Bay Area, CA; Slick Rock Trail - Difficulty?

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buz1nonly

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Hey All,

Planning on a trip this summer with a buddy and he keeps on refusing to go to slick rock. I have a 2011 FJ, 3 inch lift, 33" tires, rock rails, and armor. I don't think it's a problem. He has a 2016 trail 4 runner with all the same upgrades, but refuses to try slick rock. He's a little inexperienced and afraid of trail damage. I've asked him to take a basic offroading course to gain some confidence. I took one when I started few years ago and thought it was extremely helpful, but he refuses. He thinks he can learn as we go, but all he wants to drive are fire roads which leaves us with not so remote locations. See my dilemma, you can't learn unless your willing to drive some of these trails. With my family with me now, I prefer to have a second car with me since it's about safety first, but I would still like to go on fun trails and get away from people.

My question is, is slick rock that bad? I've seen videos and read posts, and I think with our trucks we should be fine taking it slow. I would appreciate if anyone who has driven the trail in the past would chime in and rate this trail. This would help convince him his truck is a little more capable than just fire roads.
 
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Cam_Cam_Tech

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No it's totally doable, with those mods and rigs you are good to go. Take your time and have a blast.

You can warm him up by doing Corral Hollow and camp the night. Good confidence build up to do slick rock.

cam_toyota_tech
 
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john casson

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JaimyMac630

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Slick Rock 1.jpg Slick Rock 2.jpg Slick Rock 3.jpg IMG_6174.JPG IMG_6181.jpg Slick rock is a great trail to run, I did it with my Disco on 31" tires, no skids or sliders and RTT on. Had to stack rocks twice. The other 2 rigs that went with me were on 33's and they had no issues. Heading out from lake Alpine is the direction we went. We camped on the river about 15 minutes into the trail. You just need to pick your lines carefully.
 
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Intentsrig

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The north side entrance is being changed. It will no longer run through the private property. The forest service and local off road club are the decision makers on what changes. The re route started this weekend.

Pretty much guaranteed to be harder than before though..hopefully! More rocks..more fun!


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James Feldermann

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I feel like some of the people replying haven't actually run the entire trail. Corral Hollow isn't a warm up for Slick Rock. Corral Hollow is a dirt road that gets a little harder on the East end with rocks no bigger that six inches. The only challenge is when there is a lot of mud or snow. Slick Rock is only slightly worse if you only go from Lake Alpine to the creek campsite, but the far end of the trail is much more difficult. If Corral Hollow is a 3 on a 1-10 scale, then Slick Rock is an 8.

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rochmpr

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/\ /\

I agree with James. I have seem some videos on YouTube of people claiming to have run Slick Rock and they have gone from Lake Alpine to the little stream camp spot. That is NOT running the trail, that's just a precurser to the trail. Although, based upon your vehicle description, you can make it, it will not be easy. Got my first dent on that trail. HEre are some picture of some of the good stuff.

20170930_092355.jpg 20170930_092206.jpg tapatalk_1470797992360.jpeg tapatalk_1470797971631.jpeg
 
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slomatt

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Slick Rock has gotten much more difficult over the last 5-10 years. Your rigs should be capable of the trail, but it definitely takes some offroading experience to avoid damage. I agree with the above suggestion to run Corral Hollow (specifically the eastern section) first, Slick Rock is significantly more difficult than that.

If you do run Slick Rock I suggest heading in from the southern end near Utica Resevoir. There are some nice camp sites after you cross the bridge over the river, and the most difficult obstacles are shortly after that. The first obstacle is a large step at the end of the campsite, keep walking about 5 minutes past that and you'll come across a steep and rocky downhill section. This is usually the most difficult part of the trail for most rigs.

More pictures...















Ooops.. plus his bumper cover fell off on the first step and he tore one of the welds on a rock slider.
 
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Sorry to revive this thread. I have a 3rd gen tacoma, 2" lift, rear locker, sliders, ifs, trans and tcase skid on 33s (255/85/16). I'm trying to work out if i'll need to winch on this trail even if im careful/take any bypasses)?
 
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Intentsrig

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Ivan said:
Sorry to revive this thread. I have a 3rd gen tacoma, 2" lift, rear locker, sliders, ifs, trans and tcase skid on 33s (255/85/16). I'm trying to work out if i'll need to winch on this trail even if im careful/take any bypasses)?
Click to expand...
The trail has recently gotten even more difficult if traveling south to north.

The final obstacle on the north end is a fun challenge even for those on 35’s. Here’s some pics of a few of my buddy’s from an off road club going through parts of it

View attachment 76612




Idk if that is viewable but check out some of the other pics as well. He is on 36’s and this is just the start of the obstacle.
 
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rochmpr

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The new reroute closest to Alpine is going to really prevent a lot of IFS trucks from going through that section. About a month ago, I went in at Utica and made it to the new trail section and ended up turning around and heading back out the same way I came in.

I didn't take any pictures of the new section as I was too busy looking a different lines and cursing.

20181008_075423-1.jpeg

20181008_104217-1.jpeg

20181008_104240-1.jpeg
 
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ravenplague

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Just posted this on the other Slick Rock page but probably better here...

Can someone clarify?
I have a stockish Fj60 landcruiser and I went to the campground spot that micheal suggested a few years ago and it was easy. If I want to go back to that spot , sounds like I have to take the reroute and that its really difficult in my rig. I am not a rock crawler and going solo. Can I go through without getting stuck or banging up my rig by using bypasses?
thanks!!
 
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RoarinRow

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After seeing the pictures above, I wouldn't go the Slick Rock either lol. I don't want to chance scratching my truck. What if I don't pick the right line? Scraaaatchhh... :)
 
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