Date Hiked: July 26, 2026
General Condition: Clear (no obstacles and tread well defined)
Hiked from the Adobe and trail is in very good condition. Looks like some brush was cut near the top which is nice because this trail provides sweeping views of the backcountry. You can really see the amazing trail work on the Santa Lucia trail above the creek and even the Connector trail which just recently became designated as 'GREEN.' On the way down to Abbott lakes, there is a new 'no trespassing' sign which simply says 'no trespassing' with no indicators that this enforced by any agency (i.e. USFS)...so I kept going. Nearing the lake and the primitive camp sites at Arroyo Seco, there is indeed someone building a rustic type of home with cement blocks and an incredible solar panel array, very close to the road. Interesting choice of location considering how very large and flat the entire meadow is. Apparently, these are the folks that posted the sign. Past the property, now at the lake, there are 2 more signs posted asking folks to respect the new owners' privacy. I am having an issue with this as public land access (this road/trail is actually USFS 4E24) supersedes any exclusionary signage. So PLEASE hike here and KNOW YOUR RIGHTS!!!
Camp Cawatre Trail
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billmoffitt
Re: Camp Cawatre Trail
Date Hiked: April 6, 2025
General Condition: Clear (no obstacles and tread well defined)
Trail was nearly perfect, with only a little brush, including some poison oak, intruding from place to place. Tread is thinner near the top, but still very easy to follow. No notable washouts or slides.
General Condition: Clear (no obstacles and tread well defined)
Trail was nearly perfect, with only a little brush, including some poison oak, intruding from place to place. Tread is thinner near the top, but still very easy to follow. No notable washouts or slides.
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jack_glendening
- Posts: 734
- Joined: Thu Oct 29, 2009 12:03 am
Re: Camp Cawatre Trail
Date Hiked: July 26, 2021
General Condition: Wilderness Freeway (Heavily used and well maintained)
Firebreak was opened along ridgeline, so lumpy there but trails exits clear. They did not send dozers up the route which wipes out the north end of the trail!
Santa Lucia Creek is dry.
Jack
General Condition: Wilderness Freeway (Heavily used and well maintained)
Firebreak was opened along ridgeline, so lumpy there but trails exits clear. They did not send dozers up the route which wipes out the north end of the trail!
Santa Lucia Creek is dry.Jack
Big Sur Trailmap: https://bigsurtrailmap.net
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VWA_Ranger
- Posts: 117
- Joined: Thu Oct 29, 2020 4:41 pm
Re: Camp Cawatre Trail
Date Hiked: January 17, 2021
General Condition: Passable (some brush and/or deadfalls, tread evident)
*** VWA/USFS Volunteer Ranger/Trail Crew Report ***
Forest/Trail Status: CLOSED, Los Padres Monterey Ranger District is closed per Forest Order 05-07-51-20-22
Current Fire Restrictions: No Campfires allowed. Stoves are permitted in the backcountry with a valid Campfire/Stove Permit.
Description:
With the Monterey Ranger District Forest still closed, VWA/USFS Volunteer Rangers continue to prepare for its reopening. Today volunteer Rangers patrolled the Camp Cawatre Trail from the Santa Lucia Trail back to Arroyo Seco Campground. There is some confusion on the actual route to take to return to Arroyo Seco Campground.
Trail conditions are as follows:
Santa Lucia Trail to Arroyo Seco Campground - Passable
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DISCLAIMER: This report is for informational purposes only. Trail conditions may change at any time. The Ventana Wilderness Alliance assumes no liability for the use of this information.
The Los Padres National Forest Website can be found here: https://www.fs.usda.gov/lpnf/
To learn more about the Volunteer VWA/USFS Ranger and Trail Crew Programs visit https://www.ventanawild.org/stewardship.
General Condition: Passable (some brush and/or deadfalls, tread evident)
*** VWA/USFS Volunteer Ranger/Trail Crew Report ***
Forest/Trail Status: CLOSED, Los Padres Monterey Ranger District is closed per Forest Order 05-07-51-20-22
Current Fire Restrictions: No Campfires allowed. Stoves are permitted in the backcountry with a valid Campfire/Stove Permit.
