The Tassajara Zen Mountain Center is the oldest Japanese Buddhist Sōtō Zen monastery in the United States. It is on the border of the Ventana Wilderness and within the Los Padres National Forest, southeast of Carmel-by-the-Sea, California. The center is only accessible over 5,082-foot-high (1,549 m) Chews Ridge via a narrow, steep, 13.7-mile (22.0 km) one-lane dirt road from Jamesburg. During the winter months the center can be inaccessible due to snow and rain. Practitioners live and study on site. From Memorial Day to Labor Day, the center is open to day and overnight guests. The natural hot springs have been developed into Japanese-style baths. A steam bath is built over a hot spring in Tassajara Creek. The center is the first Zen monastery established outside Asia.
