Keenan Small

Visited the trail again and today upon arrival there was a Forest Ranger who we spoke to and he said this trail, as well as many other trails in the San Bernardino National Forest, are closed until Jun 30th for public safety due to recent weather and incidents of people getting stuck. ***As per Forest Ranger; CLOSED until Jun 30th***

Ran this in my 2011 JKU Sport on 4” lift, 35 MT’s, and 5.13 gears, along with my dad in his 2015 JKU Rubi on a 3” lift with 35 MT’s. Did some shooting before we explored the trail, ended up only doing about 1/4 due to it being completely blown out from the storm that recently came through SoCal and we didn’t have time anyways. Lots of deep trenches from water run off and thick mud as well as several water crossings. We also ran into a downed tree which hadn’t been completely clear so I used my handsaw to clear the rest of the tree from the path. I rated this trail as harder simply because the state it is in right now is not an easy rating and I would not personally try to drive this in a stock vehicle, although you could probably make it. Bring some sort of saw and shovel if you do plan on attempting this trail all the way through just in case you need it.

Ran this in our 2011 JKU with 4” lift, 35’s, and 5.13 gears, and another 2015 JKU with 3” lift and 35’s. About 85% of the trail is washboard dirt road, but the remaining 15% is definitely on the high end of moderate rating. Around the middle of the trail is when things get more interesting as you go through a mountain pass area and the trail gets more treacherous. We ended up hitting that hard section of the trail in the dark and made it just fine, but it is slow going and I would highly advise against it without at least a small lift and big tires. It did seem like rain had washed the trail out possibly making it more difficult than it has been in the past. As we are pretty experienced off-roaders at this point we did not spot each other, but beginners will definitely require good spotting in the hard section to make it through without body damage. Last thing to note is the difficult section is pretty much on a shelf road so if you are nervous of heights beware.

Drove this in our Jeep JKU on 35" MT's, with 4" lift and 5.13 gears. Suffice to say we did not encounter anything our rig was not capable of doing, we started on the west end and it was definitely slow going as the snow and water runoff have created some pretty sizeable ruts that you could end up getting stuck in if you are not careful. Also there was a lot of ice while we were there so several spots were a bit sketchy and we did a decent amount of sliding, so choose your lines wisely and just take it slow and you will be just fine. Saw lots of side by sides as well. I rated this trail as harder than normal just because of the weather and elements. Overall had a fun time with the wife and baby with us.