maintained)
Hiked SLT from the gorge parking lot. The first 2 miles (before the road to the Adobe) are clear, with the last 1/2 INCREDIBLY clear. Picking up the trail again past the adobe, there is very little water in the creek here. The trail is in truly amazingly well maintained condition. Hiking in the creek was easy as the water level is extremely low. But there are still several pools to pump water and a marvelous big pool to cool off in close to Culvert Camp (which is a nice flat place to camp). Continued SLT and past the Connector trail (which is also in mint condition), all the way to Last Chance. The 'ropes' section is very much improved. A good amount of water in this fork of the creek. A huge thanks to the trail crew that is restoring this near lost trail.
Santa Lucia Trail
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tierrabonitascout
Re: Santa Lucia Trail
Date Hiked: July 25, 2026
General Condition: Clear (no obstacles and tread well defined)
I chose 'Clear' because I didn't see that it is heavily used, but it is DEFINITELY WELL MAINTAINED. If more people hike it the trail will start to self-maintain somewhat, at least until the next early spring. I hiked Santa Lucia from the gorge parking lot to Last Chance Camp. The trail is in the best, cleanest shape I have ever seen it. Where the trail is in the creek, hiking is super easy now that the water is down. There are many portions of the trail on the bank now and some nice flat places to camp. There is a fantastic swimming hole not far from Culvert use camp. Someone is truly dedicating an incredible amount of effort in maintaining this trail. Get out and enjoy it!
General Condition: Clear (no obstacles and tread well defined)
I chose 'Clear' because I didn't see that it is heavily used, but it is DEFINITELY WELL MAINTAINED. If more people hike it the trail will start to self-maintain somewhat, at least until the next early spring. I hiked Santa Lucia from the gorge parking lot to Last Chance Camp. The trail is in the best, cleanest shape I have ever seen it. Where the trail is in the creek, hiking is super easy now that the water is down. There are many portions of the trail on the bank now and some nice flat places to camp. There is a fantastic swimming hole not far from Culvert use camp. Someone is truly dedicating an incredible amount of effort in maintaining this trail. Get out and enjoy it!
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Doug Major
Re: Santa Lucia Connector
Date Hiked: April 11, 2026
General Condition: Wilderness Freeway (Heavily used and/or well maintained
The Indians Road is in great shape out to the old, now‑broken horse bridge/Marble Peak Trail junction. After a short singletrack detour around a landslide, you begin to hit deer grass intrusion. Over the next three‑plus miles to the connector trailhead, expect roughly a full mile of push‑through up to your thighs; plan on being soaked if there has been any rain or dew. The views as you climb out of the gorge are still fantastic. The larger blowdowns have been cleared, except for one “blowdown arch” that is easily negotiated. The rockslide into the road is also passable along the outer edge of the steep sidehill that characterizes much of this ascent. After peeking into the Santa Lucia drainage at the second saddle, you reach the trailhead.
The connector from Indians Road to Last Chance Camp is in remarkable shape. There are obvious caches of trail tools that show the work is ongoing. The whole section has been brushed back to roughly six feet wide, and about a third of a mile of new tread has been cut on this 1.5‑mile stretch to Last Chance Camp. It is a stunning transformation compared to my first post‑Dolan‑Fire visit in 2020, when some sections were deeply burned, and the tread was literally filled with ash sliding off the steep slope and treebone skeletons. The ground is still black in places, but the trail itself is now the best I’ve seen it as a “clipper” since 2020. I did some minor trimming of new leaners and poison oak, mostly so I could pretend I was being helpful.
A few trail tips: water was still flowing from the upper “water fountain” mini‑falls, and the route is very clear down to the junction where you leave the main river‑bottom trail. That stretch down to the river is also in great shape, with good flow and multiple crossings—expect some wading along the main trail. The exposed “cliff” section has a secure rope that makes the 8‑foot tip‑toe traverse feel manageable. The large blowdown that once blocked the next drainage has been transformed into a series of logs that now resemble a crude but very functional bridge. The last active drainage has also been cleared back to the original trail alignment higher on the creek bank. There, you do a mild ascent through a rock garden, then drop into the open, grassy flat of Last Chance Camp.
