San Bernardino area - rental rig friendly afternoon ride?

[RivMan]

Hey guys,

I’m in San Bernardino on a business trip (from Michigan) and my rental is a 4wd 4Runner. After making the drive through the Angela’s Crest Highway and up to Big Bear, it’s obvious that there some great off-roading around town and it seems like a waste not to hit the dirt while I’m in town.

Anyone happen to know any stock / rental rig friendly ~5 hour round trips from San Bernardino? Google long shows Skyline divide and big pine flats as good options.

If my reading is correct, I don’t need any special permit to legally operate an out of state registered vehicle on Offroad trails in Cali, is that correct?

Thanks
-Rob

 

[rpagan1970]

Hey guys,

I’m in San Bernardino on a business trip (from Michigan) and my rental is a 4wd 4Runner. After making the drive through the Angela’s Crest Highway and up to Big Bear, it’s obvious that there some great off-roading around town and it seems like a waste not to hit the dirt while I’m in town.

Anyone happen to know any stock / rental rig friendly ~5 hour round trips from San Bernardino? Google long shows Skyline divide and big pine flats as good options.

If my reading is correct, I don’t need any special permit to legally operate an out of state registered vehicle on Offroad trails in Cali, is that correct?

Thanks
-Rob

I don't know of any regulations like that. There are a lot of good trails around you! Anza Borrego, Johnson Valley, Joshua Tree...

Enjoy!

 

[Anak]

The San Bernardino National Forest has some great trails.

If it were me I would take a loop of Cleghorn and the 2N49. Cleghorn should be no problem IF you stay off the bypasses. The bypasses are where all the gnarly stuff is. Some of the bypasses are easy, but others are absolutely not for a stock vehicle. And some of the worst of them look like they should be pretty tame at the start, but get really challenging as you get farther in. Make sure you have good maps before you go. A wrong turn could make a mess of your day.

Check with the forest service for road conditions on both trails. Now that winter and spring are over the condition of the trails should be pretty stable. If there have been washouts that haven't been repaired they may not be good choices for you, but most of the time they are quite do-able in a stock 4x4, and they offer nice views.