Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
Trip 41
PICO BLANCO
LENGTH AND TYPE: 14.8-mile out-and-back or 12.4-mile point-to-point
RATING: Strenuous
TRAIL CONDITION: Passable (with brush and poison oak encroachment and deadfalls), tread evident
HIGHLIGHTS: Follow a magnificent, steep-sided canyon through redwood groves to a perfect swimming
hole at Pico Blanco Camp.
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.
TRIP SUMMARY:
This route leads 7.4 miles to Pico Blanco Camp. You can approach it
as a strenuous day hike, a one- to three-night out-and-back, or a point-to-point trip. On
a two- to three-night trip, consider staying at Little Sur Camp (2.6 miles from Bottchers
Gap) or Jackson Camp (5.2 miles from Bottchers Gap), then hiking on to Pico Blanco
Camp (see
TRIP 39 Little Sur & Jackson Camps
)
. For a rewarding 12.4-mile point-to-
point passage, leave a shuttle vehicle at the trailhead along Coast Road (see
TRIP 40
The hike descends into the Little Sur drainage via Pico Blanco Road, promising
panoramic views of Pico Blanco, the largest marble and limestone deposit in the Lower
48. The road follows the banks of the Little Sur into Pico Blanco Boy Scout Camp.
Scouts descend en masse between mid-June and mid-August, thwarting any plans for
a wilderness escape. Past the camp, you'll join the Little Sur Trail, which leads east
1.2 miles to Jackson Camp and west 2.6 miles to Pico Blanco Camp. Pico Blanco is
nestled along the edge of a redwood-lined gorge. Just upstream, a waterfall oasis har-
bors a deep emerald swimming hole.