From the grassy flat, head up‑canyon through a band of trees and “chair‑size” boulders that make perfect rest spots. In the tall grass, you’ll find patches of owl’s clover and both sky and harlequin lupine in bloom. As you leave the grass, with a few small blowdowns to step over, look to the right (away from the river) for the continuation of the trail, which now follows the river on slightly higher ground. Enter another flowing drainage and pass another rock garden down toward the southern branch of Santa Lucia Creek, which you cross here. As the tread gradually pulls away from the river, go about 100 feet past a small drainage and a distinctive rock‑cross cairn, then angle more directly uphill to find a switchback that climbs the slope. In the next grassy area, you’ll be tempted to keep going low, but this is another spot where you need to turn uphill; soon you’ll pick up the tread again as it contours above the river. The trail continues going up the slope, going on to Bluff and Ant camp, and ultimately to the Indians.
Some pointers on the waterfall itself. The small side drainage that forms Last Chance Falls is highly variable and can dry up in summer, according to some reports. On this day, the main river gauge was at about 85 cubic feet per second, and after overnight rain, it reportedly jumped to over 1,000. That gives a sense of what’s “not enough” versus “too much” water for safely traveling the river portion of the route. A practical rule of thumb: if water is clearly flowing at the Indians Road bridge over lower Santa Lucia Creek, or at the California crossing above the adobe, you are likely to have a very nice waterfall, but may also face stronger currents and deeper wades.
There is no single, straightforward trail to the base of Last Chance Falls; some bushwhacking is required, and the falls are tucked around a bend in the canyon. One option: from the main trail, when you reach a flowing side drainage near a prominent large rock, backtrack a short distance to a clearer break in the slope where you can drop down past a large burned‑out tree/camp area and cross the side drainage about 30 feet above its junction with the main river. From there, follow the north bank of Santa Lucia Creek until the brush thickens, then cross to the south side as you begin to hear the falls. Continue upstream, then cross again to the north bank, go around a large square boulder, and drop into the misty amphitheater below the falls. A short scramble up into the cavern behind the falls is absolutely worth it to feel and see this hidden space behind the water.
For a loop option back to camp, note that just downstream of the large square rock, a faint use path climbs steeply out of the canyon. There is only a light footprint tread, but the “staircase” ascent is consistent and eventually deposits you at the end of a switchback higher above the river. From there, a followable use trail leads you back down to Last Chance Camp with excellent views of the falls along the way.
Here is the route I recorded on AllTrails:
https://www.alltrails.com/explore/recor ... ls-5fd7fa0
Be safe out there, and huge thanks to everyone who has cleared and maintained these remarkable trails so we can keep making these pilgrimages to Last Chance Falls
General Condition: Wilderness Freeway (Heavily used and/or well maintained
The Indians Road is in great shape out to the old, now‑broken horse bridge/Marble Peak Trail junction. After a short singletrack detour around a landslide, you begin to hit deer grass intrusion. Over the next three‑plus miles to the connector trailhead, expect roughly a full mile of push‑through up to your thighs; plan on being soaked if there has been any rain or dew. The views as you climb out of the gorge are still fantastic. The larger blowdowns have been cleared, except for one “blowdown arch” that is easily negotiated. The rockslide into the road is also passable along the outer edge of the steep sidehill that characterizes much of this ascent. After peeking into the Santa Lucia drainage at the second saddle, you reach the trailhead.
The connector from Indians Road to Last Chance Camp is in remarkable shape. There are obvious caches of trail tools that show the work is ongoing. The whole section has been brushed back to roughly six feet wide, and about a third of a mile of new tread has been cut on this 1.5‑mile stretch to Last Chance Camp. It is a stunning transformation compared to my first post‑Dolan‑Fire visit in 2020, when some sections were deeply burned, and the tread was literally filled with ash sliding off the steep slope and treebone skeletons. The ground is still black in places, but the trail itself is now the best I’ve seen it as a “clipper” since 2020. I did some minor trimming of new leaners and poison oak, mostly so I could pretend I was being helpful.
A few trail tips: water was still flowing from the upper “water fountain” mini‑falls, and the route is very clear down to the junction where you leave the main river‑bottom trail. That stretch down to the river is also in great shape, with good flow and multiple crossings—expect some wading along the main trail. The exposed “cliff” section has a secure rope that makes the 8‑foot tip‑toe traverse feel manageable. The large blowdown that once blocked the next drainage has been transformed into a series of logs that now resemble a crude but very functional bridge. The last active drainage has also been cleared back to the original trail alignment higher on the creek bank. There, you do a mild ascent through a rock garden, then drop into the open, grassy flat of Last Chance Camp.
