OK, so not this weekend but the fallowing weekend myself, my brother and a friend will be doing the Big Pine Flat Trail. And i wanted to get some insight and tops from people who have done it. Ditopia.com says its an easy trail with lots of historic things to see. To us seems pritty cool to go out and see. It also says there is a verity level of diffiuclt trails that can be done.

We are not looking to go crawl rocks or doing anything too extreme. But some uneven ground is always nice to try. We are for the most part all nubs in the off roading experance, we've done minor things and want to continue to grow to more advance things.

Here is the trucks that will be going for sure. All are 4 wheel drive and tires there on.

05 Dodge Dakota on Mud Terrians
02 F250 Power stroke on A/T
02 Ranger on A/Ts


Myself and my buddie in the ranger did the lyttle Creek trail 3N31 and we had a VERY GOOD time! the view from the top has no words to discribe it!


Also here is a list of items i carry in my rig (sill adding things to it as i grow):

First Aid Kit
Flash Light
Fire Ext.
2'x20' Recovery Strap
Military Shovel/Axe/saw
tool box with misc tools (wrench's/hammer/sockets/etc)
A gallon of water
Floor Jack

And of course we all have cell phones and will have food and water that we will bring with to eat/drink on the trail plus we let other know where we are going.

thanks for any insight in advance.

Are you talking Big Pine, like the city of Big Pine on 395 North of me?

Are you talking Big Pine, like the city of Big Pine on 395 North of me?

http://www.dirtopia.com/wiki/Big_Pine_Flat_Trail


this one.

It is basically a dirt road. there are other trails in the area that are more challenging, but it does not sound like you are ready for them yet. Try the one you are looking at and as you get more experience you can look at holcomb jeep trail and john bull trail, both up in big bear.
I am guessing most of your rigs are mostly stock??

Most of the semi challenging trails in big bear will need some lift and a rear locker will help.
Good luck

I've driven that trail in my Escort LOL...

Really, its just a graded dirt road. You won't need 4wd. But it is a nice Sunday drive. Stop at the Discovery Center and get a copy of the Gold Fever self guided tour. It explains a lot of the historical sites along the way. If you want to add just a tad of technical driving, tack Jacoby Canyon onto the east end of that trail. Turn it up another notch and tack Gold Mountain onto the end of it. Those are still fairly easy by most people's standards, but they could be quite a thrill for those new to the sport.

Dusty

Now were is a good spot to start? We are comming from Victorville. Anyone able to hook me up with better directions then the general thing mapquest does...

thanks

From Fawnskin's north west edge, just take the road that leads NW out of town. From Green Valley Lake take the road to crab flats, 3N36 north when you get to crab flats continue on till you reach Big Pine Flats.

As the others said, this is mostly a graded road that most any vehicle can traverse. I suggest stopping at the Big Bear Discovery center to get a good map. There are many intersections on 3N16 and some aren't very well marked. With a good map you can also find some easier offshoot trails that may be a bit more entertaining for you.

I agree that the Big Bear Discovery Center is a good place to get a map. Do not get the Franko’s map there as it has many errors. There are other maps there with good trails lay outs.

http://www.bigbeardiscoverycenter.net/forest.html

You can also pick up your Adventure Pass there.

However if you hit up that trail at Green Valley Lake, then you’ll skip Big Bear on the way in and miss being able to get a map at the Big Bear Discovery Center. Consider purchasing the book “Backcountry Adventures Southern California” as a good starter book. It is available at Amazon:

http://www.amazon.com/Backcountry-Adventures-Southern-California-Ultimate/dp/1930193262/ref=sr_1_1/002-7668961-4180014?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1186508920&sr=8-1

You might also consider something a little harder like Gold Mountain (3N69), really a More Difficult trail that is not hard if you do not take the rock garden option at the end (3N69A). If you do not have ‘street’ tires, you’ll not pop them on gold Mountain. It starts of Highway 38, out by Baldwin Lake (east of Big Bear Lake) and takes you to 3N16 (what you are calling Big Pine Flat Trail). Then you could take 3N16 backward toward Green Valley.

3N16 is an easy and long trail but it takes to you though the historic Holcomb Valley, once home to one of the largest towns in San Bernardino county and the heart of the Southern California Gold rush. Many of the names of things in the area are named after mines (John Bull, Gold Mountain, White Mountain [the quatrz]) or the people of Belleville, like Holcomb Valley itself and Van Duesen Road. The next industry to hit the valley was cattle and this is represented by the Hitchcock Ranch and that 3N16 was part of the path down to Burns Canyon and also Rattlesnake Canyon through which the cattle were moved seasonally. All good stuff if you read up a little before you go.

Thanks for all the good tips and info. I picked up a map by Sidekick off road. It seems to be decent. We also went this past saturday to find and check out 3N14. We found that goes from Hesperia through and over the mountain. Were gonna start the day there instead of driving all the way around the mountain.

we made it to the intersection on 3N17 and 4N16 before we turned around and headed back down.

I did notice ALOT of paths that just go off to whereever.... Some makred some not.