Diablo Dropoff

Diablo Dropoff is surrounded by a network of trails in Anza-Borrego Desert State Park. How hard this obstacle/trail is depends greatly upon weather conditions and seismic activity. The very first time I went through Diablo Dropoff in 2012, the dropoff was heavily eroded and rutted.This gradually got worse until the dropoff was impassable due to part of the trail collapsing. Sometime later, the trail was restored and the dropoff was pretty mild. As always, the trail is gradually degrading and becoming more interesting to drive through. After going down the dropoff, there a few rocky washes and the trail gets easy again. A good, stock 4×4 with some ground clearance should be able to make it through the trail.



Even without the trail being difficult though, the views are spectacular and worth taking a look at even if you don’t drive all the way through. Since their is a lot of seismic activity in the area, don’t spend to much time in the mud caves or under overhangs. Rainstorms can also cause the cliffs to collapse. From the southern end, this trail can be reached by taking S-2, exiting onto Canyon Sin Nombre, heading north and turning right onto Arroyo Seco Del Diablo after about five miles, then turning right after seeing the sign for Diablo Dropoff after about six miles. There are other ways of reaching this trail, which I will happily type up about in due time or for anyone who asks.

The video is embedded below and all of the photos may be found here on my blog, enjoy!

https://youtu.be/uubOvYMjFR4

https://youtu.be/5PWfvDJc8tg

https://youtu.be/kCaUC8sS61c

Here's some video footage of lower quality from an older trip:

https://youtu.be/uMVV8hRh7U4

 

Nice... I have been over the Diablo Dropoff going both directions and last time was with the SoCalTaco gang headed by Reckless Taco. On that trip, there were a few PreRunners and one fellow (James) who didn't even have a locker... and while backing up to take another run at climbing the Dropoff, got stuck in a sand pile! Now, there were a bunch of Jeep Club guys on top and they were all saying it would be impossible for any of our Tacoma pickups to pull that 4 door 2WD Tacoma out of the sand and UP the Diablo DropOff... Well, I stepped forward and said, with A-TRAC, anything is possible in a Tacoma. LOOK:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9m1u1pba4Ps

The Jeep guys were in total disbelief! LOL

 

But bruh, you don't even have a Jeep! You don't really wheel! Where's your Dana 30 front axle?! But seriously, I've watched several Jeeps with rather large tires fail to climb up the dropoff. Right around the last turn their engines were lugging and they just sort of came to a stop.

 

I sold my new Jeep ages ago after almost every part of it failed... 2 years a Jeep owner was enough! I owned one other American brand since, and it was also a disaster. What was reliable and never broke down, (except a timing belt once on a Subaru), my three Subaru 4WD wagons, my Mitsubishi Mighty Max truck, my Mazda MPV van, my three Toyota Tacomas! See the trend? Go Japanese for quality and affordability.