From the grassy flat, head up‑canyon through a band of trees and “chair‑size” boulders that make perfect rest spots. In the tall grass, you’ll find patches of owl’s clover and both sky and harlequin lupine in bloom. As you leave the grass, with a few small blowdowns to step over, look to the right (away from the river) for the continuation of the trail, which now follows the river on slightly higher ground. Enter another flowing drainage and pass another rock garden down toward the southern branch of Santa Lucia Creek, which you cross here. As the tread gradually pulls away from the river, go about 100 feet past a small drainage and a distinctive rock‑cross cairn, then angle more directly uphill to find a switchback that climbs the slope. In the next grassy area, you’ll be tempted to keep going low, but this is another spot where you need to turn uphill; soon you’ll pick up the tread again as it contours above the river. The trail continues going up the slope, going on to Bluff and Ant camp, and ultimately to the Indians.
Some pointers on the waterfall itself. The small side drainage that forms Last Chance Falls is highly variable and can dry up in summer, according to some reports. On this day, the main river gauge was at about 85 cubic feet per second, and after overnight rain, it reportedly jumped to over 1,000. That gives a sense of what’s “not enough” versus “too much” water for safely traveling the river portion of the route. A practical rule of thumb: if water is clearly flowing at the Indians Road bridge over lower Santa Lucia Creek, or at the California crossing above the adobe, you are likely to have a very nice waterfall, but may also face stronger currents and deeper wades.
There is no single, straightforward trail to the base of Last Chance Falls; some bushwhacking is required, and the falls are tucked around a bend in the canyon. One option: from the main trail, when you reach a flowing side drainage near a prominent large rock, backtrack a short distance to a clearer break in the slope where you can drop down past a large burned‑out tree/camp area and cross the side drainage about 30 feet above its junction with the main river. From there, follow the north bank of Santa Lucia Creek until the brush thickens, then cross to the south side as you begin to hear the falls. Continue upstream, then cross again to the north bank, go around a large square boulder, and drop into the misty amphitheater below the falls. A short scramble up into the cavern behind the falls is absolutely worth it to feel and see this hidden space behind the water.
For a loop option back to camp, note that just downstream of the large square rock, a faint use path climbs steeply out of the canyon. There is only a light footprint tread, but the “staircase” ascent is consistent and eventually deposits you at the end of a switchback higher above the river. From there, a followable use trail leads you back down to Last Chance Camp with excellent views of the falls along the way.
Here is the route I recorded on AllTrails:
https://www.alltrails.com/explore/recor ... ls-5fd7fa0
Be safe out there, and huge thanks to everyone who has cleared and maintained these remarkable trails so we can keep making these pilgrimages to Last Chance Falls
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Michael H
Re: Santa Lucia Trail
Date Hiked: March 7, 2026
General Condition: Difficult (brushy and/or many deadfalls, faint tread)
I hiked this trail south from the connector to Memorial Park. From the intersection to Bluff camp the trail is in decent shape with some encroaching brush and fallen burnt limbs in the hillsides north of Bluff camp. I do have to say that the rope situation at the slide is a bit scary because one of the ropes is tied to a limb that looks like its breaking. I should have fixed it.
South of Bluff camp the trail is much more faint as it follows santa lucia creek and then heads uphill through meadows. There is a faint trail with cairns and I did a bit of brushing to try to make it more visible. Though once the trail follows the hillside to the east of santa lucia creek it's much easier to follow. However there is encroaching brush and many burnt fallen limbs. I did more brushing in this area. Once you get to the saddle at 36.16583, -121.45881 the trail becomes nearly impassible with huge mature unburnt brush covering the entire jeep track. Someone has cut a bit of a tunnel through the brush but it was a bad time and with the sun having set I didn't have time to do any work. Eventually after struggling through this area for a while I came close enough to eagle creek that I slid down the hillside and walked through the flat open valley bottom to where my GPS said Ant camp was. I didn't find a fire ring but there was a huge oak tree and lots of flat ground. I did pass a use camp to the north of ant camp that had a 5 foot wide ring of rocks but it was getting dark so I didn't look more closely. That valley is quite beautiful.
