Ventana Wilderness Forums

Date Hiked: April 10, 2021
General Condition: Clear (no obstacles and tread well defined)

*** VWA/USFS Volunteer Ranger/Trail Crew Report ***
Description:
The Monterey Ranger District Forest has not reopened the Dolan Fire area, however VWA/USFS Volunteer Rangers have been allowed access to survey and work on burned areas of the forest. Today volunteer Rangers patrolled from the trailhead to just over a mile in. On their journey, they swamped and removed 6 sets of trees along the trail. The trail remains clear for the first 2.5 miles. There is not a good report all the way to the summit.

Trail conditions are as follows:

The Santa Lucia Trail Indians side remains closed to the general public at this time. Only authorized personnel with the approval of the USFS are allowed to access this trail corridor.

Trailhead to Tractor - Clear, only 3 to 4 downed oaks remain across the trail to reach the tractor. All are easy to navigate. The trail is rutted in many places. There is major debris flow just before the tractor. The trail across the debris flow has been flagged to the other side.
Tractor to Adobe Jct. - Clear with minor encroaching brush. Mostly Yerba Santa. Portions of the trail have been flagged to better mark the trail for users.
Adobe Jct. to 0.3 miles up trail - Clear with minor encroaching brush.
Rest of trail to summit - A recent report only mentions gnarly burnt brush past this point. No additional information is available at this time.
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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.

Date Hiked: March 31, 2021
General Condition: Clear (no obstacles and tread well defined)

*** VWA/USFS Volunteer Ranger/Trail Crew Report ***

Description:

The Monterey Ranger District Forest has partially reopened, VWA/USFS Volunteer Rangers continue to prepare opening other parts of the closed forest and are continuing their regular patrols. Today volunteer Rangers patrolled the first 2.5 miles of the Santa Lucia Trail (Indians Side). The trail is narrow and rutted in some places. There are about 15 trees down across the trail, but are easily crossed. There is one section of trail that is 100 yards long from a debris flow making making a large rocky stream bed. Rangers flagged the debris flow to make crossing easier and they also flagged the Adobe Jct. making it easier to for hikers to find their way. In addition, Rangers removed several of the downed trees and cleared a manzanita tunnel.

Trail conditions are as follows:

The Santa Lucia Trail Indians side remains closed to the general public at this time. Only authorized personnel with the approval of the USFS are allowed to access this trail corridor.

Trailhead to Tractor - Clear, several downed oaks all easy to navigate. The trail is rutted in many places. Major debris flow just before the tractor.
Tractor to Adobe Jct. - Clear with minor encroaching brush. Mostly yerba santa
Adobe Jct. to 0.3 miles up trail - Clear with minor encroaching brush.
Rest of trail to summit - No information is available at this time.

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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/

Date Hiked: March 3, 2021
General Condition: Passable (some brush and/or deadfalls, tread evident)

*** VWA/USFS Volunteer Ranger/Trail Crew Report ***

Forest/Trail Status: PARTIALLY OPEN, Los Padres Monterey Ranger District is partially open per Forest Order 05-07-51-21-02
Current Fire Restrictions: Campfires and Stoves are permitted in the backcountry with a valid Campfire/Stove Permit.

Description:

The Monterey Ranger District Forest has partially reopened, VWA/USFS Volunteer Rangers continue to prepare opening other parts of the closed forest and are continuing their regular patrols. Today volunteer Rangers patrolled the first 1.5 miles of the Santa Lucia Trail (Indians Side). The trail is narrow and rutted. There are abut 20 trees down, from small to 20 inches in diameter. There is one section that is 100 yards long that has completely washed away making a large rocky stream bed.

Trail conditions are as follows:

The Santa Lucia Trail Indians side remains closed to the general public at this time. Only authorized personnel with the approval of the USFS are allowed to access this trail corridor.

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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.

