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• Basics:  Off-trail travel is permitted in the National Forest but prohibited in State Parks.  Off-trail travel in the Ventana/SilverPeak wilderness areas can be very easy or very difficult, largely depending upon the amount of brushiness.  Bushwhacking (without cutting through) is impossible where brush is interlocked.  Off-trail hiking is generally much easier in the Silver Peak wilderness than in the Ventana wilderness due to Silver Peak's more extensive grassy slopes and valleys. 

• Unmaintained trails:  Trails which have been neglected for years can provide a "semi-bushwhacking" experience, often requiring route finding skills.  Such include those depicted in orange on the Trail Conditions map.  Reading their last trail conditions report, from years ago, gives an idea of what the trail was like back then. 

• Use trails:  Many "use trail" routes exist, i.e paths which are not official USFS-designated trails but instead created by frequent usage producing a more-or-less followable path.  These can provide a "semi-bushwhacking" experience, depending upon how frequently they've been recently used which can wax and wane.  Many are depicted as orange "use trails" on the Big Sur Trailmap. 

• Impassable trails:  Consider taking routes along "impassable" trail sections - shown in red on the trail conditions map.  These give a "no tread" experience requiring route finding, but where the brush is not (usually) interlocked. 

• Firebreaks:  Consider taking routes along former firebreaks (almost always ridgelines), which can be gleaned from studying GoogleEarth imagery.  These can give a "no tread" experience where brush is sparse.  (But note "burnt area warning" below.) 

Burnt Area Warning:  fire produces toxic substances, left in the soil which with other dust can be inhaled when disturbed by hiking.  I myself started coughing after hiking in burnt areas, later developing into asthma.) 

• Burnt areas:  Off-trail hiking is easier in recently burned areas, apparent in GoogleEarth imagery.  Though its brushiness has been greatly reduced, remaining fire-hardened branches can be troublesome.  Areas burnt by recent wildfires are shown as gray overlay on my Big Sur Trailmap.  (But note "burnt area warning" above.) 

• Bushwhacking:  For true "bushwhacking", i.e. routes which are "off-trail" and "off-usetrail" and "off-firebreak" and "off-burnt-area", I've learned to choose routes carefully.  Examining recent GoogleEarth imagery before a hike shows where I should and should not try to go.  Nearby clear areas often cannot be seen once inside tall brush, so for difficult situations I've plotted a route on GoogleEarth, threading it through the less brushy areas, and loaded that into my GPS.  GPS and GoogleEarth error are such that the track is only a rough guideline, eyeballs are primary for choosing the best route - but if thick brush is encountered, the GPS track proves a direction to head for easier travel and, most importantly, keeps one from straying into truly impassable brush. 


Knowledge and planning pays off for off-trail hikers in this region of brushy chaparral!  The time to sunset does not slow down if you are slowed down - you do not want to be stuck in brush after dark! 

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Traditional Routes

• "Sea-to-Sky" route up Cone Peak:  Though officially off-trail and once a "route", due to frequent usage this has become a "use trail" in many respects easier than many official trails - except that it is STEEP ! 

• "The Window" via Jackson Creek:  The traditional route to a Ventana namesake, the distinctive ridgeline notch visible all over the Ventana wilderness.  At one time getting to "La Ventana" was a rite of passage with a well-defined route, but much of the path up Jackson Creek was destroyed after the 2008 wildfire and subsequent creek erosion - so is now essentially a bushwhack.  Note that the webpage is somewhat out-dated, as the route has become increasingly difficult due to further degradation with time and lack of consistent use. 

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Jack Glendening
bigsurtrailmap.net
Trailmap Forum