Description:
With the Monterey Ranger District Forest still closed, VWA/USFS Volunteer Rangers continue to prepare for its reopening. Today volunteer Rangers patrolled the Camp Cawatre Trail from the Santa Lucia Trail back to Arroyo Seco Campground. There is some confusion on the actual route to take to return to Arroyo Seco Campground.
Trail conditions are as follows:
Santa Lucia Trail to Arroyo Seco Campground - Passable
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
DISCLAIMER: This report is for informational purposes only. Trail conditions may change at any time. The Ventana Wilderness Alliance assumes no liability for the use of this information.
The Los Padres National Forest Website can be found here: https://www.fs.usda.gov/lpnf/
To learn more about the Volunteer VWA/USFS Ranger and Trail Crew Programs visit https://www.ventanawild.org/stewardship.
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jack_glendening
- Posts: 734
- Joined: Thu Oct 29, 2009 12:03 am
Re: Camp Cawatre Trail
Date Hiked: May 30, 2017
General Condition: Passable (some brush and/or deadfalls, tread evident)
Trail in decent shape, except for the damage caused by the dozers. There is some confusion as to where the trail is supposed to be - so I added some flagging to help with that.
People are tending to use the firebreak dozer line instead of the old trail in the upper regions. In particular, at the uppermost end there has been a short unhikeably steep drop going directly down the fall-line, which people have been using due to lack of any alternative. But since my last hike someone has hacked out a switchback which avoids that. It is rough and not a smooth tread and has not had much use. Will be interesting to see if hikers begin to use that and if it develops into "the" trail".
Jack
Note: in photo below, branches along the dozer/fall-line marks the bottom and somewhat-below-the-top of the new switchback
General Condition: Passable (some brush and/or deadfalls, tread evident)
Trail in decent shape, except for the damage caused by the dozers. There is some confusion as to where the trail is supposed to be - so I added some flagging to help with that.
People are tending to use the firebreak dozer line instead of the old trail in the upper regions. In particular, at the uppermost end there has been a short unhikeably steep drop going directly down the fall-line, which people have been using due to lack of any alternative. But since my last hike someone has hacked out a switchback which avoids that. It is rough and not a smooth tread and has not had much use. Will be interesting to see if hikers begin to use that and if it develops into "the" trail".
Jack
Note: in photo below, branches along the dozer/fall-line marks the bottom and somewhat-below-the-top of the new switchback
- Attachments
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Big Sur Trailmap: https://bigsurtrailmap.net
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amy patten
- Posts: 8
- Joined: Wed Jun 29, 2016 9:52 am
- Location: Santa Cruz, CA
Re: Camp Cawatre Trail
Date Hiked: February 14, 2017
General Condition: Difficult (brushy and/or many deadfalls, faint tread)
On a recent Youth in Wilderness scouting trip to Arroyo Seco, we hiked the length of the Camp Cawatre Trail (2mi) from the campground to the intersection with the Santa Lucia Trail. As the trail begins to climb up the ridge away from the lake, a large section of the trail is obstructed by a wall of poison oak, and a social trail routes around it up a steep incline. The trail ascending the ridge had one deadfall and the tread was faint most of the way to the top. A few areas could use brushing as well. Near the top of the ridge, dozer lines from the Soberanes Fire obscure the trail in several areas and have created minor slides onto the trail. The original course of the trail is sparely flagged, but it became difficult to follow and took us a few minutes to find the right path. The dozer lines going away from the trail could easily create confusion for hikers as to the correct route to follow. As we descended from the ridge into the canyon, we encountered two major slides that totally covered the trail. These slides were on steep inclines and were difficult to traverse. We were able to get across but it took some slow, careful footwork.
Despite the issues with the trail, we enjoyed beautiful vistas on the ridgeline and great views of the river. It was a nice loop of about 4.5mi combined with the Santa Lucia Trail, which we took back to our site at the campground. After a little trail work, this could be a great hike for our YiW outings!
