Hinkley Desert Lighthouse

Total Miles 2.9
Technical Rating
1 Easy
Best Time Spring, Fall, Winter
Trail Type Full-Width Road
Accessible By
Open Trail Map

Trail Overview

This is the trail that takes you to the Hinkley Desert Lighthouse. The lighthouse was built in 2017 by artist Daniel Hawkins. The entire Lighthouse is lit at night. The route is an easy dirt road/trail that can be traversed by almost any vehicle. There is a small hill climb required to reach the Lighthouse.

Photos of Hinkley Desert Lighthouse

Difficulty

The dirt road is fairly smooth and hard-packed. No obstacles are encountered from Hinkley Road to the Lighthouse.

Technical Rating

1

Status Reports

Add Status Report
Nathan F
Mar 29, 2025
Open
Decided to come here after Rainbow Basin. My suggestion would be to use maps and take the main highway to get here. The trail on the app is a little misleading. I ended up taking the main highway to the midpoint of the trail near the railroad tracks. Then going up to the lighthouse and then doing the entire parts of the trail that I missed coming in. A couple things to note are that for some reason the top of the trail at the top has some very deep ruts. Like 2 or 3 feet. I feel like you could stop before them and just walk up to the lighthouse. However I put the truck in 4L and disconnected the sway bar just to get through the ruts and continue on the trail. That was literally the only hard part of the trail. One other thing to note is the trail toward the southeast side is not able to be completely completed without going off the trail. There is now property with a chain link fence that blocks the trail. I ended up just driving along the gate until I found another trail and and then the main highway.
captain enoch
Jun 08, 2024
Open
Trail was fairly easy although the trail map from on x is incorrect as somewhere along the line the trail is obstructed by fence. I would suggest you just take the street Santa Ana dr. (I believe that is what it’s called ) and then hop back on the green on x road to the light house . I just wouldn’t suggest wandering off on top of some of the hills as we encountered a VERY DEEP DEEP whole on top of a hill that is just on the right side of the light house.

Hinkley Desert Lighthouse Trail can be accessed by the following ride types:

  • 50 Inch
  • High Clearance
  • Full Width

Hinkley Desert Lighthouse Map

The onX Offroad Difference

onX Offroad combines trail photos, descriptions, difficulty ratings, width restrictions, seasonality, and more in a user-friendly interface. Available on all devices, with offline access and full compatibility with CarPlay and Android Auto. Discover what you're missing today!

Open Trail Map