Trail Discussion: Sat - Jan 4th. Need trail reccommendation

[nwoods]

I'm in a stock Montero with 33" KM2's and a rear locker. No sliders, or skids.

My last few trails in this truck were Cleghorn, Berdoo Canyon, Gold Mountain/Jacoby, Rattlesnake, and Last Chance.

I'm looking for suggestions on where to go with similar difficulty as Gold Mtn/Last Chance. I'd like to stay within 2 hours of OC. I'll be dragging along a guy with a stock 97 TJ on 31's, all open, no lift.

What do you recommend?

[nwoods]

Maybe Horsethief Flats or Heartbreak Ridge?

[Russ Chung]

Nathan,

At this time of year, the Big Bear trails may have patches of snow and/or ice. If you have tire chains, you should be OK; last year, I tried to run up Heartbreak Ridge without tire chains but I could only get to the Pontiac before the trail got too icy. I suggest you try trails in the low desert such as Anza-Borrego or Truckhaven.

Russ

[nwoods]

Well, my son has turned 15.5 years old, which means he is eligible to start the driver's ed process. He has requested that we go somewhere where he can drive, and since he's turned down most of my attempts to get him behind the wheel in the past, he's not practised enough for anything technical. I think we are going to head out to Afton Caynon and the dunes between it and Soda Lake and let him cruise around.

[6spdYJ]

If you go out toward Lucerne Valley on the 247, if you keep looking north after you get east of Apple Valley you will see a big dry lakebed. There are a few dirt roads to it to practice stopping and starting at intersections and it would provide a good open area to learn some basics.

[brokenujoint]

Corral Canyon. About 2 hrs from you. Salton Sea, about 1.5 hrs from you.

[nwoods]

I'll have to look up Corral Canyon. Not familiar with that one. We went to Afton Canyon had a ton of fun! If you guys have never explored the slot canyon known as Spooky Canyon you HAVE to do it. It's fantastic! Wear good shoes and bring headlamps, as there is a bit of scampering around within the slot, and it's completely dark in sections. Totally cool. Had tons of fun playing in the sand dunes southwest of Soda Lake too. Lots of sand hills to climb, and wide open dunes. I had no idea!

Photos: http://nwoods.smugmug.com/Montero/tr...nyon-Soda-Lake

Fav's
The entrance to Spooky Canyon (just a bit west of the main trestle bridge):




Misc:

[daniel_buck]

what tires are those?

(edit) oh nevermind, I see you mentioned them in your first post :yawn:

[Moabrubi]

Aweome pics, I'm running Afton soon, how do you get to the spooky canyon and the dunes? Are the dunes decent sized?

We are also planning on going to Kelso Dunes to hear the "singing" dunes

[nwoods]

Spooky Canyon is easy to spot. It's just behind that low concrete bridge in my photo on the north side of the canyon, about a half mile WEST of the big trestle bridge. I don't know about big. They are not like Glamis or Pismo, or even Dumont, but they are dunes, and they are fun. They are south and slightly west of Soda Lake.