Barrett Lake Trail in my double cab long bed

Last weekend I took on the Barrett Lake Jeep trail. It's located near Wrights Lake. I was invited to go with family that have some really nice rigs. A Land Cruiser and a Bronco on 40s. Without them this trip would not be possible. It doesn't seem like too many people are rock crawling tight trails in a double cab long bed (for good reason) so I was unsure of whether this was a good idea but all things considered it went pretty good. This Trail is super tight and quite technical. I'm on 35s with a rear locker and all the skids except for rear bumper. My skids and sliders were a definite must! I thought I would share my journey and challenge.

Right at the start of this trail there is a gate and if you're not wide enough to fit you are not wide enough to make it on the trail. I barely fit.


Not more than 100 ft from the gate is one of the harder lines called Gatekeeper. At first I was lining up pretty well and then slipped off a rock and got hung up on my leaf spring. I pulled out some winch line and was able to get by but then I was dangerously close to this tree and if I went any more forward I was going to slam into it. We hooked the high lift jack from a tree to the rock slider and applied a bunch of pressure to pull the truck sideways a little bit. I then slowly drove forward and I cleared the tree.


Next up the trail was going pretty good but I would soon find that the length of my truck would be an issue. Getting around some of the tight obstacles was quite challenging. I got hung up on a rock and needed a little pull to get off of it but it was quick. Not more than a half mile later coming around a tight corner with trees rubbing on the wheels I ripped off a valve stem. This is when I realized I needed wheels that gave my valve stems more protection. I do have Apex valve stems which are stiff and have no give so that is not a good thing either. Not a big deal as I changed the spare tire but I'm now nervous about ripping off more valve stems.

At this point I'm barely into the trail and have three incidents but we continue on and things start to go much better. Here we are at a bridge crossing. I had to do a three-point turn to get over this bridge and then there is a steep climb with a gnarly line on the other side.


We continue on the trail without much incident. For the other two rigs this was not much of a challenge but I feel challenged almost the whole time. We came to a steep section that took me about 10 minutes to get through because I had to change my angle several times and stack rocks but I made it. At this point I stopped taking any pictures because it was starting to get late. We put on the trail at 4:30. We came to a section called S turn and right before it was some gnarly rocks where I got stuck and had to use my winch. S-turn has a number of obstacles but it is also super tight and I had to do like a 10-point turn to make it through.


Many more fun obstacles all the way to the lake. We didn't get there till 10pm. Ate a little food , drank some whiskey and beer and went to bed.
Here's a pic of where we camped next morning with one of my brothers and their two kids


We hung out at the lake till about noon. eating food, fishing and went out on my paddle board as well. Such a cool place I wish we were staying longer but we headed out. I felt like on the way back I had learned a lot about my truck and how to navigate it better than on the way in. Some things that were harder on the way in were easier on the way out and vice versa. There was a steep hill with some big boulders that I got stuck on and had to get a quick pull.
We ran into some friends that were headed into the trail and stopped for lunch for a couple hours which was probably too long because we would get into some trouble.


First my brother's Bronco popped a hose on the radiator but luckily I had a full jug of water and an extra hose clamp so we fixed that. Next I broke off another valve stem! With no spare we would have to repair the valve step. My brother carries backup valve stems that can be easily replaced but because I have these fancy valve stems that don't come out easily we had to drill the valve stem out. It was a pretty easy fix. Aired the tire back up and we were on our way.


Things were going good until the Broncos took a huge gash in the sidewall tire. We attempted to repair it but it was so big that the patch did not last and had no spare tire so he just drove out on the tire. It was amazing to see how the bead lock just held onto the tire.


This next obstacle posed a challenge that I did not face on the way in but on the way out I had to choose a different line which was also a little gnar but it went well...


Things went pretty good from here as we were getting towards the end however I still had to make it past the GateKeeper. It was a little sketchy as I got really close to the tree, then made it past the tree and had to stack rocks and almost slammed into a boulder but made it without incident. At this point it was dark we were pretty tired but it was so fun!
I learned a lot on this trail. I learned about the capabilities of my truck and how to pick lines that I had never attempted before. I came prepared with lots of tools and spare parts which I didn't end up using so I'm really happy for that. I was expecting to break an axle or tie rod but only broke off my valve stems which could have been prevented if I had different wheels.
I've been asking myself whether I would go back and I I think I will but I think there are a few things I would like to modify to the truck. I found this trail quite challenging but it was such a great learning experience and so much fun!

Saw this thing on the trail

 

I miss the old school internet and forums where guys(and gals) just posted their stories and adventures(with pics). Shit's so damn wholesome. Taught me how to do so much shit. Showed me all kinds of new shit.

 

Awesome trip report and more DCLB wheeling!

 

Great write up and well done! That confirms everything I had suspected from reading about that trail. Here's my poser pic from the gate a few years back when we back packed in the area.

 

Nice!

 

How wide is the gate? I also have a bronco on 40s

 

https://hi-landers.com/BLT/BLT.html

 

Thanks, I'm a little over 84" should be fine. We've been wanting to try this trail. But I knew there was width restriction. Is there room to park a 4dr long bed f350 and a car trailer ?

 

Right at the trailhead there is a couple of spots that are tight and very little room to turn around. My friends parked their trailer about a mile before you get to the trailhead there's a big opening on the side of the road where many people have parked trucks and trailers.
Really cool trail. The lake is awesome as well. You should give it a go

 

https://youtube.com/shorts/rr75ZhftSfo?si=P7tFs0mJ5RUEeVBf

https://youtube.com/shorts/Yu7j3886Q-o?si=jCFEb1mEr06ydKG-