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Oceano Dunes (Pismo), Ca--Pismo Dunes is located halfway between Los Angeles and San Fransisco and is the only place in California where one can legally drive on the beach. This State Vehicular Recreation Area (SVRA) offers everything from quad rentals to camping to fishing to racing up Comp Hill in your 4x4.
Day use is about $4, and overnight is about $6. The weekends bring RVers and motorcyclists from LA and SF. Be forewarned, holidays bring huge crowds and camping is literally side by side.
There is a river crossing and once in a while the lake above lets their water flow. When this happens the river is uncrossable.
The town of Pismo offers excellent shopping and sightseeing. Nearby is the college town of San Luis Obispo which also offers small town charm shopping downtown. Wine tasting is also plentiful in the surrounding areas of the central coast.
Click here for pics of the 2003 4Runner Jambo
Pozo, Ca--About 30-45 minutes north of San Luis Obispo there is a small town called Pozo. I don't even know if it qualifies as a town because if you blink you will miss it. Near Pozo there are numerous fire roads that lead to maintained 4x4 trails. Some are easy and any stock 4x4 can make it. However there are some trails with named obstacles such as the Stairsteps etc. These trails will most likely require front and rear lockers and possibly a winch. I wouldn't know because at this time I'm pretty much stock and I haven't tried them.
Big Falls near Lopez Lake, Ca--Near Lopez Lake there is a 4x4 trail that leads to a couple small waterfalls. Called Big Falls (what a misnomer) this trail is an easy trail that any high clearance vehicle can make, 4x4 not needed. The trail crosses a river multiple times and after a good rain the trail is impassable to stock vehicles. In fact, one of my friends dumped his 1st gen 4runner in the water and flooded the engine. He ended up needing a new block.
At the hiking trailhead there is a small dirt lot for parking. One can tell that this is the trailhead because if one continues on the 4x4 trail it suddenly gets much more difficult. At this point, if one continues, 4wd is required.
If the falls is the destination then one will find a small pool where the falls empties into and even diving. Continuing on the hiking trail will lead to a larger fall and another swiming pond. Along the way one can try ones luck with the small trout that inhabit the creek and ponds.
Beware of the poison oak that inhabits the area.
Directions: Just before the entrance to Lopez Lake there is a road that T's off to the right and follows the lake inlet. Take this road and go until you get to a fork in the road and take the road steep road to the left. Stay on this road and you will eventually get to a Boy Scout camp. Continue on and the road will turn into the trail.
Slick Rock, Ca--Slick Rock is located in the Sierras about an hour north of the town of Angels Camp. This trail was the first real off road trail the 4Runner has tried. Boy was it fun! After this trail my coworkers stopped being coworkers and became friends.
There were 7 of us and 3 trucks, a stock Honda Passport, a slightly lifted Jeep Grand Cherokee, and my stock 4Runner. We started out near some lakes (I don't remember the names) and ended up near Utica reservoir. All the vehicles did well and suffered little to no body damage. I am glad I have a hitch though, because I wouldn't have a rear bumper now. In fact, my bumper is ever so slightly bent where the hitch flexed up and kissed it.
The Jeep showed the benefits of solid axle articulation and the Honda showed the benefits of a limited slip differential. After some stacking the Jeep was able to make it up the last obstacle called the Ladder. The 4Runner got hung up on the gas tank and needed to be pulled up. The Honda made it up further because of the LSD, but it too needed to be pulled up. I think we all could have made it without a tow with more time and stacking.
Frank Raines off road park, near Patterson CA--Frank Raines Off Highway Vehicle (OHV) Park is a small (640 acres) place near the town of Patterson, CA. This park offers loose rocks/dirt and steep hill climbs. After a good rain the place turns into a mud haven including a huge mud pit.
The first time I went there the place was dry and loose. There was a steep hill that my friend's 3rd gen 4runner couldn't make so we all had to back down. That was kinda scary because there were times when my tires would lock up and I would slide backwards for a little. In retrospect it wasn't that bad.
The second time I went was mud, mud, mud. As I write this, the 4Runner is covered with mud in the parking lot full of clean cars and SUVs. Heh heh.
Directions: From eastern San Francisco Bay, take I-580E to I-5S. Exit at the Patterson exit and turn right. Take this road all the way to the park. Watch out for free ranging cattle.
Notes: They close the park down if it gets too wet so call ahead (408) 897-3127. Day use is $2 and camping is available.
Strawberry Creek Trail (near Lake Tahoe)--Strawberry Creek
Trail starts on Highway 50, about 15 miles from Lake Tahoe, and ends up at Caples
lake on Highway 88. A good meeting place is the wood bridge about 1/4 mile west
of the Strawberry Creek Lodge. The bridge is at "Tract 42."