The next day I headed south from Ant camp following the extremely faint but not very difficult official trail. Poison oak is everywhere though. The valley floor was easy to hike but the switchback up the east side is a jumble of animal tracks. Though once you get to the brush you'll see the 'hallway' that someone has cut through the brush. I was surprised and very grateful about how much brush work has been done. It seems like more work has been done since the last trail reports because a massive amount of brush work has been done in the 'red' area of this trail. The trail was still tight in spots with some overhanging brush that I worked on trimming but was mostly easy to follow all the way to the saddle at 36.15085, -121.44463. South of the saddle is where the slide area begins. I had a pretty time following any track though I did find a cairn and a flag. I slide down and climbed up trying to find a way across the steep slope and many slides. Eventually I was swimming through dense brush and seeing that I was uphill of the trail on my gps I slid down and found the trail which was clear as day. From here the trail was brushy but easy to follow all the way to santa lucia peak trail. Though the trail south of Roosevelt creek had a very steep tread that was hard to hike on.
From Santa Lucia Peak trail to Memorial park the trail is in great shape with a crew actively working on it. IMO the 'red' areas are the overgrown jeep track north of Ant camp and the slide area north of Roosevelt creek. Once again a big thanks to whoever did all that brushing south of Ant camp.
General Condition: Difficult (brushy and/or many deadfalls, faint tread)
I hiked this trail south from the connector to Memorial Park. From the intersection to Bluff camp the trail is in decent shape with some encroaching brush and fallen burnt limbs in the hillsides north of Bluff camp. I do have to say that the rope situation at the slide is a bit scary because one of the ropes is tied to a limb that looks like its breaking. I should have fixed it.
South of Bluff camp the trail is much more faint as it follows santa lucia creek and then heads uphill through meadows. There is a faint trail with cairns and I did a bit of brushing to try to make it more visible. Though once the trail follows the hillside to the east of santa lucia creek it's much easier to follow. However there is encroaching brush and many burnt fallen limbs. I did more brushing in this area. Once you get to the saddle at 36.16583, -121.45881 the trail becomes nearly impassible with huge mature unburnt brush covering the entire jeep track. Someone has cut a bit of a tunnel through the brush but it was a bad time and with the sun having set I didn't have time to do any work. Eventually after struggling through this area for a while I came close enough to eagle creek that I slid down the hillside and walked through the flat open valley bottom to where my GPS said Ant camp was. I didn't find a fire ring but there was a huge oak tree and lots of flat ground. I did pass a use camp to the north of ant camp that had a 5 foot wide ring of rocks but it was getting dark so I didn't look more closely. That valley is quite beautiful.
The next day I headed south from Ant camp following the extremely faint but not very difficult official trail. Poison oak is everywhere though. The valley floor was easy to hike but the switchback up the east side is a jumble of animal tracks. Though once you get to the brush you'll see the 'hallway' that someone has cut through the brush. I was surprised and very grateful about how much brush work has been done. It seems like more work has been done since the last trail reports because a massive amount of brush work has been done in the 'red' area of this trail. The trail was still tight in spots with some overhanging brush that I worked on trimming but was mostly easy to follow all the way to the saddle at 36.15085, -121.44463. South of the saddle is where the slide area begins. I had a pretty time following any track though I did find a cairn and a flag. I slide down and climbed up trying to find a way across the steep slope and many slides. Eventually I was swimming through dense brush and seeing that I was uphill of the trail on my gps I slid down and found the trail which was clear as day. From here the trail was brushy but easy to follow all the way to santa lucia peak trail. Though the trail south of Roosevelt creek had a very steep tread that was hard to hike on.
From Santa Lucia Peak trail to Memorial park the trail is in great shape with a crew actively working on it. IMO the 'red' areas are the overgrown jeep track north of Ant camp and the slide area north of Roosevelt creek. Once again a big thanks to whoever did all that brushing south of Ant camp.
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tierrabonitascout
Re: Santa Lucia Trail
Date Hiked: April 28, 2025
General Condition: Passable (some brush and/or deadfalls, tread evident)
Hiked from Santa Lucia Memorial Park and had hoped for better trail conditions. At less than 2 miles in, the brush is thick and obscures the trail in many places. This section is deemed a 'wilderness freeway' but with the brush SO very close it makes it challenging to see if any rattlers are hiding in the deer weed or the bush lupine. We did see a California King snake but luckily no rattlesnakes. Where is the VWA working on this trail? I did not see any evidence of maintenance.