Date Hiked: January 30, 2021
General Condition: Clear (no obstacles and tread well defined)

*** VWA/USFS Volunteer Ranger/Trail Crew Report ***

Forest/Trail Status: PARTIALLY OPEN, Los Padres Monterey Ranger District is partially open per Forest Order 05-07-51-21-02
Current Fire Restrictions: Campfires and Stoves are permitted in the backcountry with a valid Campfire/Stove Permit.

Description:

The Monterey Ranger District Forest has partially reopened, VWA/USFS Volunteer Rangers continue to prepare opening other parts of the closed forest and are continuing their regular patrols. Today volunteer Rangers and trainee patrolled Santa Lucia Trail from the Arroyo Seco Trailhead to put in a sign at the Cawatre Trail Jct. They removed one large tree that was across the trail, did spot brushing and trail slough removal.

Trail conditions are as follows:

Arroyo Seco to Cawatre Jct. - Clear with encroaching brush.

Arroyo Seco Road - Has a rock slide on it that can be traversed on foot.

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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.

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 from Arroyo Seco Campground up the Santa Lucia Trail to the Cawatre Jct. They did some minor brushing and tread work. They found one tree along the trail.

Trail conditions are as follows:

Arroyo Seco to Cawatre Jct. - 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.

Date Hiked: April 7, 2020
General Condition: Clear (no obstacles and tread well defined)

We hiked this trail from the trailhead near Memorial Park and Indiana to Junipero Serra Peak and back down. The trail was clear and seemed like it had recently been trimmed. Would recommend waterproof shoes for the bottom section after a rain. It was very swampy with a couple sections about a 1/2 foot deep. The whole hike took approximately 7 hours. Very snowy on top. Would definitely recommend this hike.

Date Hiked: February 15, 2020
General Condition: Passable (some brush and/or deadfalls, tread evident)

Greetings,

I hiked this trail on 2/15/2020.

There was a fair amount of overgrowth and deadfall. However, the trail was passable. I used a hand saw and hand clippers to clear one impassable section where a fresh manzanita treat had fallen and was completely blocking the trail.

There is still a lot of work that needs to be done before this trail will be Green.

Thanks, ~B

Date Hiked: February 16, 2020
General Condition: Impassable (completely overgrown or tread obliterated)

Greetings,

Last weekend I did a backpack with my wife. We tried to hike the Santa Lucia Trail from Arroyo Seco Memorial Park.

The trail was passible for about two miles past the last chance trail.

The first mile is fine. The second mile the trail becomes overgrown and we had to work our way through thick tunnels of brush. We lost the trail somewhere along the headwaters of the south fork of the Santa Lucia Creek.

After which we bushwacked our way down to the creek bed and followed it back to where we could find the trail.

A link to our path from Last Chance Camp to where we lost the trail is below.
https://www.gaiagps.com/datasummary/track/3ecfee8a-99ac-44e4-9302-d3661ed9e488/?layer=CalTopo,GaiaTopoRasterFeet

Date Hiked: June 7, 2019
General Condition: Difficult (brushy and/or many deadfalls, faint tread)

Trail is passable to difficult. Mostly fine with some brush, however one particular spot where trail has fallen away makes it difficult/dangerous. The landslide is below and at the trail just before Last Chance Camp. There is a go around being forged above but it is also sketchy.

Date Hiked: May 12, 2019
General Condition: Passable (some brush and/or deadfalls, tread evident)

From the summit (going down)
11 tree falls incl. several step overs
ceanothus tunnels fairly brushy
Trail looks fine otherwise

From the Saddle
Brushy sections near the top
Beautiful trail otherwise

From the SL/SLP trail junction
overhead tree fall
overhead limb
1 medium tree fall
1 large tree fall
Trail looks fine otherwise

From 5th & 4th creek crossings
Beautiful open trail!

From 3rd cc
1 small tree fall
Beautiful trail otherwise

From 2nd cc
1 small tree fall (step over)
Beautiful trail otherwise

From 1st cc
1 large tree fall
Beautiful trail to TH

Took pictures of all referenced obstacles, please let me know if you want to see them.