Old Ward Canyon Road

No point in going past (mi) 3. The trail is TOTALLY impassable by anything other than a dirt bike (super risky) plus help may not be able to get to you. Turning around at the washout is VERY TIGHT. Take the forest road from the trail head parking lot and save yourself the risk.

The trail is washed out near the beginning and is not passable for Jeep’s. We approached the trail from the uphill end however we only will get ¼ of a mile in before having to turn around.

Took the Skyline trail up and came down the top section of the trail. A couple substantial rock obstacles that would be tricky for a stock vehicle. These are right near the beginning (coming from the top) and the crux of the trail until of course you get to the washed out section that is only passable by foot or motorcycle. Fun little play area just above the impass.

Still impassible some where between points 4 and 5. Fun getting up but not fun backing down a mile trying to stay on the narrow trail. It was pretty sketchy at one point b/c slipping over the edge had a huge penalty for failure! It was raining at points but we managed to negotiate all of the obstacles with reasonable ease. We were in a Rubicon, had 35’s and both lockers engaged at times. It would be tough for a stock 4wd to negotiate some of the hills that we tackled. There may be alternate routes though.

Had a lot of fun on the beginning of the trail. I took my 1976 k20 with a 6 inch lift on 35s and it does barely fit up the trail it very narrow. Even dropped a rear tire of the edge of a particularly narrow part of the trail and had to gas it out to prevent from slipping off the cliff on the side of the mountain. This part of the trail you're pushed against the mountain so you can't get over it get more room. Also the grooves in the trail from water drainage are 4+ feet deep due to the heavy winter last winter and my truck was just big enough to be able to go over them without having to drop a tire in to continue. The trail is definitely impassable a large section of the trail has fallen off the side of the mountain only leaving about 2 feet of trail left. It is near the end so I ended up having to reverse down around maybe a mile because there are no turn arounds after you get on the actual mountain side trail. When I got up the second set of hill climbs there is a short mud section with a bypass this would be as far as you should go up the main trail. Definitely a lot of fun to be had on the initial hillclimb and the is room to turn around on the and take all of the different hill climbs so it is still a fun spot but wouldn't call it a trail anymore.

The area has seen significant rain recently and while most of the trail is in perfectly passable condition there is one spot that makes the trail EXTREMELY dangerous to full size vehicles and even UTV. The water washed out and pulled out a section of the trail above a LONG drop. As far as I'm concerned the trail is impassable until repairs can be made. We made it going top to bottom, but crossing the section I mentioned was very dangerous and required bridging with maxtrax. Video coming soon.

I took my newly acquired $700 1990 f250 long bed standard cab on this trail along with my Daughter for their first wheeling trip. Absolutely beautiful but was alot more than I was expecting. A lot of deep ruts and wash outs. Very tight sections of trail especially for a full size. I will be doing this trail frequently, although not before a lift, bigger tires and a locker. Everyone I ran into was shocked that I had my truck up there including myself. A lot of common sense and careful lines go a long way.

Heavy snowfall over the winter has increased the intensity of this trail substantially as runoff has eroded a large portion of it. Climbing the face is the safest option, but it is a long steep climb on loose rock that is becoming more rutted each year. The bypass that heads sound on the side of the hill is the more nerve racking though as it presents you with a couple rutted side hills that cross over runoff grooves covered in loose gravel, its no wider than my narrow track CJ and sets you at a a sketchy angle facing sideways down a certain death hillside. I have passengers get out here to shed side weight and just in case it does go over. Besides that, the technicality of the trail is about the same as above described with the exception of likely much deeper ruts from the runoff and the high possibility of some rather intense mud over the last 1/8-1/4mile of the trail. We went on a very dry day and still encountered mud about 24" deep that would have stranded us without a locked rear-end. The very last section is essentially impassable due to deep deep mud that leads to a dirt wall about 2' high so you cant simply romp through it. Beware if you go alone that traffic is fairly limited, and in my experience has been just ATV's and UTV's so check mudholes and consider a means of self-recovery since there likely wont be anyone to pull you out. Very fun trail, only took about 3 hours to complete from trailhead and back, taking the skyline drive dirt road down due to time constraints. If you have done this trail before, but not for a couple years just be prepared for some moderate terrain changes in eroded areas.