Tassajara Road/Jamesburg/Los Padres National Forest near Monterey

I'm headed to Monterey this weekend and wondering if anyone has experience with this area.

I was told that Tassajara Road takes me past Jamesburg into Los Padres National forest and that there are awesome views and an unpaved road.

Just wondering if it's alright to go at this with one vehicle.

The most off-road experience I've had are the dirt roads around Lincoln, CA and snow in Tahoe.

 

you going to big sur?

 

Most likely, yes

 

Doesn't Tassajara rd dead end at the buddhist retreat?

 

The person who told me about it might be wrong about it going through to Los Padres haha.

 

Yeah I don’t think it connects. Nacimiento Ferguson road is through los Padres. From that you can get on coast ridge. No idea what the condition is but it’s probably okay. There’s also a few other options from 1 south of there. Not sure on current conditions of any of them but they are generally navigable. Take a map, tell someone where you’re going, and don’t push it if you’re uncomfortable. I think you’ll be fine though

ETA: be sure to heed any no trespassing signs for Ft Hunter-Legitt!

 

I was at Big Sur two weeks ago. So much wind we had to pack up and get a spot in the forest.

 

Correct, Nacimiento Ferguson Road is the connector from Highway 101 to Highway 1 through Ft Hunter Legitt. Tassajara Road takes you to the top of Chew's Ridge and will dead end at the Tassajara Zen Center. You should be fine as a single vehicle, just make sure you don't hit it when there are snow/iced-out conditions. Typically, they'll close the road except for locals only if that happens.

 

It snows up there? No shit. I guess I did see snow once up on top of Cone Peak but it was a minuscule amount.

 

Listen to the advice above; Nacimiento-Fergusson is a nice little drive that zig zags and climbs over 2500 feet (all paved), until you reach the turn off's that'll take you into Ft Hunter Liggett to hit highway 101, or South Coast Ridge Rd.



This time around the dirt roads will be easy to travel on, but if you drive up to Prewitt, it'll be windy as hell. It's nice and dispersed, but if you're not shielding yourself from the wind, you're going to have trouble sleeping.





If you need someone to tag along with you and guide you, I'm available on Mondays and Wednesdays; it's not far from where I live and I'm always up for taking a nice little drive.

 

It does, and to go in is by reservation only.

I've yet to go, but have done the drive several times; just a little fire road.