Off-Road Trip Reports & Trail Descriptions

Off Road Trip Reports & Trail Descriptions

(I used to cringe every time I saw that sign, now I look forward to it:-)

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Some places to get off the beaten track:

I currently live in the San Francisco Bay Area of northern California. I used to own an 1974 FJ-55 Toyota Landcruiser and only had a few chances take it wheeling before I had to sell it. After buying my 4Runner (in Dec. 1996), I vowed not to let this happen again. I began to collect information on how and where to get off of the pavement with it. I've organized the list by state, then by governing agency, then roughly in a north to south and west to east ordering.

SURGEON GENERAL'S WARNING:

Reading these web pages has been known to cause various disturbances, including itchy feet, unplanned vacations, wanderlust, and costly modifications to sport utility vehicles, ATV's, and other modes of conveyances that are designed for off-road use. These pages have been directly attributed to the recent rash of 4-wheel-drive vehicle sales increases.

READ AT YOUR OWN RISK!

Here's some details on various trail rating systems:

California:

National Park Service:
Bureau of Land Management Off Highway Vehicle areas (OHV):
- Chappie-Shasta Off-Highway Vehicle Area; Northern California.
- Cow Mountain Recreation Area; Lake and Mendocino Counties
- Clear Creek/Molina Ghost Run Trail*; San Benito County
- Panoche/Tumey Hills; San Benito County
  - While not an OHV area, there are some 4x4 (only) roads in the area.
- Volcanic Tablelands; Inyo County
- Spangler Open Area; Kern County (Ridgecrest)
- Bradshaw Trail; Riverside and Imperial Counties
- Jawbone/ Butterbredt Area; Kern County
- Dumont Dunes; San Bernardino County
- El Mirage; San Bernardino County
- Johnson Valley*; San Bernardino County, home of the infamous Hammer trails!
- Juniper Flats; San Bernardino County
- Stoddard Valley; San Bernardino County
California State Vehicular Recreation Areas (SVRA):
- Prairie City SVRA
- Carnegie SVRA, extremely limited 4WD area, mainly motorcycle/ATV terrain.
- Hollister Hills SVRA*
- Oceano Dunes (a.k.a. Pismo Beach) SVRA
- Hungry Valley SVRA
- Ocotillo Wells SVRA
County Off Highway Vehicle (OHV) parks:
- Frank Raines OHV County Park*; Stanislaus County
- Not to be confused with nearby Carnegie SVRA, there's tons 'o 4X terrain here.
Miscellaneous:
- CA Highway 89 (and I-80); Northern California, Home of the Sierra Trek (Fordyce Creek Trail)
- US Highway 50 trails; Northern California, Home of the Rubicon Trail*
- US Highway 395 trails; eastern California, Swansea-Cerro Gordo; Eastern California
- CA Highway 88 trails; Central California, home of the Deer Valley Trail*
- CA Highway 4 trails; Central California, home of the Slick Rock and Ramsey trails
- CA Highway 108 trails; Central California, home of the Niagara Rim OHV area
- CA Highway 168 trails; Central California, home of the Dusy/Ershim trail
- Usal Road; Northern California
- Santiago Canyon*; Southern California
- Big Bear Trails*; Southern California
- Mojave Desert; Southeastern California
Check out CalTrans for the latest mountain pass information.
Here's another excellent California off-road information resource.

Colorado:

Holy Cross Trail; Central Colorado
Blanca Peak; Southern Colorado
Brad Lovell has some excellent Colorado trail descriptions.
Mendano Pass Trail, near Alamosa

Idaho:

Lolo Motorway/Jeep Trail; eastern Idaho to Montana
- Forest Road 500 follows part of the Lewis and Clark trail from Powell to Weippe ID. a distance of 80-100 miles.
- If anyone has more information on this trail, please let me know.
Moscow Mountain Road (*)

Oregon:

Oregon Sand Dunes; near Coos Bay
Tillamook State Forest; Western Oregon
The McGrew Trail; Southern Oregon

Utah:

Canyonlands, central Utah
Moab; eastern Utah
Pony Express Trail; western Utah (*)

Washington (where I grew up):

These pages were written by Thomas Kay of Washington, and appear to no longer be available, if anyone knows Thomas, please have him contact me.
- Shaw Lake Trail, Sultan, Snohomish County, WA
- Lake Isabela Map, Index, Snohmish County, WA
- Evans Creek ORV Area, Pierce County, WA

* Indicates places I've visited so far.