General Condition: Difficult (brushy and/or many deadfalls, faint tread)
On a recent Youth in Wilderness scouting trip to Arroyo Seco, we hiked the length of the Camp Cawatre Trail (2mi) from the campground to the intersection with the Santa Lucia Trail. As the trail begins to climb up the ridge away from the lake, a large section of the trail is obstructed by a wall of poison oak, and a social trail routes around it up a steep incline. The trail ascending the ridge had one deadfall and the tread was faint most of the way to the top. A few areas could use brushing as well. Near the top of the ridge, dozer lines from the Soberanes Fire obscure the trail in several areas and have created minor slides onto the trail. The original course of the trail is sparely flagged, but it became difficult to follow and took us a few minutes to find the right path. The dozer lines going away from the trail could easily create confusion for hikers as to the correct route to follow. As we descended from the ridge into the canyon, we encountered two major slides that totally covered the trail. These slides were on steep inclines and were difficult to traverse. We were able to get across but it took some slow, careful footwork.
Despite the issues with the trail, we enjoyed beautiful vistas on the ridgeline and great views of the river. It was a nice loop of about 4.5mi combined with the Santa Lucia Trail, which we took back to our site at the campground. After a little trail work, this could be a great hike for our YiW outings!
- Deadfall
- One of the major slides
- Attachments
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- Dozer lines obscuring the trail
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- Another major slide
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Hydro-Logic
- Posts: 45
- Joined: Tue Aug 12, 2014 10:21 am
Re: Camp Cawatre Trail
Nice is there a facebook group in particular?Betsy M wrote:Date Hiked: January 17, 2017
General Condition: Difficult (brushy and/or many deadfalls, faint tread)
It was mentioned in a Facebook post.
Re: Camp Cawatre Trail
Date Hiked: January 17, 2017
General Condition: Difficult (brushy and/or many deadfalls, faint tread)
It was mentioned in a Facebook post.
General Condition: Difficult (brushy and/or many deadfalls, faint tread)
It was mentioned in a Facebook post.
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Hydro-Logic
- Posts: 45
- Joined: Tue Aug 12, 2014 10:21 am
Re: Camp Cawatre Trail
where did you see the report of the slide?Betsy M wrote:Date Hiked: January 16, 2017
General Condition: Difficult (brushy and/or many deadfalls, faint tread)
I didn't hike this trail but saw a report that there is a slide and it is impassible.
Also people may not know how to find the trailhead. It starts from Site #50 in the Arroyo Seco Primitive Campground. Once you find the primitive campground, go to the upper loop. You will see a road with a locked gate. Take this road, which is the start of the trail. Map of the campground can be found online https://www.recreation.gov/camping/map_ ... rkId=70160
The Adobe end of the trail starts just past the Adobe, before the road fords the creek. There is no signage on either end of this trail.
Re: Camp Cawatre Trail
Date Hiked: January 16, 2017
General Condition: Difficult (brushy and/or many deadfalls, faint tread)
I didn't hike this trail but saw a report that there is a slide and it is impassible.
Also people may not know how to find the trailhead. It starts from Site #50 in the Arroyo Seco Primitive Campground. Once you find the primitive campground, go to the upper loop. You will see a road with a locked gate. Take this road, which is the start of the trail.
Map of the campground can be found online https://www.recreation.gov/camping/map_ ... rkId=70160
The Adobe end of the trail starts just past the Adobe, before the road fords the creek. There is no signage on either end of this trail.
General Condition: Difficult (brushy and/or many deadfalls, faint tread)
I didn't hike this trail but saw a report that there is a slide and it is impassible.
Also people may not know how to find the trailhead. It starts from Site #50 in the Arroyo Seco Primitive Campground. Once you find the primitive campground, go to the upper loop. You will see a road with a locked gate. Take this road, which is the start of the trail.
The Adobe end of the trail starts just past the Adobe, before the road fords the creek. There is no signage on either end of this trail.
