CA off-roading

Hello Tacoma World. My name is Steve; although I own a jeep; we share same same passion; off-roading. I'm here for a couple reasons; first to get you involved locally with road/trail closures and to tell you about an upcoming event. First on my soap box. Whether you are informed or not; CA off-road organizations and hunters; snowmobilers; horesmen etc have been fighting in court for the last 10-15 years on our behalf to keep our public lands open to motorized recreation. As a four wheeler; you need to be involved simply by being informed and joining our state and local groups, or form your own club and join our state organization. CA4WDC is not just a rock-crawler organization. It represents all who want to have access to our lands. They, with other state organizations; are in the forefront fighting in court to slow the extreme environmentalists assault on our rights to have motorized recreation on public lands. Go to CA4WDC website and see what is going on and how just your membership helps the battle. We need your numbers; your dollars; and involvement? Also check out sharethetrailsorg. Blue Ribbon Coalition; the national organization involved in all 50 states in the same effort. I had the pleasure of meeting several Tacoma owners at a recent event at Hollister at the ohv park a few weeks back. I would like to invite you back to CA4WDC event; the Molina Ghost Run. They offer an suv and a no locker run at this event. It is being held May 9-11th. The main run requires 1 locker and is a harder trail with obstacles. Registration includes one guided run; one dinner;raffle ticket and dash plaque. Check it out at cal4wdc.com/molina-ghost-run. Hope you get involved and see ya on the trail.

 

Welcome to TW. Thanks for keeping us posted. Unfortunately, I'm not available that weekend to join you guys, but maybe post in the NorCal section, as it gets more traffic by us locals

http://www.tacomaworld.com/forum/northern-california/

http://www.tacomaworld.com/forum/northern-california/53517-norcal-spotted-bs-thread.html

 

This link works better.

http://www.cal4wheel.com/events/molina-ghost-run

 

Hey Steve...I'm taking an extended trip to your beautiful state in early June...mind giving me a bit of advice? My trip is basically a Hwy 395 drive from Mt Whitney to Lake Tahoe over ten days, and I want to drive every dirt and primitive road possible...hopefully either to lakes or trail heads.

I've bought the Imus map, http://www.imusgeographics.com/smartlist_73/sierra-nevada-map and it clearly marks dirt and primitive roads, but it's hard to know the condition and what that implies though. We're staying off Rock Creek road south of Mammoth for half of the trip (and S Lake Tahoe for the rest) so my plan was to go to the ranger stations there and ask about day drives and such. Think that's a legit plan, or should I plan more specifically on what I want to do? I've found tons of articles on the area but I didn't want to buy guide books and maps and then the rangers tell me otherwise.

I don't have a locker, a lift, or a winch, but otherwise I've prepared my vehicle for recovery as best I can. I'm about to buy a dedicated set of off-road tires, advice appreciated, and a compressor...really just getting as ready as possible before we head that way.

I'm not opposed to the roads east of 395, but we were shooting for the west side mostly...hopefully there are plenty of gas stations since my truck gets horrible mileage even before I throw on M/Ts.

 

I'm subbed to hear responses on this! I have heard great things about Laurel Lakes Rd outside of Mammoth. I have yet to explore the dirt roads north of mammoth. But I hear that there is a trail that goes up and overlooks Convict Lake. Def gonna hit them this summer, but the majority of good trails I think are in the Southern Tahoe region, the stretch of 395 north of Whitney towards Tahoe is so steep there aren't very many dirt trails I have heard of. If you're into old mines, Cerro Gordo Rd is on the east side of 395 (not where you wanted to go) but is rugged (doable in stock) and goes up to a very well kept old mining town complete with groundskeeper who can talk your ear off about anything mining and anything related to Cerro Gordo and surrounding areas. Not too far off the highway. Also the dirt road to Bodie and Chemung and Pittsburg Liberty mine off the east side of 395 out of Bridgeport is scenic and full of history- easily doable in stock truck. As far as I can remember, (having driven 395 from Tahoe to Mojave three times) there are gas stations in every tiny town on the 395, usually set about 30 miles from each other, some stretches north of mammoth get farther apart. Of course gas gets pricey in the smaller towns so maybe carry some spare tanks? Enjoy your trip! Hope to see lots of pics up afterwards!

