Near California's Big Sur Coastline Is A Vast, Untamed Wilderness With Challenging Trails

In Jack Kerouac's day, you could roll up to Big Sur, throw down a sleeping bag in an old empty cabin or on a clifftop, and find some nature, some solitude, some like-minded travelers looking to escape. Today, if you're searching for such freedom on California's Central Coast, Big Sur's crowded campsites that require reservations booked months in advance somewhat infringe on the freedom embraced by Kerouac's rucksack revolution. Fortunately, you can still find untamed wilderness in the trails and backcountry campsites of the Ventana Wilderness next door.

This 240,026-acre piece of land stretches from the Big Sur Coast to a high point of over 5,600 feet in Junipero Serra Peak, going from sea level to more than a mile high. Ventana Wilderness is where the Los Padres National Forest meets the Santa Lucia Mountains, making for a woodland paradise full of rolling hills and striking peaks rising from oceanfront cliffs. Here, you can go day-hiking, peak bagging, and backpacking amid oaks and California's iconic redwoods in all their humbling glory. For anybody looking to truly get away from it all amidst the sprawl between San Francisco and Los Angeles, especially as a way to break up your epic voyage to explore California's striking coast on Highway 1 with some off-grid adventure, you'd be hard-pressed to find a better destination than the Ventana Wilderness. 

If you're looking to hike, look no further than the Ventana Wilderness. These trails range from simple, well-beaten paths to mini-epics requiring some bushwhacking, hopping over and climbing under deadfall, and rock scrambling. Most will be tougher and more remote than the trails found at the nearby Big Sur coastline state beach park of Garrapata. Start with the short Pfeiffer Falls Loop in Pfeiffer Big Sur State Park, an easy under 3-mile loop with ocean views, wide paths between towering redwoods, and bridges over creeks and arroyos, culminating in a ribbon waterfall. There are also some very long and challenging hikes, like the 20-mile Sykes Hot Springs via Pine Ridge Trail. You could also do it as a Big Sur loop and take it to 33 brutal miles. 

Camping in the Ventana Wilderness is dispersed, meaning you can camp anywhere as long as you leave no trace and are more than 200 feet from water. Many recommend using a designated, obvious site if possible. Just note that this is Central California wilderness; unless you're following a specific creek or know some reliable backcountry water sources, you should be ready to hike your water in with you.

Wilderness camping is as primitive as it gets, though you need a permit if you want to have a stove fire at your campsite, and campfires often are not allowed. Given California's wildfire problem, that's pretty self-explanatory. If you're more of a car camper, with an appreciation for delineated sites, running water, and firepits, check out the first-come, first-served Ventana Campground at the western edge of the Wilderness in Big Sur.

Big Sur is the best way into the Ventana Wilderness. This storied enclave about 40 minutes south of Carmel-by-the-Sea on CA-1 has long drawn writers like Kerouac and Hunter S. Thompson, as well as movie stars ranging from Rita Hayworth and Orson Welles to Natalie Portman and Jack Black. You should grab a meal at Nepenthe, a cliffside restaurant and cafe with unmatched views and gourmet fare, before heading into the wild. While there are some trailheads closer to Carmel, the Pine Ridge Trail and the Vicente Flat Trail — known for its ocean views — rise from Big Sur.

However you enter the wilderness, you want to have a planned route. Ventana explorers recommend using bigsurtrailmap.net, which is full of in-depth maps, including current conditions. Note that the Ventana Wilderness is full of oak trees, but it's also full of poison oak. Keep an eye on your surroundings, dress appropriately, and bring hydrocortisone. You need to apply for a campfire permit with the Forest Service, even for a camp stove, but you don't need a backcountry camping permit. Just prepare for a challenging mountain/forest biosphere, with dangers such as wildfire, poison oak, ticks, and even mountain lions.

It's worth it for a possible glimpse of the endangered California condor thanks to the Sespe Condor Sanctuary in the southeast corner of the Los Padres National Forest. This bird is massive, with wingspans of up to 10 feet. Yet few living things are bigger or more impressive than the California redwood. The Ventana Wilderness is full of these ancient trees, which beckon you to gaze up at their canopies more than 300 feet above; an inspiring reminder to reach for the sky.