Beginner Off-Road Trails Near McDermitt, Nevada

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5 Bar Road

Rocky and slow, 5 Bar Road leads to the 5 Bar Overlook on the rim of the Owyhee Canyon. From this vantage point, you look down into a section of the canyon where the remains…
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Total Miles
4.9
Tech Rating
3 Easy
Best Time
Fa

BLM 3780 - Star Valley Ranch

This rocky dirt section of the larger Southern Owyhee Route passes through the Owyhee River Wilderness and Star Valley. It passes through Star Valley Ranch (which appears from the signage to be owned by 45…
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Total Miles
14.1
Tech Rating
2 Easy
Best Time
Fa

Maher Reservoir Road

Rocky and slow, the Maher Reservoir Road scrambles up out of the Three Forks Recreation Area and across Brown Ridge before reaching Maher Reservoir. This road dead ends at a locked ranch gate festooned with…
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Total Miles
10.6
Tech Rating
3 Easy
Best Time
Fa

Fenwick Ranch Road

Fenwick Ranch Road cuts Southwest across the grazing land on the plateau towards the rim of the Owyhee Canyon and Three Forks - the confluence of three of the forks of the Owyhee River. This…
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Total Miles
13
Tech Rating
3 Easy
Best Time
Su / Fa

Summit Lake Reservation Route

This trail is only suitable during dry weather. This is a connector route connecting Black Rock Playa to Oregon's Alvord Playa and Steens Mountain through the Summit Lake Indian Reservation. This route is generally graded…
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Total Miles
97.2
Tech Rating
1 Easy
Best Time
Fa

Crutchers Crossing South

Crutcher's Crossing South starts at the river ford and climbs up the switchbacks on the South side of the canyon and then terminates at the Crutcher's Crossing Cherrystem at a BLM map kiosk. The climb…
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Total Miles
3.3
Tech Rating
3 Easy
Best Time
Fa

Bogus Ranch Road

Bogus Ranch Road is a dusty dirt road that starts out as gravel in the small hamlet of Arock, Oregon. It winds through the few farms that have managed to find viable land among all…
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Total Miles
13.4
Tech Rating
2 Easy
Best Time
Fa

Otro Playa Vista

This rocky trail is a good one to link up with Playa Vista for a slightly different angle of the playa (dry lakebed) below. There are a few dispersed camping options but be sure to…
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Total Miles
2.3
Tech Rating
2 Easy
Best Time
Wi / Fa / Sp

Soldier Creek Road

The route South out of Jordan Valley into the mountains jumps back and forth across the Idaho/Oregon state line numerous times. And each time it does, it changes names. From Pleasant Valley to Soldier Creek,…
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Total Miles
8.9
Tech Rating
1 Easy
Best Time
Sp / Su / Fa

Danner Road

An easy two-lane dirt road that leads to the Jean Baptiste Charbonneau final resting place memorial. They were the youngest members of the Lewis and Clark expedition, and this is memorial is a very nice…
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Total Miles
4.3
Tech Rating
1 Easy
Best Time
Sp / Su / Fa

Bogus Bench Trail

The Bogus Bench Trail is a rough, twisty, and often rocky dirt road that starts at Mud Lake and winds its way along the foot of Bogus Bench and the Bogus Rim as it drops…
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Total Miles
10.1
Tech Rating
3 Easy
Best Time
Fa

Mann Lake

This partial loop around the lake is packed with camping and recreation. Most of the year, the lake is dry, but that doesn't mean the views aren't impressive. The stunning Steens Mountains rise from the…
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Total Miles
1.5
Tech Rating
2 Easy
Best Time
Fa / Sp

Mudlake Reservoir Road

One of the main connector roads in this section of the bench plateaus above the Owyhee Canyon, this sometimes dirt, sometimes gravel route is one of the faster ones to use to transit the area.…
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Total Miles
8.5
Tech Rating
2 Easy
Best Time
Fa

The Back Way to Mann Lake

While the main entrance is the most common way to get to Mann Lake, this route offers a more interesting drive. There are some deeper transitions as it skirts along the bottom of the hills,…
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Total Miles
1.8
Tech Rating
3 Easy
Best Time
Sp / Fa

Steens Mountain Summit Road

The road to the summit of Steens Mountain is the highest road in Oregon, reaching nearly 10,000 feet. From the trailhead at the end of the road, the summit is just a short hike. The…
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Total Miles
1.9
Tech Rating
1 Easy
Best Time
Su

