Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
CHAPTER
sixteen
China Camp
N
ESTLED AT 4270 FEET
in a prominent saddle beneath a dense canopy of oaks and mad-
rones, China Camp offers one of the easiest access points to Ventana's high coun-
try. This chapter also describes lower-elevation routes off Tassajara Road, along the
Church Creek, Horse Pasture, and Tony Trails. Tassajara Road may be closed during
storms due to fallen trees or small mudslides. Two routes extend from China Camp:
the westbound Pine Ridge Trail and the northwest-bound Miller Canyon Trail.
Although the Pine Ridge Trail is the most heavily used path in the backcountry,
most people begin from Big Sur and never reach Pine Ridge. This eastern section of
the trail is remote, challenging, and strenuous, offering a trek across diverse terrain
with sweeping panoramas of the vast wilderness. The route from China Camp suffers
from encroaching brush, and few people hike farther than Pine Valley, whose dramatic
sandstone cliffs shelter a spectacular waterfall and pine-studded meadow. This is the
most direct route to the Black Cone Trail, but be prepared for a heavily overgrown path
from Divide Camp to the north end of the Black Cone Trail atop Pine Ridge. Much of
this terrain is intolerable in summer, when nagging flies swarm and temperatures soar
into the upper 90s Fahrenheit.
From spring through fall, the Carmel River and Miller Canyon Trails offer pleas-
ant routes downriver, though both trails are cloaked with poison oak. The trailhead for
the Church Creek Trail lies in the heart of the wilderness, 5 miles beyond China Camp
along Tassajara Road. The only trail that ascends the Church Creek drainage, it takes
in some of Ventana's most dramatic sandstone outcrops.
