SOCAL offroad spots?

[joekicksit]

So on Saturday I went up to Black Mountain ( MT San Jacinto) to do some rock climbing and it turns out there's a bunch of off-road trails around there! I wanted to check some out but was too tired from a long day of climbing. Anyways I was talking to this guy and he was telling me about some trails up in Big Bear so these two destination are like an hourish away from me! And my buddy just bought a 4wd truck all set up for off-roading so now I have someone I can go with but I'm not sure what to expect out of my rig, I have an 06 I5 adventure pkg and stock size all terrain coopers every thing else is basically stock I think. I have only off-roaded in the open desert and a few short trails (also in the desert)
So my question is does anyone know of a good easy trail where I can feel out my rig and see what I can and cant do?
Should I take the side steps off?
Any suggestions for what to look out for? I'd like to try and avoid rookie mistakes :no:
Any help is appreciated!

 

[digglesworth]

Side steps off for sure. Last time I went out, we were using a strap to pull a set of nerf bars off the tires. Brackets bent and obstacles kept pushing the bars back into the rear tires. Take em off before you break em off.

 

[Pappibri]

If you are going to play on the rocks, you should have some rock rails and some good U
.C.P. Have to protect the belly of the beast. And yeah, nerf bars need to come off.....
Sent from my RM-820_nam_att_100 using Tapatalk

 

[06 H3]

Ahh! SoCal? There are millions of trails out here. Rocks, mud, sand, dirt, desert, the list goes on. For big bear you can run fire roads or jacoby canyon. I wouldn't run gold mtn without experience or someone with experience. For a newbie wheeler I would recommend Gorman. It's 30 minutes from where I am. They have a 4x4 area with everything from easy to tough and tons of trails. If you run into trouble there are plenty of people around and a tow truck can easily access the park.

You need to go out wheeling with us soon

 

[SedonaBound]

I second Gorman/Hungry Valley. As well as miles of trails, it has man-made 4x4 features for novices to learn/practice skills on before trying it in the boonies. They used to offer an offroad "school" once a month that was decent, but that was quite a while back.

 

[3Hummers]

Gorman for a beginner for sure. Lots of easy to moderate trails there.

 

[cbetts]

Once the SoCal leadership get their trucks all back up and running, we will start scheduling some runs. In the mean time, We have been talking about getting a Meet-N-Greet going. My time will be limited until mid-August since I am under a huge pile of work until then.

Hang loose for a while. We will get you on some trails where you can learn and be safe.

 

[joekicksit]

Ok so the side steps are coming off this week for sure.
I am so down to go on a run with you guys!! I saw some videos of you guys out in Big Bear on youtube!
and is there a particular website/place I can get UCPs?
I saw this one on ebay its the oem one is this what most of you guys have or is there an aftermarket one that's not much more expensive but better?

 

[3Hummers]

I need to get one of the trucks back out to California!

 

[06 H3]

Oem is good. Avoid cbucp overpriced and bends.

I'm hoping to get a squeaky done with the SAS by the end of august. Then I can do a run

 

[cbetts]

Oem is good. Avoid cbucp overpriced and bends.

I'm hoping to get a squeaky done with the SAS by the end of august. Then I can do a run

. . . and I am waiting for the donor parts from Chris to get my truck back on the trail.