Chews Ridge is reached via Tassajara Road, which branches south off Carmel Valley Road some 24.1 miles from Highway 1. The first 3 miles are paved, but thereafter the road is dirt, and can be rough and rutted, especially as it reaches higher elevations. Set your odometer at 0.0 at the end of the pavement. One reaches the sign-posted edge of Los Padres National Forest after 3.4 miles of dirt road, pass White Oaks Camp at 4.7 miles, and reaches the road's saddle and highest pass at 5.9 miles. This is Chews Ridge; the pass is 4,888' feet (1492m) and you are in Ponderosa Pine and oak forest. Park in the small but rough parking lot at the right (west) side of road, or (as the road is wide at this saddle), park well off to the right. At this point Tassajara Road divides two Hotspots. This Hotspot — east ridge — is left (east) of the road; the other Hotspot — west ridge — is a trail from the parking and westward, right of the road. 

This east ridge Hotspot is by far the most visited of any Hotspot at high elevations in the Santa Lucia Mountains. Use the stile around the locked brown gate to the left (east) of the road and walk up towards the Chews Ridge Fire Lookout. This Lookout is currently manned off and on in summer by volunteers, but most times no one is there. The Lookout is at 5050' elevation (1540m) and is the easiest place in Monterey County to get above 5000' elevation. From the Fire Lookout one has a dramatic 360 degree view of the upper Carmel Valley, to the Salinas Valley, to the Ventana Wilderness.

Just before the final ascent to the Fire Lookout, a dirt spur road goes right towards the MIRA observatory site. That spur passes through montane chaparral and then enters a Jeffrey Pine forest. After the 1977 Marble Cone fire, agencies mistakenly sowed Jeffrey Pine seeds for reforestation. There are no native Jeffrey Pines in the Coast Range; the native pine are Ponderosa and Coulter pines. Jeffrey Pines smell somewhat like vanilla (yes, go smell the bark) and one might even notice that when birding among this grove. It is very birdy. Eventually the road becomes gravel as one nears the Observatory, and then goes up to a gate. Please do not go beyond the MIRA gate. However, the canyons that slope down-hill to the west sometimes have Lazuli Bunting and (at least in 2023) Black-chinned Sparrow in early summer.

This entire area will get very hot on summer afternoons, so start early and choose dates wisely. Be aware that biting flies can be common in summer, and can dampen the camping experience. Ticks are also fairly numerous is summer, and beware of rattlesnakes on hot days. Watch your step.

Mountain Quail is a common resident here, easily heard but difficult to see. The most successful way to see a Mountain Quail is to drive Tassajara Road from White Oaks Camp to Chews Ridge and on towards China Camp slowly, either very early in the morning or late in the afternoon, and be attuned to quail parties crossing the road. This is particularly true in late summer or early fall when families still have chicks that cannot yet fly. If you hike in these mountains for substantial distance, you'll probably see one from a trail (if you are quiet), but otherwise they do not leave their thick montane chaparral habitat. Also be aware that California Quail occurs all the way up to 5000' elevation, but they are more easily seen on the open forest floor and are not confined to the dense chaparral.

Most resident birds of these high elevations are widespread at lower elevations also, including Band-tailed Pigeon, Steller's Jay, Acorn and Hairy Woodpeckers, Oak Titmouse, White-breasted and Pygmy Nuthatch (and even Red-breasted Nuthatch in some summers), Western Bluebird, California Thrasher, and Purple Finch. Most of the more sought-after montane breeding species are migrants, arriving in April/May and leaving about August. These include Western Wood-Pewee, Olive-sided Flycatcher, Ash-throated Flycatcher, Cassin's Vireo, Violet-green Swallow, Blue-gray Gnatcatcher, Black-throated Gray and Yellow-rumped (Audubon's) Warblers (the latter is scarc), Black-headed Grosbeak, Western Tanager, and sometimes Lazuli Bunting or Chipping Sparrow (both erratic). There is often a summer colony of Purple Martin around standing dead trees near the Fire Lookout. 

