Wheeler Pass

Instead of Black Friday shopping we spent the day together enjoying the great outdoors. The trail was clear but the first half, running the trail from the 95 to Pahrump, was rocky. The three Jeeps, 2-unmodified Gladiators and 1-Wrangler 392 with the "recon" package, had no difficulty. There was one area where two rocks created a narrow space through which one had to maneuver, but a paying a little attention made it easy. Overall the trail made for a fun day with family and friends. Once we reached Pahrump we had lunch at Artesian Cellars which everyone in the group can recommend.

We went up from the Pahrump side. There is a closed gate with no trespassing signs approximately 15-16 miles up. If we took a wrong turn, I dont know where. Other than that, the trail was fun. We took the Wallace Canyon loop on the way back. Saw beautiful wild horses. Ended with a tasting of delicious wine at Pahrump Valley Winery.

I have been over Wheeler pass 3 times. First 2 times were in the early 90's. First two times I had a 92 Jeep Wrangler. The first trip was sort of a shakeout ride for the jeep, The second time involved alcohol, and playing poker at the end of the road in Pahrump. The last time was in September of 2020. The last trip was like the first trip in the sense it was a shakeout ride for a newly acquired vehicle, a 2018 Subaru Crosstrek, lifted, aftermarket heavy suspension, and skid plates under engine and transmission. for my first two trips I had come up from the Las Vegas side, the last trip I came up from Pahrump (where I now Live). In the 20-30 years between the first two trips the trail has degraded tremendously. On the first trips, the road was an easy drive on a basic dirt road. Since then, the road has not been maintained at all, and has seen a large increase in traffic, especially traffic from Razor and other four wheeled buggies. I think torn up roads are not a bad thing; it makes them fun and challenging. Coming up from Pahrump is much easier and not that rough. The part of the road coming out of Cold Creek is the worst part of the road when nearing the pass. While I made it down coming from Pahrump there is no way I would of made it over in the Subaru coming up from Las Vegas. At the bottom, I can really sum it up by saying my skid plates and traction boards just paid for themselves and made a great investment, plus I had an excuse to buy a BF hammer to repair the skid plate. It was also a great learning experience, which is something I had in the back of my mind. I had thought long and hard between buying my third jeep, or going with a Subaru. Wheeler Pass was close to being a "trail to far" for the cross trek. This trip gave me a much better understanding of what a Subaru can do compared to a jeep. These days I lean more towards overlanding then off roading and playing in the dirt. My Subaru will go all the places I really want to go, and makes a much better daily driver then a Jeep. 0n neither jeep trips did the jeep sustain any kind of damage, although I got hung up on trip1 in a way the Subaru would never.

Good ride that goes though a variety of different environments and lots of good views. stock 1994 Honda passport made it. You can make it. Certainly easier to go from the Pahrump side for sure.

What a Fun Trail, 6 Jeeps Total, 1 Stock Gladiator, 2 Stock JL and a Couple of Nicely built Jeeps.

I think the rating is accurate depending on the vehicle. 3 stars is definitely for vehicles with higher clearance. My Jeep has a 3.5" lift and did bottom out just once. There are a lot of rocks and many with sharp edges. I saw many with fresh fluids on them; so someone is going to be unhappy with their driveway in the mornings! I think vehicles with smaller stance can navigate between a lot of the larger rocks but make sure to have a spotter! Plan ahead and be prepared because there is almost no cell phone service. Download your maps early and make sure you can view them offline. At intersection 18 I think is where you want to take the left to avoid a lot of the large rocks and narrow paths. I can't wait to come back and do this during the day. We started late in the afternoon and the dark consumed us. We were ok and prepared for it, because we knew about losing light faster. Loving doing trails in the dark with good lights!

Based on a previous review, a friend and I took a trip over Wheeler Pass to update the trail conditions. Today was a great day to explore the Spring Mountains National Recreation Area. The skies were blue with scattered clouds, the temperature was in the low 60's in the morning and low 70's when coming down into Pahrump at the end of the trail. We saw only one other group (which consisted of a stock Tundra, 2 stock Tacomas, and a stock 4Runner) on the trail the entire time. I did raise the trail rating from 3 low and 3 high to 3 low and 5 high. This would depend on the vehicle, driver skill, and the line chosen in the rocky areas. As a reviewer suggested, it is always a good idea to have a spotter and a second vehicle in case you find yourself in a tough spot.

