Beginner off-road trails in socal?

I'm thinking that you'd be okay too, just be careful on the switchbacks and some narrow spots.

Punch in this address:
36342 CA-78
Julian, CA 92036

The picture below is if you are heading EAST BOUND from Escondido on the 78fwy.

Anyways, punching in that address and you will be very near the trailhead on the 78fwy side. You will see about 3x or 4x mailboxes on the right-hand side and a road going up. Make a right at that point.


Go up that road for maybe/roughly 100yds and you will come up on a "locked gate". It only looks locked... just go up, open, go through, and make sure to close.

I've never known that gate to actually be locked, but who knows nowadays given the fools starting fires... at least up here in Orange County.

Here is an annotated map(s):



This is the spot at the bottom:


Make a left on the S2 and it will take you back up to the 78fwy. You will come to a T-intersection.


If you want to head back to Escondido then make a left at this point.

If you want to go to Split Mountain Road to get to Fish Creek Wash, then make a right at this point

Hope this helps and safe travels!!!

 

You could also go see the pictographs at Blair Valley on the way back or head down S2 to the Mud Caves as well.

 

Did Bee Canyon Truck trail to San Jacinto Ridge Truck trail from Hemet to Idyllwild. Great fun drive with the family. Didn't know what to expect so aired down and ran it in 4x4. Could have done the whole drive without airing down and in 2wd.

Also cleaned up a shit ton of empty beer cans and other trash that was on the trail. Hard to believe people are such pigs. Based on what we found Modello and Michelob Ultra drinkers are terrible people….

Leave it better than you found it.

 

DAMN that is a TON of cans???!!!


Very cool for you to do that!!!

I've been wanting to check that trail out.

 

Hell yeah man good on you!

 

We didn't even start collecting until we hit the creek crossing. Had we started picking up cans from the beginning of the trail we would have easily filled up two trash bags. The shooting areas are a huge mess too. I'm a hunter/gun owner and the shooting sites there are thrashed and give gun owners a bad name.

 

That is very sad to hear this. Some people just don't get it? I can guarantee you if you were to go to their house and start throwing trash everywhere and even where they sleep on their bed, they'd be PI$$ED!!!

Well, very cool and thoughtful of you to do that.

 

I wonder if the sierra mountains has good begin(to shit my pants) trails

seeing as CO has epic trails due to Rocky Mountains and peaks at 14k feet (black bear pass etc; that one is 6hr west of Denver)

and the sierras ALSO have 14k foot peaks (14’ers)
which according to Google most people park at the bottom and walk up which I’m sure is good exercise too

 

Anyone hitting the trails this long ass weekend?

 

no plans but I'd but up for a local run!

 

I ended up in Baja, but in the gas saver mobile. So no gnarly pics this time.

 

Just did Oriflamme from Box Canyon to Banner. Pretty easy with only a couple of slightly technical spots. Going to head back to do Rodriguez Canyon next.

 

Just a update: 2/3/23 Bee Canyon is closed right now due to slides. Check SBNF website for openings if interested in collecting cans

 

that's a fun one!

 

I'm going to stereotype here....it's the Side by Side drivers that are causing so much trash etc. to build up. Most pickups and SUVs have enough space that people at worst just toss their junk in the back, a SXS has none of that. Plus, they run all over the highway legal only forest roads up in Big Bear and tear up the corners etc. Just my 3 cents.

 

Okay I’ll just say it. I’m a little bitch when it comes to pinstriping. Truck is 8 years old and I don’t have any scratches or dents.

I want to get into light off-roading with my kid and not scratch the truck, so something wide would be great.

Looking for recommendations closes to San Diego/Escondido areas.

 

The desert is your best option if you don't want pinstriping, but there will be desert trails that get scrubby and will definitely give you some pinstriping as well. Get on an app like Trails Offroad or ONX and start finding trails East of you. Almost any mountain trail will have ample opportunity for pinstriping, so if you're not into doing your own pinstriping, you should stay in the "lowlands".

 

Scratch X works pretty good at getting rid of the light scratches that don’t go any deeper than the clear coat. It doesn’t work as well on the deep scratches, but not bad on the light stuff.

 

Was reading through threads I've posted on previously and came back to this.

Go out to Anza Borrego and have fun. The flowers are blooming. If you run into a pin-striping situation: back out, turn around, and go somewhere else.

I've driven through countless pinstriping situations. The squeal of fresh undergrowth against the factory clear-coat. The clunk of unseen larger branches. My cursing it for for existing.

None of it matters, so long as you have fun. It will mostly buff out. What doesn't, you wont' mind for how much fun you had causing it. The only thing you can't plausibly buff out is actual collisions with rocks or established trees, and the years of sunlight oxidizing your roof and hood. A bit of undergrowth is nothing. You might pick up a new scratch or two. You can choose to regret it, and buff it out right away. Or you can choose to embrace it, and explore more places the following weekend, and still eventually buff it out.

If you park in a garage, then perhaps your hesitation is warranted. You can have immaculate paint forever, so long as you never leave the garage. Sounds boring.

If you park outdoors, then the sun is already destroying your paint, and that alone is your limiting concern. Go have fun with your truck. Forge your way through those narrow trails. It sounds worse than it really is... and it's even more fun than it sounds.

 

If you get enough dirt and/or mud on it you won’t be able to see the scratches!