Junipero Serra Peak

Overview

Junipero Serra Peak (aka Pimkolam Peak), located about 40 miles southeast of Monterey, is the highest peak in the Santa Lucia range, commonly known as the Big Sur area of California, and the high point of Monterey County. This peak, surrounded by the Ventana Wilderness, is centrally located off of US-101 between San Francisco and Los Angeles making it a popular winter destination for hikers in both locations. It is also a good example of the type of terrain and wildlife that one can expect in the Big Sur / Ventana Wilderness area including wildflowers such as lupines, goldfields, and paintbrush that are typically in bloom during April. While excellent panoramas are available from this summit it should be noted that other coastal peaks and ridges block the view of the Pacific Ocean. If you are seeking views of the ocean, recommended trips include Cone Peak and Mount Manuel.

The 6.2 mile Santa Lucia Trail from Memorial Park (2090 feet) is the shortest and most popular route to the summit. There are two peaks (bumps) on the broad, relatively flat summit, with the higher one being on the east. The almost 4000 feet of relief makes it popular for winter training when the Sierras covered in snow. The middle of winter (late December to early March) often offers interesting hikes as the top portions of this trail can be covered in snow often covering branches as well as bending and freezing branches together onto the trail. See the When to Climb section for more information.

There is also a summit tower which tops out at 5910 feet. This has been out of use for some time and the building on top has either collapsed or been torn down. If you want to relax up here, you'll also want to bring a closed-cell foam pad or something else as there are numerous exposed rusty nailheads to avoid (often with the head 1/4 inch out).

Note on ticks: Many people have reported ticks on this mountain so be diligent.

Getting There

MEMORIAL PARK FROM NORTH (About 3 hours from San Jose): Take US-101 south to the Jolon Road exit. This is 0.8 miles north of the first King City exit (Broadway) where you can get supplies. Continue on Jolon Road (aka County Road G14 at this point and while north of Lockwood), south passing the town of Jolon and reaching the intersection with Mission Road in 17.3 miles where you will see the Fort Hunter Liggett Military Reservation. Turn right onto Mission Road to enter Fort Hunter Liggett and drive towards the Mission San Antonio do Padua. In 4.8 miles, before you reach the Mission, turn left on to Del Ventura Road (this turn is poorly marked). Del Ventura Road will become Milpitas Road and in 12.0 miles from the Mission Road intersection you will cross Rattlesnake Creek and enter the Los Padres National Forest (signed). Continue 4.5 miles to the trailhead and dirt parking lot on the righthand side. The small lot is enough for about 6 cars. Distances Ref: backpacking_for_jesu.

Going about 0.5 miles further on the road will take you to the Santa Lucia Memorial Park Campground.

COP WARNING from jbright: The road from King City to Ft. Hunter Liggett has a 55 MPH speed limit and is very heavily patrolled. Just on my coming (May 28, 2005) and going (which was a total time of 40 minutes) I passed 7 police cars, 2 of which had people pulled over, so be careful.

CREEK WARNING from backpacking_for_jesu: There are two places along Del Venturi Road where the road dips down into creekbed. If the rainfall is heavy, the gate on the road just after the turn from Mission Road will be locked, prohibiting entry. But, if the gate is not locked, it is still important to proceed with caution. If the creeks are running especially strong, I would imagine that it is possible that they could sweep your vehicle off the road. I had no problems crossing the creek in January after some pretty good rains a few weeks before. jbright notes on May 28, 2005, "the river crossings were about 3-6 inches deep, easy, and coming back to the last crossing I saw in front of me 2 large trout swimming and jumping across the road."

MEMORIAL PARK FROM SOUTH: Take US-101 north to connect with Jolon Road (aka County Road G18 at this point south of Lockwood) at the town of Bradley. Continue northeast towards Lockwood where the road will become County Road G14 heading towards Jolon at which time you should take Mission Road into Fort Hunter Liggett. Follow directions above after this point.

Red Tape

None. As of May 2004, the Monterey Ranger District no longer requries an Adventure Pass to hike trails in their district (Ref: gfelsman).

When To Climb

The best time to hike this peak is between mid-November and April. The primary reason for this is that it's much cooler during the winter time and much of the lower part of the trail is exposed to the sun making for a sweltering summer hike. On June 26, 1999 it was hot and sticky at the trailhead with lazy flies all over the place (Ref: John). If you come between late December and early March you should be prepared for snow on the upper parts of the trail. During heavy snow periods, lightweight snowshoes are also recommended if you don't want to be postholing several feet into lots of snow covered branches ;-) Also, during the winter, don't let the sun in the lower part of the valley fool you. Up above on the backside of the mountain, there can be significant amounts of snow under the cool shade of trees - so a long sleeve t-shirt, etc. is useful.

