California OHV areas to check out
California has ample OHV(Off
Highway Vehicle) recreation
opportunities. Some of these areas are "parks", which means they have
a lot of improvements, are fenced in, have specific hours of operation, supervising
rangers, and charge an entry fee. Other places are California Bureau of
Land Management (BLM) or United States Forest Service (USFS) land which has
been designated for OHV use, among other uses. You will often times find hikers, horseback riders,
4-wheelers, and hunters in these areas. Always be cautious of other users who
may be using the same trails as we do; for example, it is easy to spook a horse
with a shrieking powerband fly-by!
Forest areas have campgrounds that may or may not allow dirt bikes to be ridden
in and out. Improved campgrounds generally have bathrooms, picnic
benches, and firepits, and may have running water. Forest areas also
allow wilderness camping, which may or may not be accessible by all types of
vehicles. Be especially careful of 4-wheeling to a wilderness camp spot
if there is rain in the forecast...it may become too muddy to get out!
Although this is a basic list of the places that we have ridden, there are MANY
other areas to ride all over California. Help me expand this list!
Here are some links to other peoples' compilations:
Employees.org (Search this site for a geat map with ALL riding areas numbered! Detailed trail
maps, too)
All
Off Road (Site below has a map with all these areas numbered!)
Desert USA
(scroll down to "recreation" and look for OHV areas)
Google Earth Thread on Dirt Bike Areas, and ways to download, upload, and view riding areas in detail.
Local SF Bay Area spots to ride
Metcalf
- Officially
"Santa Clara County Motorcycle Park"
- Small
Park in San Jose, MX tracks, trails, trials, no camping, closed Tues/Wed
- County
Metcalf
website with information and downloadable map
- Friends of Metcalf interest site and
organization
Hollister Hills SVRA (State
Vehicular Recreation Area)
Carnegie SVRA
- Medium
size park in Livermore, Hillclimb Heaven, MX track, rocky terrain, camping
- Skip's on-site moto shop,
riding club, and hot food
- Official
Carnegie SVRA
website with info, maps, and other links.
Not so local spots
Clear Creek Management Area
- Very
large forest 30 miles east of King City, varied terrain, trails,
hillclimbs, improved and unimproved camping
- Old
mining area with amazing scenery, old mines, flooded rock quarries, other
interesting sights
- Official
BLM Clear
Creek website with info, directions, maps, trail conditions
- Salinas Ramblers MC Club,
helping to keep this amazing area open for use
- More
historical information here and here
- Mototherapy
Directions to Clear
Creek
Stonyford
- Officially
"Mendocino National Forest" consisting of the Grindstone Ranger
District near Clear Lake
- Large
beautiful area, varied terrain, east side is barren and rocky, west side
is evergeen forest
- Mill
Valley is a fully improved campground that is forested and allows bike
riding in and out of camp
- US
Forest Service (USFS) Stonyford website
with info, conditions, and maps
- Mototherapy
Directions to
Stonyford
- Stonyford
General Store has basic moto supplies, incl. plugs, tubes, tires,
chemicals
Middle Creek
- Officially
"Mendocino National Forest" consisting of the Upper Lake Ranger
District near Clear Lake
- USFS
website
the same for Stonyford, which provides good info on trails and difficulty
levels.
- Campgrounds
include Penney
Pines and Middle Creek
- Mototherapy
Directions to Middle
Creek
- I
have not been there yet, but Mototherapy member reviews sound great!
Deer Creek OHV
- Also known as Twain Harte, officially the Stanislaus National Forest, Mi-Wok Ranger District.
- Some really nice singletrack forested trails, and some nasty, rocky trails. A variety of terrain to ride.
- Minimal improvements, no water available outside of the creeks and rivers.
- USFS Website with information.
- Mototherapy Directions to Deer Creek OHV.
South Cow Mountain OHV
Knoxville OHV
Pipi Valley
- Officially
"Eldorado National Forest" consisting of Elkins
Flat and Gold
Note trail systems near Jackson, Ca
- Beautiful,
forested area with some improved camping and ample wilderness camping
- "Pipi
Campground" does not allow dirt bikes in and out, "Elkins
Flat" has basic improvements, including a bathroom
- USFS
Eldorado
OHV website and trail conditions
(with links to topographical maps)
- Mototherapy
Directions to Pipi Valley
Georgetown
- Officially
"Eldorado National Forest" Georgetown Ranger District, also
known as Rock Creek OHV
- USFS
webpage
with some Georgetown info
- Employees.org
Georgetown
website
Foresthill
- Officially
"Tahoe National Forest" Foresthill Ranger District, outside of
Auburn, Ca
- Forested
area with with extensive trails and some improved camping
- Morningstar
Lake campground does not allow dirt bike riding, but has camp spots near
the entrance with trail access
- Trail 6 is an extremely challenging, great trail, not for the faint of heart!
- USFS
Foresthill
website with info, maps, and more links
Mammoth Bar
- State
run park with trails, MX tracks, trials, picnic areas, no camping, not
open everyday.
- Small
park with a variety of terrain. For some great tight, steep,
single track, follow Murderers Trail to the top, go right toward the
Mt. Bike drop in, and continue right till you reach Stonewall Trail.
It's like a 1 minute roller coaster! Also be sure to check out
Eastside Trail. If nobody else is in the park, go UP that trail
(it's supposed to be one-way, down, only)
- Forest
area next to Middle Fork American River, which is part of the Auburn State
Recreation Area.
- State
Parks Mammoth
Bar OHV website
Lake Tahoe Area OHV Trails
- Beautiful
rugged forest known for 4x4 rock crawling trails
- Ultimate Tahoe OHV trail guide
- Always
check conditions due to regular snowfall in this area
Los Padres National Forest
- Rugged,
brush covered forest east of San Louis Obispo
- No
improvements, rocky terrain
- USFS
Los Padres
website