Ed(jg): from the most recent VWA trailcrew report [Apr.4-6]: "Four volunteers worked on the Santa Lucia Trail starting at Memorial Park. We cleared tree obstacles between the Trailhead at Memorial Park and the use camp at 3.2 miles. Then we focused on the switchbacks which start there, and end at the junction with the spur trail leading to the summit. We brushed 670 yards, maintained 470 yards of tread, and reconstructed 300 yards of tread on the Santa Lucia Trail. We cleared 3 trees from the trail. We cleared brush and small branches from the 100-yard trail leading to the 'last water'." So the focus of that work, and possibly all of it, was beyond the 2 miles you hiked. The VWA gives no status for this trail, only shows status posted by Trail Reports such as yours. Likely you are referring to Big Sur Trailmap, a personal website not from VWA, but mis-interpreting it - it's current "green" for that section represents "Clear to Wilderness Freeway" where "Clear" is "No obstacles and tread well defined". Likely I, its creator, will now downgrade that based upon your report to be "yellow" = "Passable to Clear"
General Condition: Passable (some brush and/or deadfalls, tread evident)
Hiked from Santa Lucia Memorial Park and had hoped for better trail conditions. At less than 2 miles in, the brush is thick and obscures the trail in many places. This section is deemed a 'wilderness freeway' but with the brush SO very close it makes it challenging to see if any rattlers are hiding in the deer weed or the bush lupine. We did see a California King snake but luckily no rattlesnakes. Where is the VWA working on this trail? I did not see any evidence of maintenance.
Ed(jg): from the most recent VWA trailcrew report [Apr.4-6]: "Four volunteers worked on the Santa Lucia Trail starting at Memorial Park. We cleared tree obstacles between the Trailhead at Memorial Park and the use camp at 3.2 miles. Then we focused on the switchbacks which start there, and end at the junction with the spur trail leading to the summit. We brushed 670 yards, maintained 470 yards of tread, and reconstructed 300 yards of tread on the Santa Lucia Trail. We cleared 3 trees from the trail. We cleared brush and small branches from the 100-yard trail leading to the 'last water'." So the focus of that work, and possibly all of it, was beyond the 2 miles you hiked. The VWA gives no status for this trail, only shows status posted by Trail Reports such as yours. Likely you are referring to Big Sur Trailmap, a personal website not from VWA, but mis-interpreting it - it's current "green" for that section represents "Clear to Wilderness Freeway" where "Clear" is "No obstacles and tread well defined". Likely I, its creator, will now downgrade that based upon your report to be "yellow" = "Passable to Clear"
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Michael H
Re: Santa Lucia Trail
Date Hiked: February 24, 2025
General Condition: Passable (some brush and/or deadfalls, tread evident)
Starting from the Lucia Adobe I hiked to about a mile south of Ant camp. For the most part the trail was easy to hike all the way to where the trail starts to cross Santa Lucia creek multiple times. There has been extensive clearing with a few gaps cluttered with cut down trees and blow downs. The tread work in this area is great though I wonder if cutting down mature oaks and manzanita off to the sides of the trail would cause more rapid brush growth in the future. The trail is not very apparent as it crosses and recrosses santa lucia creek. South of the santa lucia creek crossings the trail is pretty to easy to hike all the way to Last chance camp minus the slide and a few blow downs. (thanks a bunch for the rope up over the slide) Last chance camp is quite beautiful but there isn't much evidence of use. After last chance the trail becomes more faint but is still pretty easy to follow to where it crosses the south fork of the santa lucia. South of this it enters the burn zone and becomes much more faint with brush encroaching and soft slopping tread. I began brushing in this section and there is much evidence of the brush work of other people and a bit new tread work. The trail to last chance falls is overgrown and super steep. The oaks around bluff camp are starting to regenerate though there still isn't much shade there right now. The fire ring was scattered around too. South of bluff camp the trail gets a bit more faint and has some threading with side trails being about as apparent as the main trail though there are tons of cairns and some flagging. The brush wasn't as thick as I was expecting but I still did some brush work to within a mile or so of Ant camp. Then it began to get dark so I had to turn back to Bluff camp. I only saw one other person those few days but he immediately began to rant about the VWA being corrupt liars or something so I had to be on my way. About the last thing I want to do out there is hear about someone's personal vendettas.
