3N16 - holcomb valley trail conditions

Anyone been up there since the storm?

I'm wondering if the valley got dumped with snow? Might make for a fun day trip this weekend or possibly a disaster .

 

I’ve been up here since the 19th. Played around there this week. Pretty fun, got about 10-14” so it was manageable.

 

Coxey trail/3n14 from Hesperia up into Big Bear is a lot of fun in the snow, it's not difficult by any means as long as you have 4wd and good tires.

I ran it about a month ago during the first snow of the season and there were a lot of idiots on that trail that day, got stuck behind a group of Jeeps that looked like it was their first time in the snow. Obviously hadn't aired down and were sliding all over the place, a Suburban was trying to get around them and one of the Jeeps tried to make room and slid sideways right into the side of the Suburban lol. Guy was so pissed.

Holcomb Valley Road/3n16, the part that goes toward Green Valley can get a little more hairy if conditions are bad. It's still just a normal fire road but it's more rutted in areas with steeper sections. Still a lot of fun though, just beware of other drivers that don't know what they are doing or are going way too fast for the conditions. That's the biggest threat up in Big Bear

 

Yeah that's funny. I was coming down the backside down Burns Canyon Road when the snow started to come down and was trying to cross with a jeep that kept sliding into my lane as I approached. I finally put out my hand and told him to stop and HOLD as I passed him by. His jeep "looked" way more capable than my tacoma with stock tires but I was aired down.

My buddy wants to run up it with a Subi w/BFG's so kind of gauging if we would have issues. Thanks for the reply.

 

I was just in Big Bear and it dumped a ton of snow. I think it will clear up pretty quick though. No more snow anticipated until next week.

 

Yeah I dunno how well a Subaru would do with much lower clearance... Depending on how deep the snow is on the trail he could get stuck pretty easily

 

I ran that trail just before the snow. Even dry and without snow burns canyon would have been a real feat for a subi in its current condition

 

I live very close to Coxey rd /3N14 and the Mariana Rancho foothills have snow on them

 

Oh, I ran with this Subi before, it's got a couple inches of lift and did fine on Burns Canyon (no snow) previously. The snow does make a difference though. Maybe we hit up the desert instead.

 

Good to know. Thanks for the heads up.

 

Yeah if it's deep enough he could get buried pretty easily

 

Though I don't know if I've seen snow that deep on the trails in Big Bear except for the one time I was up there when they got hit with that record breaking snow storm in Jan 2017. People were stuck all over the place, was like snowmaggedon for socal.

 

That was when Big Bear itself was snowed in right? That was definitely heavy season.

 

Yeah it was crazy. Was my wife and I's first date and we went snowboarding, storm came in late afternoon and dumped a few feet real quick. That month was the most snow they've gotten in 30 days in their history. We were lucky we almost took her Accord up that day, but decided to take my truck at the last minute. We barely got out of there lol.

Was mostly so crazy because of all the people up there that were totally unprepared for it

 

LOL yeah that was a mess. I remember it rained for like a month straight, at least that's what it felt like.

 

3N16 as of yesterday. Did most of it in 4Hi with K02s. If you have experience driving in the snow (and now ice), then it’s doable. Just keep an eye out for the ice...

 

Don't be to quick to doubt the Subaru's. Outbacks with good tires are very capable even in deeper snow.

 

I ended up running Old Dale Road from the south with my Subi partner. It was more work for him than me, for sure but was really impressed with the Subi. A few spots and a couple of rocks stacked and he made it over everything without any damage or external tugs. I would not be surprised that it would do better in the snow. I have heard good things about Subi's and snow. Maybe next week!

 

I used to have an 04 Impreza and it was a beast in the snow and all I ever had on it were regular, all-season tires. My brother had a 94 Impreza with snow tires when he lived in Tahoe and it was unstoppable. I've only had my truck for a year now and am, in general, new to trucks so I'm still getting used to it. But so far I'd wager a guess that in shallow snow and ice conditions my Subaru would perform better than my Tacoma if not absolutely run circles around it. Deep snow, uneven road conditions, other obstacles...etc then the Tacoma will start to shine for sure and the Subaru would start to have more issues.