Camping

There are formal campgrounds up the road from the trailhead at the Memorial Park Campgrounds. Otherwise you can just pitch your tent at the trailhead. Just to the left of the trailhead are some interesting rock formations where it would be fun to sleep out under the stars.

Mountain Conditions

Use the following resources to check route and weather conditions on Junipero Serra Peak:

MONTEREY RANGER DISTRICT
Los Padres National Forest
406 S. Mildred
King City, CA 93930
Tel: (831) 385-5434

Santa Lucia Trail Conditions Report - Ventana Wilderness Alliance

External Links

• John's March 24, 2001 Junipero Serra Peak Trip Report
  More photos and text.
• Santa Lucia Trail
  Santa Lucia Trail Report Page from Ventana Wilderness Alliance
• Fedak's Junipero Serra Peak Trip
  
  

Additions and CorrectionsPost an Addition or Correction

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colinr - Apr 22, 2006 7:12 am - Voted 9/10

Re: Creek Warning

Drive carefully at the creek crossings, but I suspect the gates will be locked unless the creek crossings are safe for virtually any vehicle. The gates were locked on two out of my three trips to the trailhead. In the case that the gates are locked on Del Venturi Road in times of high water, you can still get to the trailhead by following Mission Springs Road around to Milpitas Road, thereby rejoining the normal route beyond the 2 gated stream crossings. Instead of turning left on Del Venturi, continue straight. After a brief moment, you will notice an intersection that presents three choices. Do not veer left unless you want to check out Mission San Antonio de Padua or use the port-a-potties there. Do not follow the right sweeping curve that leads you into the military base's resdential area. Instead, choose the middle of the three choices by continuing straight onto the narrow road with faint double yellow lines. The road soon becomes a high quality, smooth dirt road, passable for all types of vehicles. Ignore all possible intersections along the wide dirt road and continue straight. After several miles, the dirt road will end at the normal Milpitas Road paved route. If you look to the left, you will see the locked gate at the second Del Venturi/Milpitas Road stream crossing. You will turn right onto the paved Milpitas road route and continue to the trailhead.

colinr - Feb 10, 2008 3:42 pm - Voted 9/10

Re: Cop Warning

I think the cop warning mainly applies to Memorial Day weekend and other peak visiting times to the Jolon Road area or the base(possibly Easter/Spring Break and three day weekends). I am not discouraging anyone from playing it safe when visiting at quieter times, but in my experience one is only likely to encounter law enforcement in the short distance between the entrance to Fort Hunter Ligget and Mission San Antonio de Padua, in which case it would be military police strictly enforcing speeding and other traffic laws, such as not talking on a cell phone while driving. In one trip to the mission and three trips beyond the mission to the trailhead (three trips late April and one early February), I have never seen any type of law enforcement outside of that small stretch of road near the residential heart of the base, other than CHP on HWY 101.

colinr - Feb 10, 2008 4:30 pm - Voted 9/10

Getting There/Red Tape

Be sure to have your driver's license, vehicle registration and proof of insurance as they will be checked at the entrance to Fort Hunter Liggett. Passengers over 16 years of age should also have a photo ID. Tell the guard you are going to "Indians" and you will be given a vistior pass to put on your dashboard with your destination indicated. Observe all regulations posted on road signs.

skipshot - Feb 20, 2008 3:26 pm - Hasn't voted

Overgrown section from Last Chance

On the way up from Santa Lucia Memorial campground we met a group of hikers at the trail junction from Last Chance campground and their report was that their section of the trail was nearly impassable due to the overgrowth (they reported crawling through some sections). They didn't make it to the summit and instead of battling the brush again chose to hike down to Memorial campground and take the closed road back to Arroyo Seco campground where their vehicles were.

Dundeel - Nov 10, 2009 3:07 pm - Voted 10/10

Fort Liggett

The Jolon gate was not manned when I visited. However, Mission Road appears to have been permanently closed to the public between Nacimiento-Fergusson and Del Venturi. A guard directed me onto Nacimiento-Fergusson and around the closed area to the Mission / Del Venturi intersection.

Dundeel - Nov 10, 2009 3:10 pm - Voted 10/10

Trail Relocation

The trail from Memorial continues past the old tractor to the broad drainage to the east. It rejoins the route shown on the topo at the 4,150 saddle.

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