Beginner Off-Road Trails Near Palo Cedro, 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

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

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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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 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 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

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 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

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

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

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

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

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 trail follows an easy ridge route with scenic views into the valley at several points. A wildfire in 2024 left areas with downed trees after storms, and a few small wash sections are present…
Learn more about Martin Creek

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 with multiple turnouts and areas to pass. There were a couple of areas to disperse camp. A couple of small washes, but easy to navigate, and some good views of the valley…
Learn more about Madrone

Easy flat gravel trail taking you around the back side of Little Bald Rock. A couple of areas to turn out and hike up. Ended at a closed gate. There was a big fire in…
Learn more about Cross Up

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

Mostly a wide fire road connecting the road to Potato Hill Trail. There are some small washes, and it narrows at a few sections to one vehicle wide. Good views from the top of the…
Learn more about Sanborn - FS 17N63

This trail takes you up to the Summit Springs trailhead. Gets steep in some sections, mixed with smaller washes. There is a section of the trail beginning to wash out, so use caution. Near the…
Learn more about Boundary Road - FS 17N06

Single wide trail but smooth. This trail connects the main Letts Valley trail to Mill Valley Campground. If you miss it, you'll have to go way around and take a difficulty 4/10 trail to get…
Learn more about Mill Valley Spur C - FS 17N02C

Erickson Ridge Loop is a relatively easy loop trail in Mendocino National Forest. From M1 (Elk Mountain Road) going north, the trail starts on your left, with a narrower dirt trail on the left and…
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This is more of a straightforward gravel fire road. It has most of the surrounding trails attached to it and is also the dirt way to Letts Lake and campgrounds. Some sections of the road…
Learn more about Letts Valley - FS 17N02

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…
Learn more about Fouts-Bear Creek Road M10