Big Bear mini-report

I made it out to SoCal Saturday and linked up with a guys from another forum. There was a 1994 Grand Cherokee, a 1995 Mitsubishi Montero SR, a 1997 LR Discovery, and my Tacoma. Let me just say that if you love 4x4 then the BB area is a solid place to hit someday as there are many trails from basic forest roads to some hard hittin carnage trails. Huge lake, some neat funky small "villages" and 7000-8000' mountains. Weather was awesome. I could easily spend days there just exploring and chilling.

But all I had was one looong day and ran a few trails, including one (John Bull) that we turned around on because it was turning to shit and the Discovery broke a rear axle and the Montero smashed his rear diff several times, bent both ends of his bumper up 4" so it looked like a smiley face, lost a piece of plastic trim, smashed the passenger rocker panel good enough to make both doors stick, and broke some plastic around a tail light. I took a few good bumps and scrapes along the bottom but nothing serious. GREAT TIMES! Some pictures!

 

Sounds like you had a great time

 

Sounds like you had a good time! I can't help but think I ran into you guys on Saturday up there. I was wheeling solo with some from friends in my truck while my company was out on the trails with the Big Bear Jeep Jamboree 2013 attendees. They were all over the place up there Saturday. I started off at Polique Canyon, went to Holcomb Valley, then down to Rim of the World and Coaxey Rd, back to the lake, wrapped around to the south side and hit all the forest roads south of the lake to the canyon edge along Skyline Dr.

Weather was amazing...one of the best trips I've had up there. Few of our guys took damage on similar trails, but nothing too serious.

 

Yeah, we squeezed ahead of 20 jeeps staging at the start of Gold Mountain... and ran across a bunch more over the day. Never really affected us though and interesting to see the different rigs.

 

Must have been my guys. Their rigs are maxed out with mods, so they were with the more advanced group.

 

that place looks fun. whats the difficulty like?

 

Depends on the trail you're on. Everything from fire roads you can do with a stock Corolla to trails like John Bull where you need 4x4, locked front and rear, armored bumpers, skids, sliders, winches and other recovery gear.

IFS can do it all, but SAS makes it much easier for the off camber stuff.

 

You'll probably get 10 different answers from 10 different people, but I'll give you my impression. There is a very extensive network of trails, and many are simple graded dirt roads. Some of the more popular named trails I'd recommend ~33" tires, ~2.5" lift, one locker, and sliders to do safely and effectively... but driver skill can mitigate some of those a bit. The John Bull Trail (the one we turned around on) has become more difficult over the years and is the hardest trail out there (although I hear Holcomb Creek Trail come close). Definitely recommend 35" tires, 3"+ lift, locker(s), very low gears, armor. It's nearly out of expo type rig class and getting into serious crawler territory.

 

Sounds like a fucking blast!! Maybe I'll try to get out there. I love trying the hard stuff.

Where can I get a map of the area and maybe more info on the location and stuff?

 

Dude, Jamie if you're EVER out here, please PM me!!! I'd love to hit the trails with you and see the rig in action.

http://sbnf-adopt-a-trail.com/files/Big_Bear_Area_4x4_Trail_Map_PDF.pdf

http://www.dirtopia.com/wiki/Big_Bear

 

Thanks a lot man. I'll give you a shout if I make plan to come down there. I'm headin to the rubicon in September, but I don't think we have time to detour to big bear!

 

You'll have way more fun out at Rubicon. That's a trail that people will drive for thousands of miles to drive on. Big Bear is just a nice escape from all the hustle and bustle of SoCal for us local guys

 

JB can easily be done with just a rear locker and 33" tires provided of course equipped with sliders at the min for armor

 

I'd have to disagree with your qualifier "easily." I have 33" tires and rear locker, and it was pretty much impassable unless you stacked like crazy, strapped up a couple spots, and would still suffer some damage. Error 404: Easy not found.

Some will depend on driver skill and the type of vehicle, and much more will depend on the condition of the trail on a given day. Trail conditions can change weekly and one day someone might get through no problem and another day they won't.

If I were to give a blanket statement I would stay conservative with something in the '35" tires and dual lockers' realm, knowing that if the stars align something lesser might get through.

 

Like you said, guess it all depends on driver skill

 

lolz... I said some will depend on driver skill!

 

Next time that you are in SoCal hit me up and I'll take you to Cougar Buttes and run the Bull Frog, CakeWalk , and Hammer Down trails. Or we can do Calico. And if you are ready for a real challenge we can do the easy trails at The Hammers

Same invitation applies for SpoonMan too!

 

I'll definitely keep that in mind... if you keep my rig build in mind