Cow Tracks

This easy out and back provides access into the hills and passes through two very tight cattle gates. These are two-person operation gates, although the first one has a handy cheater bar to open it.…
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Total Miles
1.1
Tech Rating
2 Easy
Best Time
Sp / Fa

Miller Lane

Miller Lane is a bumpy, dirt road that is an elongated "C" shape on the map, arcing out from the water tower at the center of the plateau to follow the curve of the edge…
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Total Miles
17.5
Tech Rating
3 Easy
Best Time
Fa

Steens Loop

This road is in decent shape, but gets very corrugated and deteriorates through the year. There are few obstacles, but speed can make many of the corners dangerous, and you'll also find many steep grades.…
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Total Miles
50.1
Tech Rating
2 Easy
Best Time
Su

Antelope Crossing

This bumpy out and backcrosses the long, dried grassy fields as it ascends into the hills. The entire time herds of Antelope were crossing the path ahead. Once at the top, it's clear to see…
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Total Miles
0.9
Tech Rating
2 Easy
Best Time
Sp / Fa

Jordan Craters Ranch Road

This uninspiring dirt ranch road follows the edge of the adjacent Jordan Craters WSA. The ranch roads in this area are a bit of a spider web through this area of grazing land that mostly…
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Total Miles
3.3
Tech Rating
2 Easy
Best Time
Fa

Danner Loop to Cow Creek

Completion of The Cow Lake and Danner Loop. The road is a wide, graded, gravel road. Some dispersed camping spots are tucked in along the hillsides on the little off-shoot trails. Along the way, you…
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Total Miles
8.1
Tech Rating
1 Easy
Best Time
Fa / Su / Sp

Burnt Flat Road

This trail ascends from the valley below into a network of trails in the Steens Mountains. The trail begins down in the lakebed area and the lower valley. Then it ascends a steep rocky shelf…
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Total Miles
10.1
Tech Rating
3 Easy
Best Time
Sp / Fa / Su

Upper Cold Spring

This is the more heavily traveled section of the trail. It leads to the crossroads of Grove Creek (more traveled) and Lower Cold Springs. "Less Traveled" the trail travels along a fence line and primarily…
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Total Miles
2.5
Tech Rating
3 Easy
Best Time
Fa / Su

Entrance to Burnt Flat Road

This short section is the smoother, more heavily traveled access road to Burnt Flat Road. It passes through a cattle gate with a nice cheater bar to make stringing it back up easier. Then it…
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Total Miles
0.6
Tech Rating
2 Easy
Best Time
Sp / Su / Fa

Lakebed Cutover

This bumpy little trail leads across the lower mountainside of the valley along the sides of the dry lake beds. There are quite a few nice offshoots for exploring and finding flat spots to camp.…
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Total Miles
3.7
Tech Rating
2 Easy
Best Time
Sp / Fa

Iron Point Road

This is a rugged dirt road with bits of rock from time to time. It leads out from Morcom Road towards Iron Point on the edge of the Owyhee Canyon. There is very little traffic…
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Total Miles
6.5
Tech Rating
3 Easy
Best Time
Fa

Jackson's Cat Trail

A rough and often fading two-track along the Southern edge of the Owyhee Breaks Wilderness Study Area. This trail includes a lollipop out-and-back that leads out to an overlook of the Owyhee Canyon that looks…
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Total Miles
7.4
Tech Rating
3 Easy
Best Time
Fa

Mahan Reservoir Quail Creek

This trail is a perfect way to get up into the Steens Mountains from Alvord valley below. It starts as a well-maintained gravel trail and becomes a short shelf road with a few steep sections.…
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Total Miles
6.7
Tech Rating
3 Easy
Best Time
Sp / Su / Fa

Three Springs Offshoot

This bumpy little out-and-back ends at a nice camping spot nestled in a juniper grove with a hiking trailhead and plenty of cut juniper to collect along the way for your campfire. There are a…
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Total Miles
1.5
Tech Rating
3 Easy
Best Time
Fa / Su

Morcom Road

This rugged dirt and rock road drops 1800 feet off the rimrock plateau to the ruins of the Morcom Ranch homestead on the banks of the Owyhee River below. This is an out-and-back road as…
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Total Miles
10.1
Tech Rating
3 Easy
Best Time
Fa