Beginner Off-Road Trails
Near North Lakeport, California

Set within an open mountain landscape recovering from the 2018 Ranch Fire with fresh brush regrowth and standing pine snags in the Mendocino National Forest, Pilot Grove (FS 16N01) offers an exceptionally scenic ridgeline drive. Accessed directly from Bartlett Springs Road at Bartlett Mountain Summi...
Learn more about Pilot Grove - FS 16N01

Winding along a high, exposed ridge recovering from the massive 2018 Ranch Fire, with chaparral growth and standing snags in the Mendocino National Forest, Pinnacle Rock (FS 16N01D) offers a brief but visually rewarding mountain excursion. Accessed directly off Pilot Grove Road (FS 16N01), this shor...
Learn more about Pinnacle Rock - FS 16N01D

Mendo-Lake Road is an easy 13-mile dirt route serving as the primary corridor through the South Cow Mountain OHV Management Area between Ukiah and Lakeport. The wide, well-maintained road climbs from 1,480 feet to a maximum elevation of 3,223 feet, offering panoramic views of Clear Lake, Lakeport, a...
Learn more about Mendo-Lake Road

The trail connects Elk Mountain Road to Deer Valley Campground. 1 to 2 vehicles wide as you go along. The trail is more like a fire service road, well-maintained with minimal washouts. Mostly stay in the trees, which is nice and shaded. Deer Valley Campground is a Primative site with two pit toilets...
Learn more about Pilot Grove - FS 16N01

This is the main route taking you from Elk Mountain Road to the Bear Creek Crossing that meets Long Ridge - FS 17N16 and Fouts-Bear Creek Rd. It does route through private properties, but it is the main road to them. Just be sure not to venture off the trail while you're going through the private pr...
Learn more about Bear Creek Road M10

This trail connects Horse Mountain to A road. Tight trail with some overgrown vegetation that will cause some pinstripes. There are small washes, but if they're full of water, watch out, they could be deeper than you think. There are some good views of the canyon on the south end.
Learn more about Horse Mountain South Connector - FS 17N27B

This trail takes you right up the mountain to the peak of Horse Mountain. The first (top) is ideal for dispersed camping and awesome views into the canyon and Clear Lake below. There is another high spot and other places to disperse camp at the end of the trail. Single wide out and back with small w...
Learn more about Horse Mountain Peak - FS 17N85

This trail is mainly a fire road, but it will get pretty narrow in sections. Multiple areas of being a shelf road and steep grades. Goes up and down two ridges, offering awesome views, and there are multiple areas to disperse camp. Out and back as of now. The end has a fallen tree and a path that is...
Learn more about Mc Creary Glade - FS 17N99

Narrow trail connecting Mendocino Scenic Corridor and Richardson Glade. More of a tighter two-track section with lots of off-camber and washes to navigate through. You will encounter tough vegetation in some sections and get some pinstripes. Goes through a burned area, so it might have fallen trees ...
Learn more about Wilblain - FS 16N18

This trail goes around the north ridge of Horse Mountain and is mainly one vehicle wide. Multiple small washes, but easy to navigate around or over. There are multiple Dispersed camp areas along the trail; some have good views off the ridge. Has some fire damage, so may encounter downed trees after ...
Learn more about Horse Mountain - FS 17N27

This is an out-and-back trail that leads to off-highway specific trails. It is also shared use, so be cautious of others. There are dispersed camp sites along the way, and it ends in a bigger one. The trail is narrow, but it has room for a full-size truck and multiple spots to pull out or turn aroun...
Learn more about Bluejay - FS 17N38

This is an out-and-back trail that is shared use and leads to multiple off-highway vehicle trails. There are some dispersed campsites along the way and at the end, but there is a huge dedicated dispersed primitive campsite area about halfway through. This is a single-wide, mostly flat trail that get...
Learn more about Willow Rock - FS 17N39

This is an out-and-back two-track style trail that goes along Bear Creek primitive campground and climbs up towards Potato Hill on some shelf roads. Unfortunately, the trail goes to a small corner of private property and is gated, so it no longer continues to the top, but the climb is fun, mixed wit...
Learn more about Potato Hill - FS 17N33

This trail begins at the end of the Fouts-Bear Creek paved road that comes from the Fouts Springs Camp Grounds and takes you to the Long Ridge and Bear Creek split. There is a campground called Bear Creek on the west end of the trail, and multiple dispersed camping areas along the route. A lot of th...
Learn more about Fouts-Bear Creek Road M10

