Beginner Off-Road Trails Near Mountain Gate, California

This is a wide-open easy trail from the Chappie staging area, past Mammoth Mountain, to a lunch spot. It's easy for all riding abilities, with a ton of overlooks along the way. During the spring,…
Learn more about Mammoth Mountain Trail 1

While the trail is an easy dirt road the real story is the river. The Lower McCloud River flows approximately 12 miles from Lake McCloud into Lake Shasta. It can have an emerald green color,…
Learn more about McCloud River 38N53

The Dill Scenic Trail is an out and back at Shasta National Forest in California. There are great views of Mount Shasta as well as the surrounding mountains. This trail is not difficult by any…
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This is a fun drive up through the mountains that will require 4x4 high clearance. However, it does not require lockers. Bring a lunch and enjoy the backcountry, with some great views of valleys and…
Learn more about Jack's Backbone

Willow Lake Road takes you to Willow Lake Campground where there are opportunities for fishing, hiking, hot springs, geysers and wildlife viewing. The road in is doable in any high clearance vehicle. When approaching the…
Learn more about Willow Lake Road 29N14

This trail begins at Highway 44, travels through Lassen National Forest into Lassen Volcanic National Park, and concludes at Butte Lake. The trail is not technical, but can be eroded and present long stretches of…
Learn more about Butte Lake

This trail is a combination of dirt and gravel. The trail is fairly flat with the occasional rutted wash from water flow. Not far down the trail is the Rattlesnake Firefighter Memorial and the trailhead…
Learn more about Road 307

This trail starts off looking like it was freshly graded and then turns into a rutted-out trail. Nothing too difficult, just some sections where water was flowing down and created a rut in the road.…
Learn more about Alder Springs W.C. - FS 21N30

This trail has a gate, so it is likely closed for the winter. The trail is a hard-pack gravel road with some potholes and rutted-out sections. There are a couple of spots that get a…
Learn more about Lower Middle Ridge - FS 21N07

At the beginning of the trail, there is a sign that states "closed at creek crossing". However, we did not encounter a creek crossing or any closures along this trail before it meets at M3.…
Learn more about Road 311

This route takes you through mostly wide gravel roads. There is a lot of moon dust/thick powder near the town of Westwood. You will be traveling through one of the largest burn scars in California,…
Learn more about Buffalo Chips

Pillsberry to Black Butte Trail is a calm, scenic gravel road with some campsites along the river. It's an easy driving, wide road, not normally passable in the wintertime because of snow. There is one…
Learn more about Pillsbury-Indian Dick Road

This slightly over 2-mile trail definitely lives up to its name. While it remains a two-track route, thick brush crowds the trail in several sections, making for a tight squeeze at times. There are also…
Learn more about Brushy Ridge - 19N29

This trail takes you from deep in the canyon straight up to the top of the mountain. Some switchbacks and small washes. Goes from more forest to barren red dirt and rock. One section towards…
Learn more about Belden-Longville Burma Road

The trail is wide with nice gravel. The entire route has road signs, so you can't really get lost. Up by the actual lake, the gravel road gets steep, but some pavement has been put…
Learn more about Crater Lake

This trail is a combination of dirt and gravel. There are a few small washes along the edges of the trail, but nothing too big, and they can easily be driven around. This trail does…
Learn more about Salt Spring Valley - 18N38

Mainly a nice fire road with some small washes, unless you go early in the season. This trail rides the side of a ridge with good views occasionally, and it also has some spots to…
Learn more about North Branch

This is an Out-and-Back spur trail that ends in a big flat open area perfect for dispersed camping. There is another small spur at the end for more dispersed camping. The trail ends at a…
Learn more about Belden-Longville

This is a short spur road that looks like it used to take you to the top of Triplet Butte however the trail becomes impassable a little less than half way down the road. Has…
Learn more about Triplet Butte - 18N02A

The trail climbs a bit along the ridge. It's well-maintained, as the end of the trail leads to a large water pipeline. There are also rockfalls along the trail, so be cautious when coming around…
Learn more about Walters Slide

This is a short ATV trail in a remote and primitive section of the Plumas National Forest, accessed off of Four Trees Road. This area was damaged from a large fire in recent years. The…
Learn more about Magee Ridge

This trail has a spot to camp shortly after getting on the trail with a great view. There is a steep hill that a hitch will drag on, not far from the entrance, and some…
Learn more about Black Diamond - FS 18N30

Tight, windy trail that drops down into a small canyon. The original second half of the trail is washed away, so it now ends sooner, but it ends in a nice flat area to disperse…
Learn more about Oak Flat

This trail takes you up the side of the canyon on multiple different shelf roads, ending in trees and a wider trail. It stops at Butt Valley Dam/Reservoir. Looks to have a road around it…
Learn more about Caribou

This is an out and back or should I say up and down trail that takes you from the bottom of the canyon to the top of the Saint John mountain. Trail is single wide…
Learn more about Saint John - FS 18N06

Hull Mountain is a dominant peak and rises over 5,000 feet above Lake Pillsbury in the southwest part of the Mendocino National Forest. This is a beautiful area for camping and other recreational activities. Relatively…
Learn more about Hull Mountain Trail

Single wide trail that navigates up and across a ridge. It can get really tight with overgrown vegetation. A good amount of washes, ditches, and water drainage humps, and a few hill climbs and descents.…
Learn more about Rattlesnake 4x4 85467

This is a semi maintained fire road. From the South end starts out groomed and starts to get narrow on the shelf road. Some overgrown brush to get some pin stripes. There are multiple smaller…
Learn more about North Fork - FS 18N03

This is the beginning of the Letts Ridge trail. Past this is only for dirtbikes and other smaller OHV machines. This trail will also take you to the Champagne trail wh8ch also connects to Potato…
Learn more about Letts Ridge Trailhead Entrance

This trail immediately starts climbing. Has many rolling water drainages and rocky sections. Start to get good views of the canyon as well. Crossing a road and continuing on the other side, it's easy to…
Learn more about Champagne - FS 17N79