If you have any information on places I've not listed, please let me know.

If you find a broken link here, please try using your favorite search engine and try to find the new location, search for the old page name, description, etc. If you find the new page location, I'll be happy to update the link. If you are the owner of one of these external pages and you change its name or move it, please let me know as well. I don't have the time to keep hundreds of links updated the way the Internet changes these days. Also, if you contact me and expect a response, please include a VALID e-mail address so I can reply.

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Trail Difficulty Ratings:

There are a few different trail rating system in use. You need to be careful to know what scale a given trail is rated on. A "4" on a 1-4 scale is a whole lot tougher than a "4" on a 1-10 scale. Here's some rating systems I've run across:

The 1-4 system:

1. All weather road; 4WD not needed.
- 1-1/2. Graded road; 4WD may be needed in poor weather.
2. Unimproved or rarely graded road. 4WD or extra clearance needed at times, with no special driving skills required.
- 2-1/2. Road rarely maintained, 4WD, good clearance, low gears often needed, with some extra care and a bit of driving experience useful.
3. Road in difficult terrain, rarely maintained, 4WD, good clearance, and low gears essential, with some driving skill and daring required.
- 3-1/2. Road in difficult terrain, probably maintained only by occasional users. Excellent stock truck or utility vehicle required, with considerable driving skill and daring needed.
4. Trail either never bladed or badly eroded. Stock vehicles are in jeopardy. Modifications for improved off-road performance and top driving skills needed.
- 4+. We can hardly improve on the original description written a few years ago by Jack Bickers: "with driving by World Class Yahoo Jeepers not much concerned with vehicle durability or personal safety." It is common to have as many as 10 percent of the vehicles experience major mechanical failures (gears, axles, driveshafts) on these trails.

The 1-10 system:

The Jeep Jamboree version:

1 - 2. Quite mild and may not even require the use of four-wheel drive (4WD).
3 - 4. Moderate trails in which 4WD is required.
5 - 6. You could encounter mud holes, climb over small rocks, and generally experience more difficult four-wheeling conditions.
7 - 9 present the possibility of getting stuck. Mud holes here will be deep and extreme, and the rock climbing will be more arduous.
10 reserved for only one - the Rubicon. Past participants know this rating is justly deserved. You'll do things on this trail that you never thought possible in your Jeep vehicle. The Rubicon is not recommended for Cherokee or Grand Cherokee models.

Then there is the infamousYosemite Decimal System for those really hard core trails :-)
(I'd rate Surprise Canyon somewhere around a 5.6)

Class 1. Hiking (driving) on trail.
Class 2. Cross country travel requiring route finding skills.
Class 3. Scrambling on rocks using hands as well as feet (and tires).
Class 4. Climbing on steep terrain requiring (wire) roped belay (a.k.a. winching).
Class 5. Climbing involving technical moves and protective hardware (Pull-Pal).
- 5.0 to 5.4. There are two hand- and two foot-holds for every move; the holds become progressively smaller as the number increases (two tires in the air - lockers required).
- 5.5 to 5.6. The two hand- and two footholds are there, obvious to the experienced, but not necessarily so to the beginner.
- 5.7. The move is missing one hand- or foothold.
- 5.8. The move is missing two holds of the four, or missing only one but is very strenuous.
- 5.9. The move has only one reasonable hold which may be for either a foot or a hand.
- 5.10. No hand- or footholds. The choices are to pretend a hold is there, pray a lot, or go home.
- 5.11. After thorough inspection you conclude this move is obviously impossible; however, occasionally someone actually accomplishes it. Since there is nothing for a handhold, grab it with both hands.
- 5.12. The surface is as smooth as glass and vertical. No one has really ever made this move, although a few claim they have.
- 5.13. This is identical to 5.12 except it is located under overhanging rock.

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Information Sources:

Finding information on legal places to get off the beaten track is difficult. I've found the information available from the following sources:

Tony Huegel's Backcountry Byways Series by covers California, Utah, Idaho and Colorado.
DeLorme's Atlas and Gazeteer Series offer a large format collection of topographic maps by state.

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