Trail Overview
Starting near Highway 247 and Pony Road, your adventure likely took you deep into this expansive desert playground, known for its diverse terrain. While Johnson Valley is famous for the extreme rock-crawling "Hammers," the northern and central portions, where you were, offer a different experience. This trail will guide you through loose, sandy open desert, characterized by washboards, ruts, and whoops - a true off-road experience that often benefits from airing down your tires and engaging 4WD. As you navigate the desert landscape, you will encounter four distinct dune areas, great for playing around, photo shoots, or just peace. Each of these dune areas offers a little different view of what Johnson Valley has to offer. One section has dunes with trees growing out of the sand. Another is surrounded by giant boulders, while one we like to call the race track is a big circular loop you drive around and explore. This is a fun trail for those looking to get some sand dune time in and not experience something a little different out here in Johnson Valley.
Difficulty
While this trail is in the "3" category, the unpredictability of the sand can definitely take it up a notch or two if you don't know what you are doing. Even having a lot of Sand experience, I got mildly stuck on a downhill section when the sand enveloped my truck, and gave us some digging practice.