Bartlett Springs Road begins southeast of Mendocino National Forest and boasts excellent views. This route passes through BLM land, and there are plenty of offshoots from the trail. There are also opportunities for camping, hiking, mountain biking, fishing, hunting, and recreational shooting. Cell s...
Learn more about Bartlett Springs Road

This trail connects M10 to the main M3 route. Single wide with steep sections, off camber, and a water crossing. Multiple washes are about 12" deep and run long lengths of trail and change from a dirt to rock base on the trail a few times. Be careful avoiding some washes, as the side of the trail ca...
Learn more about Grouse Springs-Bear Creek Connector

Set along a high, scenic mountain ridge within a forest recovering from the 2018 Ranch Fire with standing pine snags and fresh brush regrowth in the Mendocino National Forest, Linger Longer - FS 17N14 offers an engaging ridge drive. Accessed via Board Camp Ridge Road - FS 17N10, the Mendocino Scenic...
Learn more about Linger Longer - FS 17N14

This is an out-and-back shared-use trail that takes you to multiple trail heads for off-highway vehicles. There are a couple of dispersed camp sites along the trail. This is a single-wide trail with a few areas to pass or turn out. There are a couple of small washes as well.
Learn more about Little Round - FS 17N37

Out-and-back trail, big dispersed camp area at the end of the trail for multiple vehicles. There are a few spots to pass, and a dirt bike trail is towards the beginning. has a few ledges from erosion and some washes. Toward the end of the trail, before it descends into the camp spot, there is a good...
Learn more about Stony Slope - FS 17N89

Single wide trail with one end being an out-and-back. The south end has dispersed campsites on the edge of the ridge, which are awesome but also very exposed. The trail has many washes and ditches, and will get narrow enough to cause pin stripes. The trail also goes through a burned area.
Learn more about Richardson Glade - FS 17N26

Set within an open mountain landscape recovering from the 2018 Ranch Fire with fresh brush regrowth and standing pine snags in the Mendocino National Forest, Pilot Grove (FS 16N01) offers an exceptionally scenic ridgeline drive. Accessed directly from Bartlett Springs Road at Bartlett Mountain Summi...
Learn more about Pilot Grove - FS 16N01

Winding along a high, exposed ridge recovering from the massive 2018 Ranch Fire, with chaparral growth and standing snags in the Mendocino National Forest, Pinnacle Rock (FS 16N01D) offers a brief but visually rewarding mountain excursion. Accessed directly off Pilot Grove Road (FS 16N01), this shor...
Learn more about Pinnacle Rock - FS 16N01D

Mendo-Lake Road is an easy 13-mile dirt route serving as the primary corridor through the South Cow Mountain OHV Management Area between Ukiah and Lakeport. The wide, well-maintained road climbs from 1,480 feet to a maximum elevation of 3,223 feet, offering panoramic views of Clear Lake, Lakeport, a...
Learn more about Mendo-Lake Road

This is an out-and-back trail that leads to off-highway specific trails. It is also shared use, so be cautious of others. There are dispersed camp sites along the way, and it ends in a bigger one. The trail is narrow, but it has room for a full-size truck and multiple spots to pull out or turn aroun...
Learn more about Bluejay - FS 17N38

Set within an open mountain landscape recovering from the 2018 Ranch Fire with fresh brush regrowth and standing pine snags in the Mendocino National Forest, Pilot Grove (FS 16N01) offers an exceptionally scenic ridgeline drive. Accessed directly from Bartlett Springs Road at Bartlett Mountain Summi...
Learn more about Pilot Grove - FS 16N01

Winding along a high, exposed ridge recovering from the massive 2018 Ranch Fire, with chaparral growth and standing snags in the Mendocino National Forest, Pinnacle Rock (FS 16N01D) offers a brief but visually rewarding mountain excursion. Accessed directly off Pilot Grove Road (FS 16N01), this shor...
Learn more about Pinnacle Rock - FS 16N01D

Mendo-Lake Road is an easy 13-mile dirt route serving as the primary corridor through the South Cow Mountain OHV Management Area between Ukiah and Lakeport. The wide, well-maintained road climbs from 1,480 feet to a maximum elevation of 3,223 feet, offering panoramic views of Clear Lake, Lakeport, a...
Learn more about Mendo-Lake Road

This is an out-and-back trail that leads to off-highway specific trails. It is also shared use, so be cautious of others. There are dispersed camp sites along the way, and it ends in a bigger one. The trail is narrow, but it has room for a full-size truck and multiple spots to pull out or turn aroun...
Learn more about Bluejay - FS 17N38