China Camp is a public drive-in campground on Chews Ridge in the Monterey District of the Los Padres National Forest

Los Padres National Forest

Los Padres National Forest is a forest located in southern and central California, which includes most of the mountainous land along the California coast from Ventura to Monterey, extending inland...

. Located on the dirt road, Forest Route 18S02/Tassajara Road, it serves as the eastern trail head of the Pine Ridge Trail

Pine Ridge Trail

The Pine Ridge Trail is a popular hiking route in the Ventana Wilderness of the Los Padres National Forest. It can be hiked both ways, but the consensus route is China Camp to Big Sur Station since that is the downhill direction.-Trail Guide:...

 and is 10.9 miles (17.5 km) from Carmel Valley Road. The summit is 19.9 miles (32 km) from Carmel Valley Village. The Chews Ridge forest fire lookout

Fire lookout tower

A fire lookout tower, fire tower or lookout tower, provides housing and protection for a person known as a "fire lookout" whose duty it is to search for wildfires in the wilderness...

, built in 1984, is nearby. The road continues over the mountain 7.9 miles (12.7 km) down a very narrow and steep dirt road to Tassajara Hot Springs

Tassajara Hot Springs

Tassajara Hot Springs is a natural hot springs in the Ventana Wilderness, within the Santa Lucia Range and Los Padres National Forest in Monterey County, California. The hot springs have been the site of a resort of one kind or another since the 1860s...

.