Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
Trip 39
LITTLE SUR & JACKSON CAMPS
LENGTH AND TYPE: 10.2-mile out-and-back
RATING: Moderate
TRAIL CONDITION: Passable (with brush, poison oak, and deadfalls), tread evident
HIGHLIGHTS: Enjoy mountain views en route to camps nestled amid redwoods beside the Little Sur
River.
TO REACH THE TRAILHEAD:
At Bottchers Gap, the trail begins 30 feet west of the park-
ing lot at the gated dirt Pico Blanco Road.
SACRED MOUNTAIN
The region's native Esselen people revered Pico Blanco as a sacred mountain from
which all life originated. According to Esselen legend, three creatures—eagle, coyote,
and hummingbird—rode out the great flood atop this mountain and went on to recre-
ate the world.
The present owners value the peak in a less sacred light. The Granite Rock Com-
pany of Watsonville bought Pico Blanco in the late 1960s, intending to mine the peak
for limestone, an essential ingredient in concrete. Fortunately, their plans to lop off the
top several hundred feet of the mountain were met with a groundswell of opposition.
The resulting environmental lawsuits went all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court and
put an end to mining plans on Pico Blanco.
TRIP SUMMARY:
You can approach this as either a moderate day hike or an overnight
backpacking trip. Little Sur Camp lies 2.6 miles from Bottchers Gap, while Jackson
Camp is 5.1 miles from the trailhead. The hike takes you from redwood-lined gullies
along Pico Blanco Road into dry mountainous terrain that overlooks marble-capped
Pico Blanco. The road winds along the Little Sur River through Pico Blanco Boy Scout
Camp, on land donated to the scouts in 1948 by William Randolph Hearst. Hearst first
purchased the land in 1921 in order to preserve the redwoods from intense logging
pressure. Scouts descend on the camp between mid-June and mid-August, thwarting
any plans for a wilderness escape. Crossing the river, the Little Sur Trail heads east to-
ward Jackson Camp, home to two riverside sites.
Trip Description
From the west side of the parking lot at
Bottchers Gap
(2080'), head south along the
gated dirt road toward
Pico Blanco Boy Scout Camp.
After a gradual quarter-mile