This is definitely not a 3 (Moderate). The ratings on this site are all over the place :( Anyway I'm not sure if there has been rock movement but there is no way a stock 4 x 4 could get through there today. ON the main wheeler road between way points 14 and 15 there are a few spots with very large rocks and little room to find a line. If you have a few inches of lift you should be fine though. We had multiple people coming down telling us the road was not passable. :( Oh well time to add more height :) On the bright side we got to use our rescue gear. Definitely would not advise doing this in a single vehicle, having a buddy to pull you out of a spot is good.

Good trail. I came in from the West near Pahrump. Around waypoint 21, I got a little turned around and missed the Wheeler Pass sign which is behind a tree. First few miles in from route 160 are very easy, but really scenic. Stock Nissan Pathfinder.

I have run this trail many time in several different Jeeps. Each time it is a load if fun. I always stop at the charcoal kilns and set up for lunch, hang a few hammocks and relax in the cool mountain air. Wheeler pass has its challenging lines and a few bypass options. It isn't anything but fun though. Plus, you can stop into the McDonald's in Pahrump for an ice cream cone before you make the trek back to Vegas.

We took our Ford F250 to the top! Super fun and challenging trail especially for anyone with with a vehicle larger than a Jeep. 10 out of 10 would recommend and do this trail again.

It's a beautiful pass, but more technical than I thought. The climb up to the pass from the east side is much tougher than from the west. There's long stretches of rocks (minimal scraping to be expected on a stock Jeep Wrangler) and you'll need a spotter in a couple of places. This being said, there's some beautiful scenery, we saw wild horses and gorgeous Joshua trees. Well worth doing, but don't go alone (or at least take a satellite SOS beacon in case of problems).

What a great way to beat the heat of Las Vegas! went out with the Desert Wranglers from Carpenter Canyon in Pahrump through Wheeler Pass and finished in Cold Creek. Traveled to the camping area where there was some water running on the trail the headed to the Kiln site for lunch. Ride was nice and not technical for the most part. There were a couple of short hill climbs, nice mud puddles and we maneuvered through some washed out roads going up and down some of the hills. It was an enjoyable ride and was about thirty degrees cooler on the mountain was able to map this on my GPS so I tango back soon. There were a lot of roads that broke off and I got off track a few months ago by myself but now I am ready to go out with some other friends.

Made it a about 6 miles in, full size truck extra cab. Turns get away too tight and tough to maneuver. Definitely becomes a short wheelbase trail.

JEEP RENEGADE DESERT HAWK 2017 (STOCK) Had great time on this trail, got to see some wild horses and some amazing landscape.

Went up Wheeler Pass for a two-day outing starting on 9/9/17. Finding the trail was pretty easy, but worth noting you do pass through a small section of private property and past a house at the start (just after Waypoint 3). Took the advice to walk both rock gardens and that was helpful and it does appear to be a water course and could get washed out after a storm. There were some challenging spots but the lifted 2003 Tacoma had sufficient clearance. I would say the hardest part (for me) was the sharp left turn just before the summit (between Waypoint 16 and 17). With the longer truck (6 ft bed) navigating the two boulders positioned within the turn I had to do some repositioning to get the right angle and it still was a bit of a step. Camped and photographed at the pass summit, and the temps were cool but pleasant. Woke up to a large Elk Bull bugling right outside of my truck at 3am, and the herd (harem) of 8 stuck around until sunrise and I was able to get some photos. So far so good! The descent is generally easier, although the trail is tighter/overgrown and a much wider truck would get some pin striping as mine got a little. Some fun rock garden sections too. There are also many more sections that follow water courses and it would be problematic to do this in or after a big storm. Beautiful route and the camping added a lot of value to it with the wildlife experience I was hoping for. *I will add photos to this as soon as they are uploaded.*

Took the kids in our Suburban up Wheeler from Cold Creek to Pahrump, stayed on the Wheeler Pass rd the entire time without taking any easier way up or down shortcuts. Uphill was a little rough fro the erosion but more than manageable. Drive down was fun as always. Shot a timeleapse of the drive in 1sec intervals and stretched it out to double speed. It was windy the previous several days, Wheeler Pass sign was knocked off, I righted it and leaned it against the post to get documented proof that we were there.

The weather in Las Vegas is starting to heat up, so it was a great day to visit Wheeler Pass Road to update the trail information and to ensure the winter weather did not drastically change the trail. There was plenty of vegetation blooming on the sides of the trails and the rabbits were out enjoying the warmer weather. No major changes to the trail. Wheeler Pass trail is a very scenic trail with plenty of mild rock gardens to keep the drive interesting.