Recreation

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	Cultural/Paleontological		Hollister Field Office Plants
	Camping		Trails:    -Hiking  - Equestrian - Mountain Biking
	- Hunting  - Target Shooting		Watchable Wildlife
	OHV Riding		Wilderness
	Rockhounding		Special Recreaton Permits

Areas:

• Clear Creek and Joaquin Ridge; San Benito and Fresno Counties
• Panoche and Tumey Hills; San Benito and Fresno Counties
• Fort Ord and the Monterey Peninsula; Monterey County
• Wilderness Areas
• Wilderness Study Areas; San Benito, Monterey and Fresno Counties

 Top 10 Points of Interest in this area

Know Before You Go!

• Laws and Regulations (shooting, fire, vehicles, closures, etc.)

Camping

Dispersed, free, year-round camping is allowed, with the exceptions of the the San Benito Mountain Natural Area, located in the Clear Creek Management Area, and the Fort Ord public lands on the Monterey Peninsula, which are both closed to camping.

There are no developed camping facilities on BLM lands managed by the field office, although there are private, state, county and local campgrounds on lands adjacent to BLM. Hollister manages one large primitive camping area, Oak Flat Campground is primarily an RV-type campground, with pit toilets and trash dumpsters. There are no electricity, water, or hook-ups, no picnic tables, and no potable or running water at this campground, which is located near the entrance to the Clear Creek Management Area. Visitors to this camping area should be aware that there is natural asbestos in the soils and water here. For information on the health risks associated with asbestos, click here, or call the Hollister Office at (831) 630-5000.

Campers should be aware of fire season and other restrictions which affect camping on public lands in the Hollister Resource Area.

Equestrian

Most of the area is accessible to equestrian use, but the best riding opportunities are at Fort Ord, on the Monterey Peninsula. This 7,200-acre parcel is open to hikers, mountain bikers and horseback riders on the many miles of old fire roads and trails. If you'd like to learn more about riding opportunities on Fort Ord, send us e-mail or give the project office a call at (831) 394-8314.

Hiking

There are very few miles of built hiking trails in the resource area, with the exception of the large network of trails available at Fort Ord. One special trail on the  Juan Bautista de Anza National Historic Trail (NHT) on the Fort Ord Public Lands in Monterey County is a historic trail managed by the Hollister Field Office.  If you would like to visit the former Fort Ord or to learn more about other hiking opportunities on the Monterey Peninsula, please send us an e-mail or call the Fort Ord Project Office at (831) 394-8314 for more information.

Enjoy an easy to moderately rugged hike up the Upper Clear Creek Canyon to the base of San Benito Mountain or beyond.  For information on hiking opportunities in the Clear Creek Management Area contact the Hollister Field Office. 

Other notable exceptions include the Coalinga Mineral Springs National Recreation Trail, a 2.4 mile hike to the top of rugged Kreyenhagen Peak, the Joaquin Ridge trail, Griswold Hills trail and the Laguna Mountain trail system. Built trails not withstanding, there are many, many places to explore throughout the resource area. Below is a picture taken along Picacho Creek, where hikers walked and scrambled up the stream channel within the Clear Creek Management Area, enjoying the tumbling water.

Information about the Coalinga Mineral Springs National Recreation Trail is listed below.

Hunting

There are three main types of hunting available, including upland game bird, small game, and big game (deer and wild pig). Varmint (non-game) hunting is also allowed. Look at the table below to find the publicly accessible places in this resource area which support the different types of hunting. Animals listed in parenthesis indicate that success for that species is marginal to extremely marginal. For maps and more information about these areas, you can purchase an information packet ($4.00), which includes maps and resource area information, or call us at (831) 630-5000, and ask to speak to the recreation planner.  See frequently asked questions for pig hunting, and legal guns and weapons.
 

Target Shooting

There are no designated target shooting areas in the resource area, but you are allowed to target shoot, as long as you clean up your targets, observe the no-shooting restrictions in effect in and around parking areas, and as long as you use legal weapons and ammunition. Please call or e-mail the Law Enforcement Ranger for more information about places to target shoot safely.

Mountain Biking

The best mountain biking opportunties are on the 7,200-acre parcel of public land on the former Fort Ord, in Monterey. With miles of old fire and access roads, both paved and unpaved, this area offers challenges for both the novice and experienced mountain biker. Annual mountain bike races are held on public lands here, with participation ranging from 500 to 2,500.

Rockhounding

Within the boundaries of the lands administered by the Hollister Field Office, rockhounders can take home petrified wood, lots of interesting rocks and minerals, and invertebrate fossils (animals without backbones) such as clams. For petrified wood, there is a 25-pound/day limit, with a maximum of 250 pounds/calendar year. Vertebrate fossils (animals with backbones) may not be collected, nor may cultural artifacts be collected without a permit - see the Permits page for more information.  Since the Panoche, Tumey and Ciervo Hills were all under water at one time, fossil remains of many species of clams and snails may be found. This is also where you can find petrified wood. Minerals such as calcite are found in large pieces on the ground.

The Clear Creek area is home to the state mineral, benitoite, which is extremely rare, and highly prized. There are over 100 different types of gems and minerals, inside the Clear Creek Management Area, including jadeite, melanite garnet, chromite, magnesite and plasma agate. Please be aware that the unique geology of this area includes a natural hazard of natural asbestos, which is found in much of the soils. Visitors should avoid the Clear Creek area when the weather is dry and dusty. For more information about asbestos, click here, call the Clear Creek hotline at (831) 630-5060, or call the Hollister Office at (831) 630-5000.

Coalinga Mineral Springs National Recreation Trail  

To find this trail, you need to take the Coalinga Mineral Springs County Park exit off of highway 198. Travel into the County Park, which has flush toilets, fire rings and picnic tables (but no potable water). Leave your vehicle there, and walk to the far end of the park. Cross the creek, and you will see a trail heading up and out of the park. Climbing gently at first, the second half of the trail climbs fairly steeply through a series of switchbacks. Views are wonderful all through the 2.4 mile hike, but particularly when you reach the upper ridge leading to Kreyenhagen peak. The rocky outcrops at the top make a nice lunch or snack stop. There is no water along the trail or at the top, so bring plenty. Watch for ticks along the way.

Juan Bautista de Anza National Historic Trail

The access for this trail on BLM starts at the Creekside Access point on the Fort Ord Public Lands, on the north side of State Route 68.  Across from the access point and south of SR 68 is Toro Creek County Park, a tie-in point to the rest of the Anza Trail that stretches from Sonora, Mexico, to San Francisco, California.  The Anza NHT commemorates the route used for an expedition led by Juan Bautista de Anza in 1775-1776 AD.  The route was established as an overland trade and colonization entrada into Spain´s newly acquired Alta California.  Most of the historic trail follows the explorers´ pathway as translated from the journal entries recorded by various members of the expedition.  On the Fort Ord Public Lands, eleven miles of the Trail wind through maritime chaparral, oak woodland, and open grasslands.