Beginner Off-Road Trails
Near Vallecito, California

Lug Nut Ledge is a short but fun trail with moderate obstacles, including rocky sections, rutted sections, and water crossings. The namesake Lug Nut Ledge features a mild rock step that requires good tire placement but is manageable for most high-clearance vehicles. Water crossings can reach up to a...
Learn more about Lug Nut Ledge

This is a super pretty drive as it descends into the canyons and back up to the mountaintops. On your way to the lookout, you will drive through the Italian Bar/Lost Dutchman Mining Camp, which is a cool place to either pay to camp or you can pay and go gold panning in the river. After leaving there...
Learn more about American Camp Lookout

This trail is a connector between the American Camp Lookout and the Forebay trail. Connect all these 3 trails for a fun weekend or day trip full of adventure and fishing/exploring! There is a creek crossing as well as a bridge crossing with some swimming holes. Be prepared for some mud and ruts, es...
Learn more about Forebay to American Camp

This a very easy trail and is mostly forest roads that zig-zag up the hill to the Forebay. This can be accessed from many ways whether it be from Columbia, Twain Harte, or Camp 9. The Camp 9 entrance is the fastest way in and is a pretty drive looking over the Stanislaus River. Fishing? Try the Fore...
Learn more about Stanislaus Forebay

As of May 26, 2023. This road is accessible by vehicles of higher clearance than sedans. This is due to the fire road are not as flat and maintained as Google Maps makes it out to be. When driving on the road, there will be moderately size ruts, and bumps running across the width of the road due to ...
Learn more about Candy Rock Road

As of May 26, 2023. This road is accessible by vehicles of higher clearance than sedans. This is because the fire roads are not as flat and maintained as Google Maps makes them out to be. When driving on the road, there will be moderately size ruts, and bumps running across the width of the road due...
Learn more about Candy Rock Road P.2

This trail is steep, overgrown, and narrow. Typically home to lots of poison oak and fallen trees but the reward at the end is totally worth it! Keltz Mine road takes you down to the South Fork Stanislaus River and ends at a camping area. There are fish and swimming holes and slippery rocks so bewar...
Learn more about Keltz Mine

This is a short dirt bike only trail that connects the ATV trail 16EV223 with the singletrack 16EV407, near the Deer Creek Staging Area. Taking this trail cuts off having to go back to Italian Bar Road and reenter the trail system. It’s a pretty gradual grade throughout the quarter mile, as it climb...
Learn more about 16EV243

This is a short spur off of 16EV223. It winds through the forest, and has a couple of downed logs on the trail. It probably doesn’t get ridden as much since it’s just a short spur very close to the Deer Creek Staging Area. The trail is closely lined with lots of small young pines. Some of the downed...
Learn more about 16EV251

This is a quarter-mile-long spur that starts and ends off of the ATV trail 16EV223. The north end starts out in a dry grassy hilltop, then it descends through a forest of tall pines, manzanitas, and shrubs. The trail was clear of any logs. It’s a very easy trail as it was essentially rock free, down...
Learn more about 16EV249

This trail starts right near the Deer Creek staging area, behind a gate that gets closed for seasonal use. It starts off pretty easy, being a decently wide single track, weaving between tons of cut logs, with lots of loose rock. The grade is pretty gradual as it parallels a ravine and winds through ...
Learn more about 16EV407

This is a wide and easy ATV trail that goes through the southwest corner of the Interface OHV trail system for 1.7 miles. This one is mostly just a wide access corridor that accesses several other trails, and then you can take this to return to the beginning or staging area instead of having to take...
Learn more about 15EV111

This is a very easy ATV trail that is less than half a mile long, and has no technical elements. It is very wide, smooth, straight and fast, making it ideal for riders of all skill levels. It doesn’t have any rocks or obstacles. It gently curves through the forest of tall oak, cedars and pines, lin...
Learn more about 15EV65

This short trail goes into a thick forested corridor as it departs from trail 16EV407. The trail is covered in a lot of bony and sharp loose rocks, climbing up a dry and sun-exposed hillside, over all the loose rock, making it hard to maintain traction and not get pinged around. It goes through a re...
Learn more about 16EV258