General Condition: Passable (some brush and/or deadfalls, tread evident)
Starting from the Lucia Adobe I hiked to about a mile south of Ant camp. For the most part the trail was easy to hike all the way to where the trail starts to cross Santa Lucia creek multiple times. There has been extensive clearing with a few gaps cluttered with cut down trees and blow downs. The tread work in this area is great though I wonder if cutting down mature oaks and manzanita off to the sides of the trail would cause more rapid brush growth in the future. The trail is not very apparent as it crosses and recrosses santa lucia creek. South of the santa lucia creek crossings the trail is pretty to easy to hike all the way to Last chance camp minus the slide and a few blow downs. (thanks a bunch for the rope up over the slide) Last chance camp is quite beautiful but there isn't much evidence of use. After last chance the trail becomes more faint but is still pretty easy to follow to where it crosses the south fork of the santa lucia. South of this it enters the burn zone and becomes much more faint with brush encroaching and soft slopping tread. I began brushing in this section and there is much evidence of the brush work of other people and a bit new tread work. The trail to last chance falls is overgrown and super steep. The oaks around bluff camp are starting to regenerate though there still isn't much shade there right now. The fire ring was scattered around too. South of bluff camp the trail gets a bit more faint and has some threading with side trails being about as apparent as the main trail though there are tons of cairns and some flagging. The brush wasn't as thick as I was expecting but I still did some brush work to within a mile or so of Ant camp. Then it began to get dark so I had to turn back to Bluff camp. I only saw one other person those few days but he immediately began to rant about the VWA being corrupt liars or something so I had to be on my way. About the last thing I want to do out there is hear about someone's personal vendettas.
Re: Santa Lucia Trail
Date Hiked: February 17, 2025
General Condition: Clear (no obstacles and tread well defined)
Hiked from Santa Lucia connector to Last Chance Falls. Great work on the trail! Trail was very recently cleared and passable. Still got difficult once you cross the creek after Last Chance camp but major improvement.
General Condition: Clear (no obstacles and tread well defined)
Hiked from Santa Lucia connector to Last Chance Falls. Great work on the trail! Trail was very recently cleared and passable. Still got difficult once you cross the creek after Last Chance camp but major improvement.
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Tierrabonita
- Posts: 1
- Joined: Wed Feb 07, 2018 11:57 pm
Re: Santa Lucia Trail
Date Hiked: January 1, 2025
General Condition: Wilderness Freeway (Heavily used and/or well maintained)
From the Adobe to the creek crossing 3.5-4 miles traveling southward the trail is in very near pristine condition. Big Sur Recreation Crew has restored this section to 'wilderness freeway' conditions by any measure. One oak tree is growing on the trail...but that's what happens when trails are not maintained for decades. This is an absolutely gorgeous area and I look forward to a thru hike to the Memorial Park someday, via the Santa Lucia trail. Thank you Big Sur Rec Crew for your hard work and determination!
Ed.(jg): FYI the USFS has contracted, using Dolan/Willow wildfire relief money, weeklong trailcrew outings to work on the Santa Lucia Trail northward from its southern trailhead in Spring and Fall of 2026 and southward from the Connector Trail in Spring 2027.
General Condition: Wilderness Freeway (Heavily used and/or well maintained)
From the Adobe to the creek crossing 3.5-4 miles traveling southward the trail is in very near pristine condition. Big Sur Recreation Crew has restored this section to 'wilderness freeway' conditions by any measure. One oak tree is growing on the trail...but that's what happens when trails are not maintained for decades. This is an absolutely gorgeous area and I look forward to a thru hike to the Memorial Park someday, via the Santa Lucia trail. Thank you Big Sur Rec Crew for your hard work and determination!
Ed.(jg): FYI the USFS has contracted, using Dolan/Willow wildfire relief money, weeklong trailcrew outings to work on the Santa Lucia Trail northward from its southern trailhead in Spring and Fall of 2026 and southward from the Connector Trail in Spring 2027.