I went there with a group from the Xterra Owners Club (www.xterraownersclub.com),
which turned out to be 2 Xterras, a Land Cruiser, and my 4runner. The Xterras
were lifted a couple inches and wore sliders and ARB bumpers. The Cruiser was
built, complete with front and rear ARB lockers. The northern California XOC
guys are always planning a trip to somewhere, which makes it convenient for
me to go with them.
The trail really only has 2 obstacles with a small or large puddle crossing
depending on the season. The first obstacle is the most fun because it looks
the most gnarly. With a little rock stacking we all made it up fairly easily.
Unfortunately we didn't get any pictures of this one because we were too excited
about being on the trail again. The next obstacle is the most infamous because
of its name -- Painted Rock. The trick with Painted Rock is that it's shaped
just right to slide a truck right into the passenger side boulder.
The yellow X went first and after some rock stacking we got him up without a
scratch, but with some frayed nerves. Gary says that was the first time an X
has gotten up that obstacle without a winch. Most people opt for the winch to
preserve their paint on the sheetmetal. Next was the Cruiser and he made it
look like childs play. It's nice not caring about paint.
Then it was my turn. We stacked and we stacked, but I just couldn't get my driver
side tire to get up the rock. My wheelbase was just right to lift my tires and
prevent good traction. After a lot of stacking and airing down even more, I
finally opted for the winch. I really need to extend my rear shocks to get better
articulation.
The rest of the trail is pretty tame, just a dirt road, a couple boulders, and
a big puddle. Eventually we came to a fork in the road, a high road and a low
road. We took the high road (left) and found that it deadends. So we turned
around and took the other road which eventually led to Caples lake.
Click here for pics of Strawberry Creek Trail
Hollister Hills off road park, CA.--Finally went to Hollister with a couple people from 4x4wire.com. It was more of a meet and greet than wheeling, but it was great being able to put faces with the usernames. First we hit the dust bowl, for a warm up, then went to the obstacle course. At the obstacle course we hit the stairsteps and I tried the telephone pole course. I put dent in the transfer case crossmember. Then we all found Truck Hill and watch a couple people try to make it up the hillclimb.
I went to Hollister again, but with the Gettin Off 4x4 club for their newbie run. This time we also hit the rock quarry where Terry, the president, got to test out his newly installed SAS.
Click here for pics of Hollister
Signal Peak, Ca.--This is a very steep, overgrown trail, reminiscent of Fremontia trail at Hollister. The trail is lined with softball and soccerball size rocks, and trees that will give the custom pinstripe look. It's a challenging trail for open diff trucks, but it is possible with stacking and good spotting. I made it up without winching or strapping, but a 3rd gen 4runner needed to be strapped. That was a weird thing because he has better articulation than me and he has MTRs. One Jeep needed to be winched because she got dangerously close to the edge of a drop off. The reward on top of the mountain is a breathtaking panaramic view of the lakes, hills and valleys in the area. There is an alternate dirt road to the top which is accessable by car.
The trailhead for the off road trail is at the Cisco Grove exit of Interstate 80. Don't confuse this trailhead with an alternate entrance to the Fordyce trail.
Click here for pics of Signal Peak
Death Valley, Ca '04 -- Death Valley on Friday the 13th...ominous? I've always heard Death Valley was a really nice place to visit during the winter and this year I was finally able to make the trip with my club. It was a three day trip over Presidents day weekend that started with the morning drivers meeting on Saturday. From there we headed out to what seems like a random dirt road that leads to the mountains. This was actually the Escape Trail that was used by some families to escape from Death Valley in 1850. We tried to find the grave of the guy who died but didn't find it.
We were then off to the Barker Ranch, the place where Manson and his cult were found. To make things more interesting there was a "bandit" running around Death Valley robbing people and the Barker Ranch was one of the places he was known to have been. Well, we never did run into him. It was starting to get late so we meandered down the road to find a place to camp for the night. The next day we went to the ranger station to pay our enterance fee and pick up some souvenirs. Along the way we came across the lowest place in the US, something close to -270 feet below sea level.
We finally made it to an old abandoned mine where we could explore the tunnels. They didn’t go too far into the mountain, maybe a hundred yards or so, but it was cool nonetheless. After that we kept going up the trail to the Eye of the Needle which is a rock formation with a big hole that looks like the eye of a needle. Much further down the road we finally came out on the east side of the park to Nevada where we checked into a motel at Beatty, Nevada.
At this point the trip was officially over but a few club members explored some more trails near Big Pine. My friend and I decided to take the long way home by stopping by Scotty's Castle and taking the tourist tour. After that we headed to the Racetrack which is a dry le bed with rocks that seem to move by themselves. They leave tracks in the mud but nobody has ever seen them move.