Mendocino Discovery Corridor

Total Miles
43.6

Technical Rating

Moderate

Best Time

Spring, Summer, Fall, Winter

Trail Type

High-Clearance 4x4 Trail

Accessible By

Trail Overview

A 44-mile east-to-west route through Mendocino National Forest. Starting at Stonyford OHV Staging Area and ending at Middle Creek OHV Staging Area. Great views of mountains, valleys, and Clear Lake towards the end. Campsites are plentiful along the route. The trail does get increasingly narrow as you traverse previous wildfire deadfall and debris. Phone service is spotty at best; download offline maps for the area.

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Difficulty

(Winter Run): Both ends of the trail are fairly easy (3) but the middle section of the trail was covered in snow and mud boosting the difficulty to at least a (4-5). Expect pinstripes from the narrow track and deadfall lining the trail. Some areas are not well maintained and need trees/limbs cleared away to progress.

Technical Rating

Status Reports

This was an easy trail and we started from just above upper lake. So we came in on the West side of the trail. My group and I only did the first half just past Dry Oak Camp and where it splits to go back to upper lake. I was in my stock LX470 and there was no clearance issue and never came close needing my locker. It was 90 degrees on the trail and it felt hot for the kids. Sun went down around 8:30 pm.

Traveled east-to-west, did it one day. Beginning and end are decent fire roads and not difficult at all. Middle section is very rutted in some sections, offering some fun obstacles for long parts of the trail. Some sections are dug out and would make a stock 4x4 struggle due to clearance and traction. Weather was perfect, but the trail is very dusty. We had to keep a good-sized gap between us so that the rear vehicle could see at all. Stopped at Lett’s lake for lunch (highly recommended), then took the Linger Longer trail back to the MDC route which was also really fun. There is a very long stretch of trail with intermittent sections that have lots of brush that will pin stripe the hell out of your vehicle, and there are no options to navigate around it. It goes on forever with the nails on chalkboard sounds…. Bottom line - fun trail with moderate difficulty in the middle, but do it just once.

Started from the north east point and did about 2/3 of it. Took about 5hrs and took a side trail out. If you care about your paint job, this trail will make you change that attitude. Some parts were so overgrown, the opening was only 3ft wide. Lots of downed trees and branches sticking out, so keep an eye on where you place your tires. Wouldn’t take anything bigger than a midsize truck here. It’s not too difficult, but it’s long. I think it would be 9 hrs to do the whole thing. First half from the north east is easy, saw a Camry and a Matrix there. Once you get to the high point, it gets harder.

Trail has overgrown trees/bushes. Definitely got some pin stripping to for about a mile in the middle of the trail.