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Big Sur Rec Crew
Re: Santa Lucia Trail
Date Hiked: November 26, 2024
General Condition: Passable (some brush and/or deadfalls, tread evident)
After working on the Santa Lucia trail at the request of residents,landowners and locals. We are proud to say that the trail from parking lot at gorge to adobe is clear,from adobe to the first switch back there is one tree that feel on the cliffside over looking the smaller waterfall pool. Other than that it’s EXTREMELY passable. No more ducking at all,at least half the trails tread has been reworked(the farther you go,the better it will get) at saddle we cleared up to the saddle camp,cleaned up the camp. Continue up the ridge to the junction with the connected trail is pack grade. From that point forward to last chance there are two larger oaks in to Succesive ravines before the slide out. At the slide out we installed ropes and made a work around trail that is now super safe if you use the ropes provided(like little sur) past last chance camp(hands down one of the top three campsites in the backcountry)it’s a meander up the riverside thru a wonderful buckeye thicket. Then crossing the creek once again,now on the east side we cleared trees all the way to the falls,and removed large swaths of deer weed. Some sections back to pack grade. Lots of deer weed to bluff camp,we cleared the camp of lots of the deadfall,removed a rock fire ring that was not supposed to be in a certain area. Restoring cultural integrity to the site. Then we worked up toward the ridge that leads of of the drainage. Ending our work for now. So just to be clear,the trail is easily passable to at least bluff camp at this time.
General Condition: Passable (some brush and/or deadfalls, tread evident)
After working on the Santa Lucia trail at the request of residents,landowners and locals. We are proud to say that the trail from parking lot at gorge to adobe is clear,from adobe to the first switch back there is one tree that feel on the cliffside over looking the smaller waterfall pool. Other than that it’s EXTREMELY passable. No more ducking at all,at least half the trails tread has been reworked(the farther you go,the better it will get) at saddle we cleared up to the saddle camp,cleaned up the camp. Continue up the ridge to the junction with the connected trail is pack grade. From that point forward to last chance there are two larger oaks in to Succesive ravines before the slide out. At the slide out we installed ropes and made a work around trail that is now super safe if you use the ropes provided(like little sur) past last chance camp(hands down one of the top three campsites in the backcountry)it’s a meander up the riverside thru a wonderful buckeye thicket. Then crossing the creek once again,now on the east side we cleared trees all the way to the falls,and removed large swaths of deer weed. Some sections back to pack grade. Lots of deer weed to bluff camp,we cleared the camp of lots of the deadfall,removed a rock fire ring that was not supposed to be in a certain area. Restoring cultural integrity to the site. Then we worked up toward the ridge that leads of of the drainage. Ending our work for now. So just to be clear,the trail is easily passable to at least bluff camp at this time.
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jpdoelman
Re: Santa Lucia Trail
Date Hiked: November 19, 2024
General Condition: Difficult (brushy and/or many deadfalls, faint tread)
This report is for the section of trail beginning at the connector heading south toward Ant Camp (in the eagle creek drainage).
- From the connector to Last Chance camp the trail is in good shape (clear) with the exception of the slide out. I approached the slide out and at 3 ft north of it went straight up then around the slideout. South of the slide out to Last chance camp is passable, the tread is limited.
- From Last chance camp to Bluff camp, Passable? This section of trail is about as good as its been in a long while but following the tread can be challenging without previous knowledge.
- From Bluff camp south toward Ant camp I was stopped by dense brush 1/4 mile north of Ant camp (passable for the majority of this section of trail). My stopping point was about 1/10 mile north of where the "trail" emerges from the brushy overgrown jeep road into the flat, easily-traveled and canopied portion of eagle creek drainage. (the distances are measured using my GPS track and GE pro)
I was fortunate to find water at Bluff camp, it is often dry this time of year.
General Condition: Difficult (brushy and/or many deadfalls, faint tread)
This report is for the section of trail beginning at the connector heading south toward Ant Camp (in the eagle creek drainage).
- From the connector to Last Chance camp the trail is in good shape (clear) with the exception of the slide out. I approached the slide out and at 3 ft north of it went straight up then around the slideout. South of the slide out to Last chance camp is passable, the tread is limited.
- From Last chance camp to Bluff camp, Passable? This section of trail is about as good as its been in a long while but following the tread can be challenging without previous knowledge.
- From Bluff camp south toward Ant camp I was stopped by dense brush 1/4 mile north of Ant camp (passable for the majority of this section of trail). My stopping point was about 1/10 mile north of where the "trail" emerges from the brushy overgrown jeep road into the flat, easily-traveled and canopied portion of eagle creek drainage. (the distances are measured using my GPS track and GE pro)
I was fortunate to find water at Bluff camp, it is often dry this time of year.