Fire has a significant impact on the environment and avifauna in these mountains. Major fires in 1977, 2009, and 2020 have created huge swathes of burnt timber. As the forest regrows, it can be good for Dusky Flycatcher and Black-chinned Sparrow at the right stage of succession. In the 1980s, both of these species nested within this Hotspot, but both have been mostly absent or incidental at this site in recent years.

From the 1960s into the 1990s, Flammulated Owls summered and presumably bred from White Oaks Camp to China Camp, and attracted birders from throughout California who hoped to hear, and perhaps see, a Flammulated or Spotted Owls By the turn of the 21st century Spotted Owl had disappeared and Flammulated had become restricted to Chews Ridge. They were last heard in 2007; it is possible the population was extirpated by the 2009 Basin Fire. Today, local owls are primarily Great Horned and Western Screech Owls, and Poorwills call on warm summer nights. We are always hoping for recolonization of the rare owls in the future.

While most birding at these elevations is summer birding (Tassajara Road is closed in wet winters), birding for migrants in late summer (August-September) can be productive with a variety of passerines, and sometimes an exceptional influx of hummingbirds following flower plants upslope. Rufous and Calliope Hummingbirds have been recorded at Chews Ridge in spring or fall migrations. Regular spring migrants at this elevation include Nashville and Hermit Warblers. In dry winters, the montane chaparral at this location has Hermit Thrush and may host up to 3 "groups" of Fox Sparrow: Sooty, Slate-colored, and even (rarely) Thick-billed Fox Sparrows. Influxes of Red Crossbill, Red-breasted Nuthatch, and even Cassin's Finch have occurred, and rarities such at Townsend's Solitaire, Williamson's Sapsucker, or even Pinyon Jay (once), have been present in late fall or winter.

This "east ridge" Hotspot is meant to cover the forest and trails east of Tassajara Road, including the Fire Lookout and the Jeffrey Pine grove enroute to MIRA. Since Tassajara Road separates this "east ridge" Hotspot from the "west ridge" Hotspot, birds on the road or parking area may be entered in either Hotspot. In addition, this Hotspot includes a half-mile of Tassajara Road north of the Chews Ridge saddle, where the road switchbacks up to Chews Ridge, and also includes a mile of Tassajara Road as it heads south towards China Camp in 1.5 mile. This stretch of Tassajara Road is rather narrow, shady, and winding, and you'll see a small one-table campsite, on the right, in about a half-mile. This mile-long stretch of narrow road is often good for Mountain Quail.

Chews Ridge is one of Hotspots along upper Tassajara Road which are easiest to access with 4-wheel-drive or all-wheel-drive, and in vehicles with mid-to-high clearance. Tassajara Road, which goes all the way to the Tassajara Mountain Zen Retreat (14 miles of dirt road one-way; don't be mislead by any mileposts you see, as 0 started at the Zen Retreat, so their mileages is counting from the opposite way you are driving). The road tends to deteriorate rapidly with traffic from residents, visitors, and campers. The road may be best in spring after grading (often graded in spring) but it can be in very poor condition regularly. In its upper sections it becomes narrow and rocky, and subject to wash-out in places. Still, it usually can be driven, with caution, by even small sedans. You will enjoy the trip better with a high-clearance vehicle, and by driving with caution at all times. Some local residents on in-holdings within the National Forest drive trucks much too fast.

The MIRA observatory (Monterey Institute for Research in Astronomy) s a non-profit astronomical observatory founded in 1972 and dedicated to research and education in astronomy. Often no one is there, but there is a gate as the gravel road ascends up to the Observatory, beyond the Jeffrey Pine forest. Please do not go beyond the MIRA gate.

The nearest public restrooms would be at China Camp, 1.5 miles south, beyond the Chews Ridge road summit, if it is open, or White Oaks Camp, back down Tassajara Road and lower in elevation, 1.3 miles north, if it is open.