Toughest Trail You've Done With a Stock Tacoma?

yup

 

Up Simpsons behind Mike's Sky Ranch.

 

Yellow Jacket trail at Rausch Creek Offroad park in my '99 x-cab. Just on 32's and a rear locker.

 

Ya know.... I've never owned a stock Tacoma.

 

Hes not one of us!

 

We gonna get a beer one night when I get back in July ? I'm thinking Boosters.

 

Rubicon trail in a bone stock Silver (of course) 1987 4runner, 22RE ... dudes in jeeps were amazed at the trucks ability and how far I was able to get... past Miller Lake from what I can recall. I miss that truck!

 

There was a fair amount of mining going on in that whole area if you accessed it from the back side of Pine Valley I'm pretty sure you were on the 14S02 (CDF rd) its open only seasonally now, still a fun trail tho' it comes out on the desert view side of Mnt. Laguna

 

sounds good let me know when your around.

 

That may have been it. I remember we went through a big 6 foot chain link fence to get into the place that my buddy somehow had a key for? We then went through the trail for a ways and crossed a somewhat deep creek that was probably 3 or 4 feet deep in certain areas. From there, we continued on the trail until we came to a very steep hill. After climbing the hill, we came to the abandoned mines. It was definitely one of my funnest nights off roading ever. The only thing that sucked was I was a passenger in the back. My truck had just gotten stolen about a week or so earlier and the jackass that stole it blew the motor on it so I was in the middle of replacing the engine in auto shop class.

 

T he other place I'm thinking of with abandoned mines is right off Buckman Springs, take a right & it switchbacks up the hill to the top where the mines are, you used to be able to go from there all the way to lake Morena, you still can on a bike from what I'm told...

 

I have a bad memory from the Buckman Springs trail. For the 50th Anniversary of Pearl Harbor, we went out off roading there. Everyone had Toyota 4x4's that were lifted and they all had at least 33" tires. I had a 1980 Datsun 4x4 bone stock with 30" tires. The trail was a one way trail that we did at night and I had never done it before. Unfortunately, my truck also did not have enough ground clearance for the trail so I ended up snapping a torsion bar somewhere on the trail, bending both o my stabalizer bars, and denting up all of my skid plates badly. Fortunately, I found a torsion bar at a junk yard for pretty cheap and my Dad's boss was able to straighten out my stabalizer bars. I then pounded out most of the major dents in my skid plates but that trail totally destroyed my truck and my pride. In fact, that is my only time I have ever gotten trail damage from off roading. I remember how to get to the main area of Buckman Springs where we were at, because it overlooked Lake Moreno but I don't remember the exact trail. However, I want to take my 07' Tacoma on it to redeem myself if I can ever find the trail again!

 

AAHHAA !! I know where you were, I'll show you in a sec...

 

You spoke of seeing lake Morena so that puts you here in Corral canyon OHV....

 

Yep, that was the place. My Dad is in Lakeside right now for a family wedding. When I get the chance to get back home, we should run that trail.

 

You got family in Lakeside ?? Nice, I've lived here since 1958 (3 months old)

For sure we'll hit it up.. hopefully when I get a transmission HA!

the vid i posted may be the trail you spoke of (night run)...


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EwSxX87W-bU?version=3

 

In 2008 I did White Rim in a bone stock 2001 double cab - loaded down with gear for 4 mountain bike riders. We started from the Shafer end and the hardest was the 2-3 mile stretch up to the top of Murphy's. I don't think it could be done in the same truck today because Murphy's has gotten pretty bad - at least without some damage to the vehicle. If you were to do it from the other direction (Mineral Bottom), you could probably do it in a VW... The biggest thing about this trail is if you screw up or the truck beaks down, you are f***'ed, probably a $1000 tow bill.

 

A buddy and I decided to head up to Bill Moore Lake in late spring. I had my recently purchased 2010 TRD Off Road and my buddy was in a bone stock jeep liberty. The trail was still snowed over before we could get to the lake so we decided to try Mill Creek Road. Our sources said it should be just marginally more difficult than the road to the lake (which is a breeze, by the way).

Turns out Mill Creek Road wouldn't be difficult at all except that it is incredibly narrow. So narrow that there was almost never enough width to choose a line across an obstacle. We had to drive whatever line kept our mirrors between the trees. So a rock that would normally be easy to put a tire on and roll over would end up exactly beneath the diff or under the oil pan or some other annoying spot. The only option was stacking rocks to keep making progress.

The 4.5 mile trail took us just over 5 hours to complete. It was an awesome trail, but I want more clearance before I try it again. And that liberty needs A LOT more clearance before he tries it again. Took a few pictures while we were up there, but nothing of the irritating parts of the trail since I was more worried about finding a way to keep pressing forward.

 

I haven't been stock for years but this thread brought back some memories! Amazing what seemed like a hardcore trail back then. I got myself in a few jams but one comes to mind. Camping with a big crew out by Jackson meadows reservoir/meadow lake area north of Truckee, CA about 10 years ago. Was having a ball on the many miles of trails until I took a trail down by meadow lake. Got in over my head quickly. Steep descent, all rocks, drove off a 3ft drop... After about 2 hours of collecting and stacking rocks I managed to turn around and claw my way back to relative safety with two flat tires and a bent tie rod. Come to find out years later, after I knew my way around and knew the limits of my truck, my dumb ass had dropped into the legendary Fordyce Trail in a stock Tacoma on P-rated tires. If you've never heard of Fordyce, google "Sierra Trek at Fordyce/Meadow Lake" Fordyce makes the Rubicon look easy. I've had many times that involved hours of digging and stacking rocks just to get turned around and back to safety. The old 3 hour u-turn problem. Finally got a winch and enough shackles, straps, and snatch blocks to pull myself up a cliff. Live and learn.

 

Oh shit! Just remembered another good one. This was about 14 years ago. What started out as an aimless cruise on some fire roads in the Feather river canyon across the river from hwy70 outside of Orroville,Ca with my crazy ex-fiancé turned into a life or death moment. This was pre cell phone, pre gps era. Got onto a shelf road with nothing but hundreds of feet of sheer drop between me and the river. I must add that the ex was very scared of roadside cliffs and bears. We happened to see a few bears earlier in the day so tensions were high already. Crying bitchy chick ruining my fun again! My forest service map showed that the road I was on continued to what looked like a river access point. The road ended in a massive landslide with no way to turn around. Hours of digging and moving as many rocks as possible with a crying high-maintenance city girl that refused to get out of the truck because she was sure she would get mauled by a bear. Fkn awesome! Definitely not getting laid by the river. It got to the point that although I managed to turn around, my left front tire was literally half on dirt and half in the air hundreds of feet above the river. There was a trash can sized boulder blocking me on the passenger side. I tried to dig under the base of the rock to move it but it was supported by another huge rock. Keep in mind that my truck was only two years old at the time, and was my first and only vehicle that I had bought new from a dealer. After considering my options for as long as I could, I took my medicine. I had to muscle the rock to the right with my passenger door. I never fixed the 2ft long gouge and to this day I consider it a reminder of the day my truck became "a truck" and a toy, and a reminder of how glad I am that I didn't marry that girl!