Barney Riley

Total Miles
11.2

Elevation

2,444.62 ft

Duration

3 Hours

Technical Rating

4

Moderate

Best Time

Summer

Trail Overview

Ride a mix of open and forested trail and make time to enjoy beautiful aspen groves, stone hot spring pools, and the Carson River. There are places to camp at the end of the ride along Carson River's east fork. Motorized vehicles cannot cross the river, but you can cross by foot, raft or canoe.

Photos of Barney Riley

Barney Riley
Barney Riley

Difficulty

Moderate: Most of this trail is easy, but several steep, rocky sections will test novice drivers. Stock SUVs can do it, but skid plates and moderate ground clearance are recommended.

History

The cemented stone pools at the hot springs were built by the general public over a long period of time. The Forest Service has attempted to knock them down, but people just rebuild them. The pools are very popular with river rafters when the river is high and 4-wheelers when the river is low. During our visit in early September, we found the river ankle deep at the hot springs.

Technical Rating

4

Status Reports

Andrew Connors
Jul 22, 2024
2021 Ford Bronco
Open
Normal
Dusty
Rough/Deteriorated
Great day on the trail, ran this with a two door bronco on 35s and a bronco raptor on 37’s. As a previous report mentions, this is not a beginner trail, but there also wasn’t anything overly difficult. Just a matter of taking your time and crawling down the rocks towards the river. Total trip starting from. Highway 89 and down to the river and then back up to Airport Road, which is a far less traveled route, took a total of about four hours. The four wheeling and scenery are absolutely spectacular.
Hunter Lamphere
Jul 21, 2024
Open
Dusty
Rough/Deteriorated
Washboard
Land Cruiser on 37s and 3 1/2” lift and went south to north. This trail is not stock friendly. Started out beautiful with old mining equipment and small rocky sections. Then further in you get to where rain and snow from last year’s storms chewed this trail up. Took 7 hours to complete this trail due to how rough it was, significantly harder than the black trail next to this one. River is high and flowing hard, took the water crossing which came up to our door jams then onto the black trail out back to the 395.
Chris Arkenberg
Aug 29, 2023
4x4
Obstructed
Washout
Tony Castillo
Jul 01, 2023
4x4
Obstructed
Washout

Access Description

From South Lake Tahoe, take Highway 50 south to Hwy. 89. Then follow 89 southeast about 28 miles. When Hwy. 4 continues south, bear left and stay on 89 another 1.7 miles. Loope Canyon Road is a wide dirt road and comes downhill on the left. We saw no signs, so it was easy to miss. Look for a wide spot to pull over on the south side of Hwy. 89 opposite the start.

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