Date Hiked: July 4, 2026
General Condition: Clear (no obstacles and tread well defined)

I hiked here as part of a loop in the Ventana wilderness, connecting the Big Sur River and Carmel River watersheds. Lime Point (parking) – Church Creek Trail – Pine Ridge Trail – Big Sur Trail – South Fork Trail – Marble Peak Trail – Tony Trail – Tassajara Road – Church Creek Trail – Lime Point

Tony Trail from Marble Peak Trail junction to ridge top: Wilderness Freeway. Sun-exposed and steep, but great tread and fantastic views.
Tony Trail from ridge top to Tassajara monastery: Wilderness Freeway, but two spots stood out as lowering the rating down to passable, if not difficult: First was a downed tree that made it necessary to awkwardly crawl under. Manageable. Second spot was a section where a small slide had taken out a part of the regular trail and a short deviation has been built. That deviation is extremely helpful, however, going downhill, it is also extremely steep, sandy-slippery and there is very little to hold on to. I accidentally kicked off several rocks that kept falling for a very long time. Every step caused mini sand slides that eroded more of the narrow trail. Even with hiking poles I decided that walking was too dangerous so I sat down to slide a few feet on the trail until I could gain some footing again. I am convinced that this very short stretch is impassable when wet and muddy, and it needs to be stabilized. I think the coordinates of that spot are 36.22628, -121.55011. The rest of the trail was good and I arrived at Tassajara where I crossed the creek and continued through the monastery grounds.

Date Hiked: April 18, 2026
General Condition: Wilderness Freeway (Heavily used and/or well maintained)

VWA Trail Crew volunteers devoted three trips this spring to working up the Tony Trail from Willow Creek. Last fall, we worked down from the saddle. On the last trip we connected the two cleared sections, maintained tread on the upper section we had cleared last fall, and also worked down the Tassajara side of the trail. With the exception of a short section above a slide halfway up the Tassajara side, the Tony Trail is a wilderness freeway. It is a pleasure to hike, and this allows hikers to make some great loop hikes with the Marble Peak, South Fork, and Big Sur Trails.

Date Hiked: May 24, 2025
General Condition: Passable (some brush and/or deadfalls, tread evident)

Offtopic - the person who lost their prescription sunglasses on Tony trail, you can email me at khorms 21 at gmail dot edu
Also if I should post this elsewhere instead of this thread please let me know!

The trail is clear north of the pass; south of the pass some parts of the trail eroded and require scrambling, but overall still passable

Date Hiked: April 11, 2025
General Condition: Clear (no obstacles and tread well defined)

See conditions for each section, below.

Scouted the Tony Trail as part of the 10-mile loop hike from Tassajara: Tony, to Marble Peak Trail, to the Horsepasture Trail, to the Cutoff Trail, and back on the Narrows Trail.

VWA volunteers worked on the trail following this scouting trip, and this report includes the work done over the past 2 weeks.

The trail up from Tassajara is CLEAR. At the cliff section we re-routed a short, scary bit, so you aren't hanging off the side of the cliff. There was plenty of poison oak and brush pushing into the trail. We cleared most, but not all, of this.

The trail heading down to Willow Creek is a FREEWAY for a half mile. Then PASSABLE down to Willow Creek. The obstacles consist mostly of deerweed and yerba santa. Nothing is too difficult, but it will become difficult if not addressed.

Date Hiked: August 3, 2024
General Condition: Clear (no obstacles and tread well defined)

Hiked up to the top of the Tony Trail from Tassajara. There was a lot of slough in the trail, especially in the open areas, but nearer to the top where the brush closed in, the slough wasn't so bad. I cleared a few small trees from the trail. Work done by VWA volunteers in April, especially clearing yerba santa at the top, is holding up well. The trail from the top, down to Willow Creek, is reportedly brushy and difficult.

Date Hiked: June 26, 2022
General Condition: Wilderness Freeway (Heavily used and/or well maintained)

Tassajara to Marble Peak Trail - The entire trail is in great condition. Post fire trail restoration on the Willow Creek side has been completed. The trail in the burned area is in better condition than before the fire in recent years.

Attachments show the top switchback heading up from Willow Creek, and trail crew volunteers clearing a slide just beyond that switchback. Which ended up filling in the trail down below, seen on the right side. So then they had to clear the lower leg of the switchback.

Date Hiked: May 22, 2022
General Condition: Wilderness Freeway (Heavily used and well maintained)

The Tony Trail is a Wilderness Freeway EXCEPT for about a half mile on the Willow Creek side of the trail. This remaining half mile is in Passable condition.

Robert Parks has continued work on the section that burned in 2021 in the Willow Fire. Coming down from the saddle at the top of the trail, work is about 2/3 complete.

The brushy section includes the upper switchbacks and one washed-out gully. These sections should be considered Passable. Work will continue to clear these sections of encroaching brush, and to repair tread. The tread on the switchbacks was mostly okay until we did a pass to pull out and grub out the sticky fire-follower plants including yerba santa, whispering bells, and San Luis blazing star. Even in its messy state, the tread is not difficult to find and follow throughout this final section.

Date Hiked: May 1, 2022
General Condition: Impassable (completely overgrown or tread obliterated)

Section: Marble Peak Trail to ridge saddle:

From the Marble Peak Trail to 1/2 mile from the summit, the tread is entirely filled in by erosion material and debris flows. Unsafe to hike on. Burned brush also blocks the trail corridor.

The last 1/2 mile to the summit has been cleared by trail crews and is Clear.

Section: ridge saddle to Tassajara:

Trail is Clear in good condition.

Date Hiked: May 24, 2021
General Condition: Clear (no obstacles and tread well defined)

Thanks to Brian Robinson for helping clear all the trees from the Tony Trail, pulling up many yerba santa, lotus, and other plants growing in the tread or growing over the tread. And especially carrying all the rocks to construct a rock wall at the slip out halfway up on the Tassajara side of the trail. The charred roots mentioned in a previous report are still there for you to hold on to as you pass this treacherous spot. Use them! There are a few sections on the Willow Creek side where the tread is slumping. And one section right at Willow Creek where the tread has collapsed. You can get by, with a little difficulty.
The informal camp where the trail comes out at the Marble Peak Trail is camp-able but there is a grove of poison oak literally every where in the camp outside a clearing at the fire ring and two tent sites. Willow Springs Camp, just 10 minutes up Marble Peak Trail, is much more spacious.
The Tony Trail crossing at Willow Creek involves climbing 4 feet down a large boulder, where someone has thoughtfully placed a couple of rocks that you can stand on when you climb up and down. There has been enough foot traffic that the start of the trail is clear. The sign at the Marble Peak Trail is hanging by some faded flagging.

There were lots of orange biting flies and mosquitoes especially in the afternoon and evening.

Date Hiked: June 7, 2020
General Condition: Passable (some brush and/or deadfalls, tread evident)

Trail in OK shape but towards willow creek/marble peak trail it completely disappears for a couple small sections. Using intuition its not that hard to find. A few fallen trees block the trail farther up, but they are manageable. There is small slip off about halfway up the willow creek side of the climb.