The east end of this trail starts on the forest road 3N63, and it goes west for 1.5 miles, meandering through gradual hills and descents in a pine forest. There are a lot of downed logs that have been cut and are now lining the trail, so you want to watch your pegs on all the downed trees. It winds ...
Learn more about 16EV257

This trail starts on the west side with a semi-steep hill climb up into the forest, then winds on a narrow path between a tight corridor of manzanita trees. It turns right at an intersection, and steeply descends down a curvy path that keeps winding through the oak trees. There’s a couple big logs d...
Learn more about 16EV136

This is a short and easy trail that is easily accessible near the Deer Creek Staging Area, making it a good option for beginner riders not too far from the staging. It’s only .6 miles long, connecting two forest roads. The west end starts on a shelfy hillside elevated above the forest road, winding ...
Learn more about 16EV272

This short and easy trail starts on the Forest Service Road 4N16 and goes north, passing the intersection with 16EV136 in a dry and grassy meadow with loose rock. It continues into the forest of pines and oaks, winding on a smooth dirt path with not many rocks, but roots here and there. A lot of dow...
Learn more about 16EV244

This is a short and easy trail in the Interface Trail System that winds through the forest. Its east entrance starts on FS 5N41Y and it zig zags west for 1.2 miles. The beginning has some deeper ruts and troughed out sections, sometimes dug out a foot below the forest floor. There are a few embedded...
Learn more about 15EV63

This is a wide and easy ATV trail that starts out on the south end lined with small manzanita shrubs and under towering pine trees. It has small loose rocks and shallow ruts, gradually ascending up a hillside, but is mostly a smooth dirt path. It gets a bit narrow in a couple spots between the shrub...
Learn more about 15EV73

This is a super pretty drive as it descends into the canyons and back up to the mountaintops. On your way to the lookout, you will drive through the Italian Bar/Lost Dutchman Mining Camp, which is a cool place to either pay to camp or you can pay and go gold panning in the river. After leaving there...
Learn more about American Camp Lookout

This trail is a connector between the American Camp Lookout and the Forebay trail. Connect all these 3 trails for a fun weekend or day trip full of adventure and fishing/exploring! There is a creek crossing as well as a bridge crossing with some swimming holes. Be prepared for some mud and ruts, es...
Learn more about Forebay to American Camp

This a very easy trail and is mostly forest roads that zig-zag up the hill to the Forebay. This can be accessed from many ways whether it be from Columbia, Twain Harte, or Camp 9. The Camp 9 entrance is the fastest way in and is a pretty drive looking over the Stanislaus River. Fishing? Try the Fore...
Learn more about Stanislaus Forebay

As of May 26, 2023. This road is accessible by vehicles of higher clearance than sedans. This is due to the fire road are not as flat and maintained as Google Maps makes it out to be. When driving on the road, there will be moderately size ruts, and bumps running across the width of the road due to ...
Learn more about Candy Rock Road

This is a super pretty drive as it descends into the canyons and back up to the mountaintops. On your way to the lookout, you will drive through the Italian Bar/Lost Dutchman Mining Camp, which is a cool place to either pay to camp or you can pay and go gold panning in the river. After leaving there...
Learn more about American Camp Lookout

This trail is a connector between the American Camp Lookout and the Forebay trail. Connect all these 3 trails for a fun weekend or day trip full of adventure and fishing/exploring! There is a creek crossing as well as a bridge crossing with some swimming holes. Be prepared for some mud and ruts, es...
Learn more about Forebay to American Camp

This a very easy trail and is mostly forest roads that zig-zag up the hill to the Forebay. This can be accessed from many ways whether it be from Columbia, Twain Harte, or Camp 9. The Camp 9 entrance is the fastest way in and is a pretty drive looking over the Stanislaus River. Fishing? Try the Fore...
Learn more about Stanislaus Forebay

As of May 26, 2023. This road is accessible by vehicles of higher clearance than sedans. This is due to the fire road are not as flat and maintained as Google Maps makes it out to be. When driving on the road, there will be moderately size ruts, and bumps running across the width of the road due to ...
Learn more about Candy Rock Road