 

Gaston; first check out the book Backcountry Adventures Northern California and High Sierra Region by Massey & Wilson. Not sure of the route your taking but here are a couple suggestions. Once nearing 395; check out the Death Valley route from south to north back to 395. Bad Water; Furnace Creek and Scottys castle are worth the side trip. Off of 395 at Lone Pine is the short hop to Mt Whitney portal. Further up near Bishop is the Ancient Bristlecone Pine forest. At Mammoth Lakes is Mammoth Mtn and Devils Postpiles. Near Lee Vining is Mono Lake and the Tufa towers and the volcanic cones. If time; the drive up Tioga Pass to the Yosemite park entrance is neat. Then decide to continue into the park to the lake or just turn around and head back to 395. Before Bridgeport is Bodie; the mining town being left in a state of decay. Interesting and the mine stamping tour is worth it for history of the town and obtaining gold from the ore. Hiway 395 continues north towards Carson City, and Virginia City is worth the trip as well. Between Virginia City and Carson City is a hill range with dirt backroads that lead to the wild horses. Visitor info sites at either locations should have details. On line with local 4 wheel groups if needed. As far as the Tahoe area; you could spend 10 days there alone. But be sure to take the Lake loop around Hiway 89 for the most part. On the western side of Tahoe near Tahoma is one entrance to the Rubicon and McKinney trails. From this point you can drive back quite a ways on the Rubicon to the lookout point above Rubicon Springs. Past the lookout is for rigs built for the hard trails. Lockers, winches; ground clearence and body protection. Hope that gives you a little help. Gas should be no problem on 395 but I would carry an extra five gals in case. I'm sure you will have ample water for the side roads and hikes available as well as plenty of good snacks to have in case. June is a good time to travel but in the Sierra Nevada range; thunder strorms are frequent in the summer months so raingear is handy if caught in one. You didn't mention if you are camping or hitting the motels. I f more info is needed let me know; I'm sure others will chime in with their favorites as well. Oh; near the Mt Whitney portal are the Alabama Hills as well. Good Luck! Steve

 

Wow, thanks for the information. It'll take a bit for me to break all that down and ingest it, but I really appreciate it.

I didn't expect much rain, do you think I'd be better off with M/Ts over All Terrain tires?

 

Great books! Offers some history about the area and then a very detailed narrative of the trails, literally will tell you "track right at 0.2 miles, track left at 0.3miles" so that you don't wander off on random side trails. I have found those books super useful and makes for a fun read! I bought the High Sierras region on Amazon used for 5 bucks! Granted the maps aren't super detailed but combined with a topo map of the region and you can't get lost.

 

Gaston; not sure on the tires to choose; most big name dealers will steer you in the right direction. As for the rain; northern Sierras are always prone to afternoon thundershowers and its hit and miss; just carry a raincoat and take precautions while hiking and lightning is around. Lightning likes granite and trees.

 

I bought the High Sierra offering from California Trails series, apparently they renamed them. Can't wait to read it.

Truck is pretty much ready. I bought some Cooper Maxx tires, they seemed to be a perfectly aggressive a/t tire. Getting close. Thanks for the help guys.

 

There are lots of dirt roads to explore on the east side of 395 between Mono Lake and Bodie, including a 'back way' into Bodie from the North. From those same back roads, you could do a side trip to Aurora (Ghost town/active gold mine) which is just inside of Nevada.

Be sure to bring a good map of the area. Easy roads for a basically stock truck.

 

Just picked up this book, thanks for the recommendation, I'm supper excited to get check out a lot of these trails and do some wheeling and camping...