Topic: Big Bear Trails?! Advice needed thanks!

[beefyjw]

My friend and I want to camp up in Big Bear and hit a few trails soon. We have decent but not enormous toy rigs (33" with lockers). We've done swamp lake...but it's exhaustingly long and tough. We clean through Miller's Jeep trail without a thought. We are good drivers, but our rigs are semi limiting (truck is beat up from a long hammer trail attempt).

We have absolutely no knowledge or experience with the difficulty of the trails up in Big Bear....Any favorites? Boulders would be fun. Forest type routes would be fun. Trail side campsite would be awesome.

Any info such as trail name, length, time to run, actual experiences regarding difficulty, etc would be helpful. Side-hilling is my least favorite position to be in, so any warning of bad side-hill spots would be appreciated. Thanks!!!!!

[RokCrawlinToy]

Haven't been up there in years but, John Bull, Holcomb if its open, Gold mtn has 1 rock section other than that its easy. John Bull should be a fun trail for you. As far as time, could be a few hours, or all day. Depends if you take a million poser shot pics, or if someone breaks something, or how many rigs you're running with, or if some heep club is blocking the trail.  But you should be OK. I haven't done Holcomb in over 7-8 years but I remember it being pretty fun to do after running John Bull.

[hilux-1983]

I agree with RokCrawlin Toy, Hit me up when you up to it and i'll meet you up there to run JB with ya!!!

[beefyjw [OP]]

Is my gf gonna break up with me if i take her on John Bull?

[RokCrawlinToy]

Not at all, from the way your rig is setup. It should be challenging enough but, nothing that it or you will have problems with.

[mudaddict]

there are only 2 hard sections on john bull the and we brought my buddy in his 04 tacoma on 33's with a locker up john bull with little issues there are easy routes on both obstacles.

[mudaddict]

Let me know as well when you guys want to go and i can always meet up also.

[beefyjw [OP]]

Anyone done Mottino Wash/Sidewinder? Sounds harder than John Bull.

[4XFlyin]

All the runs mentioned are lots of fun. Great scenery. Post when you decide to go. I may join up.

[hilux-1983]

Is my gf gonna break up with me if i take her on John Bull?

If your lucky, she'll cling to ya:-)

[Rocksurfer]

There are so many choices and trail options in the area depending on where you are going to be in the National Forest. You can start at Cleghorn off the I-15 and by the time you hit Gold Mountain you can run most of the premier trails along the way barely touching pavement from start to finish, I have done this. I have probably run every trail in the SBNF in stock/open rigs so it can be done with skill and good spotting. I don't know if you are local to the area but there are good trails in most of the districts, As to the Big Bear District of the forest you have a lot to choose from. An Adventure Pass may be required depending on where you set up camp so to be safe it is best to get one.

http://www.fs.usda.gov/main/sbnf/home

I use and contribute to Dirtopia.com there is a lot of good info and directions there here's a link to the Big Bear area.


The Easy trails listed are either forest access roads or historic tour roads.

Big Pine Flat Trail  - Easy - 3N16, this trail follows a winding route from Green Valley to Big Bear City
Burns Canyon Trail  - Easy - 3N03, From Yucca Valley to Big Bear City
Burnt Flats Trail  - Easy - 3N02
Butler Peak Trail  - Easy - 2N13C
Cactus Flats  - Easy - 3N03
Coxey Truck Trail  - Easy - 3N14
Delamar Mountain Road  - Easy - 3N12
Gold Fever Trail  - Easy - 2N09, Follow the historic route.
Green Valley - Easy - The starting point for several Big Bear trails.
Holcomb Creek Road  - Easy - 3N08
Knickerbocker  - Easy - 2N08
Pioneer Town Trail  - Easy - 2N02
Polique Canyon Road  - Easy - 2N71
Radford  - Easy - 2N06
Sand Canyon  - Easy - 2N27
Skyline Drive  - Easy - 2N10
Snow Slide Trail - Easy - 2N13
Van Dusen Road  - Easy - 3N09
Wild Horse Trail - Easy - 2N93


The Moderate trails listed can generally be done in high clearance stock vehicles with little issues if any at all, a rear traction assist is suggested for some technical sections.

Tip Top Mountain Trail - Moderate - 2N90
Clarks Grade - Moderate - 1N54
Jacoby Canyon - Moderate - 3N61
Rattlesnake Canyon Trail - Moderate - The second half of Burns Canyon
White Mountain Trail - Moderate - 3N17


The Difficult trails listed require high clearance modified vehicles with traction assisted lockers front and rear, most of the trail is technical in nature and may require spotting.

Gold Mountain Trail - Difficult - 3N69
Heartbreak Ridge  - Difficult - 2N61YA, aka Pontiac Sluice
Horsethief Flat Trail - Difficult - 3N03A
Lower Larga Trail - Difficult - 2N06X, connects 3N16 to 3N93 (Holcomb Creek Trail) at mid point
Redonda Ridge Trail- Difficult - 1W17


The Expert trials listed require high clearance modified vehicles with traction assisted lockers front and rear, gearing and vehicle armor or damage could occur. They are very technical and may not only require driver skill but expert spotters. Damage & rollovers are very possible if the wrong line on the trail is taken, though I have come across roll overs even on easy trails.

Dishpan Springs Trail - Expert - 3N34, from Lake Arrowhead to Big Bear
John Bull Trail - Expert - 3N10, the toughest trail in Holcomb Valley
Holcomb Creek Trail - Expert - 3N93, Travel up Holcomb Creek towards Holcomb Valley

[Rocksurfer]

Also a lot of the trails link together for continuous wheeling so check to see if one trail leads to another one, you can take a moderate trail that dead ends into or continues on a difficult or expert trail so choose wisely or you may have to turn back if you feel the next trail is too much for your rig.