Deer Valley Trail, Ebbetts Pass CA

[RoofRack]

Recently ran Deer Valley Jeep Trail, which is now technically, and appropriately signed as, closed, though I believe only the Blue Lakes side is closed so you could run it out and back from Ebbetts Pass.

Anyway, we were expecting a hard 100 feet followed by a nice dirt road tour with the families. 9 grueling hours later, we made it.

With me were two Jeep JKUs one Sport with lift 35s and front true track, the other full Rubicon with lift and 33s.

My 4Runner is 1999 SR5 5 speed with factory e-locker, 2 inch lift (front bilsteins on the 3rd seat clip rear OME 906 + daystar 1.5 spacers to level) and 265/75r16.

I had to do some rock stacking, but did surprisingly well once I got the hang of it.

Here is a teaser video and some photos:

-M

 

[4est5speed]

Just looking through past threads in the off roading forum and saw this

Looks like a fun trip! I love that trail, glad it's open again now. Ran it back in '08 with my old first Gen during the Lake Tahoe Hi-Lo's poker run. All stock except for some 34x10.5 swamper ltb's...good times

 

[MikeMc]

Re Closed: You didn't hear this from me but while waiting in the staging area with a group of 10ish a sheriff deputy showed up and was totally into offroading himself. He chatted us up openly said it was closed but they're aren't patrolling it or anything so nobody is getting ticketed. We drove the whole thing.

 

[4est5speed]

Re Closed: You didn't hear this from me but while waiting in the staging area with a group of 10ish a sheriff deputy showed up and was totally into offroading himself. He chatted us up openly said it was closed but they're aren't patrolling it or anything so nobody is getting ticketed. We drove the whole thing.

How long ago was that? On pirate they were talking about how it's open as of Aug of this year, and they're not the type to endorse wheeling on closed trails...that's cool the deputy was into 4x4's, we need more LEO's on our side!

 

[MikeMc]

How long ago was that? On pirate they were talking about how it's open as of Aug of this year, and they're not the type to endorse wheeling on closed trails...that's cool the deputy was into 4x4's, we need more LEO's on our side!

That was last year. I wasn't aware it was officially open now. Thanks.

I also heard something about Slickrock being closed now because of the private property near the Alpine Lake entrance. We drove into their driveway by mistake last year while they were outside doing work. I felt like such a dipshit.

 

[JSparky]

Looking at running this in summer.. info is scarce since the "reopen". Videos make it look pretty tight in spots, any word on overall vehicle size for this trail, relative to body damage?

 

[rochmpr]

Looking at running this in summer.. info is scarce since the "reopen". Videos make it look pretty tight in spots, any word on overall vehicle size for this trail, relative to body damage?

I ran it this past summer with [MENTION=88231]having fun[/MENTION] and [MENTION=106195]v_man[/MENTION]. It is a great trail and has some very tight spots and no real bypasses. 33" and armor at a minimum, 35's would make life a little better. Having seen your posts and build, you could run it.

I wouldn't mind doing the trail again this summer.

Here's some pics from the run. http://www.toyota-4runner.org/5th-gen-t4rs/182132-rochmpr-rev-4-broke-build-thread-20.html

 

[JSparky]

I ran it this past summer with [MENTION=88231]having fun[/MENTION] and [MENTION=106195]v_man[/MENTION]. It is a great trail and has some very tight spots and no real bypasses. 33" and armor at a minimum, 35's would make life a little better. Having seen your posts and build, you could run it.

I wouldn't mind doing the trail again this summer.

Here's some pics from the run. http://www.toyota-4runner.org/5th-gen-t4rs/182132-rochmpr-rev-4-broke-build-thread-20.html

Thanks a bunch, that's helpful. I can keep you posted regarding dates, it'd be with land cruiser buddies so we'd have other rigs with us. Tentatively Memorial Day weekend.

 

[rochmpr]

Thanks a bunch, that's helpful. I can keep you posted regarding dates, it'd be with land cruiser buddies so we'd have other rigs with us. Tentatively Memorial Day weekend.

Depending on how the rest of the winter pans out will depend on if the trail will be passable and if it will be open.

You will want to check with the Forest Service to see if it is open. The reason it was closed were the stream crossings and sensitive areas around the streams. Access from Hyw 88 should not be a problem, access from Hwy 4 will depend on if the highway is opened up. If this winter keeps up at it's current pace, it will be open in time. The other factor would be how muddy the trail will be early in the season since it is a high Sierra trail (7,100 ft to 8,100 ft) and there is a lot of shade.

Deer Valley Trail

 

[JSparky]

Depending on how the rest of the winter pans out will depend on if the trail will be passable and if it will be open.

You will want to check with the Forest Service to see if it is open. The reason it was closed were the stream crossings and sensitive areas around the streams. Access from Hyw 88 should not be a problem, access from Hwy 4 will depend on if the highway is opened up. If this winter keeps up at it's current pace, it will be open in time. The other factor would be how muddy the trail will be early in the season since it is a high Sierra trail (7,100 ft to 8,100 ft) and there is a lot of shade.

Deer Valley Trail

Got it, I'll crossover with one of my friend who's spearheading this, he happened to share that same link. They're all on built cruisers so if I take the 4Runner I'll be the little guy in the group. Trying to get my Rover done by then, thing is tall and skinny and should crawl through anything. As always I appreciate the input.

 

[rochmpr]

Got it, I'll crossover with one of my friend who's spearheading this, he happened to share that same link. They're all on built cruisers so if I take the 4Runner I'll be the little guy in the group. Trying to get my Rover done by then, thing is tall and skinny and should crawl through anything. As always I appreciate the input.

Pirate4X4 Deer Valley

Just a heads up based on last year, it appears there is a minimum amount of time (6 wks) from snow melt to trail open.