Truckhaven & Ocotillo Wells SVRA

Truckhaven Hills, at the northern part of Ocotillo Wells State Vehicular Recreation Area, is located near the Salton Sea in California and is the venue for the popular annual Tierra Del Sol Desert Safari. The area is a maze of deeply cut trenches and sharp ridges, extremely narrow canyons with tight turns, near vertical climbs and cliff-like descents.

The Tierra Del Sol Desert Safari provides an excellent opportunity to enjoy and explore this area. Started back in 1950’s by a small group from the El Cajon Search and Rescue (SAR) team of four wheeling enthusiasts, this has gone on to become the Tierra Del Sol Four Wheel Drive Club. Every year 4x4 enthusiasts gather for the annual weekend event at the Truckhaven hills. The Tierra Del Sol 4x4 Club of San Diego members layout and mark the trails for the organized trail runs.

After my Middle Willows hike in Upper Coyote Canyon, I met up with my family where we would be camping for the rest of the weekend. My wife's parents graciously invited us to stay with them in their tent trailer.

This would be Jackson's third camping trip.

Everyone was always bundled up in the morning.

Far below our camp we could spot others out having a blast along the hills and washes.

Our first order of business was checking out the Truckhaven 4X4 Training Area.

The Truckhaven 4X4 Training Area consists of 22 colorfully named obstacles spread across 30 acres in the northern section of the park. Built out of heavy equipment tires, logs, concrete tubes, boulders and more, these obstacles are ranked in three difficulty ratings. Here, my wife's cousin displays his Jeep Cherokee on the flex test. 

That's some mad flex; stock Wranglers represent!

This one-of-a-kind destination is the result of a dynamic partnership between the State Parks, the Tierra del Sol Jeep Club, and W.E. Rock. The materials used were donated by a variety of stakeholders, and the course was designed to protect the area’s desert flavor. Recent additions include a vehicle-free, shaded observation area with picnic tables to watch the action, plus restrooms. ATVs and motorcycles are prohibited from the area.

This is how high everyone felt comfortable going up the obstacle.

I ended up getting a little too tired on the "GET TIRED" obstacle.

Now off to explore more of the Truckhaven Hills area.

Our son slept through his first off-road outing. I've known parents who were terrified to take their children off-highway until they were a few years old, let alone six months.

A closer exploration of the area reveals petrified wood.

Besides exploring a few of the nearby trails with the Jeep, much of our time was spent relaxing around camp.

No more digging holes in the dirt for us!

My wife's uncle having fun with a few of his RC planes.

Our view from camp.

Whenever I strayed from camp, Audrey was more than happy to come along.

I couldn't think of a better way to end the year; spending time with those I love in a place I love to explore. We had just barely scratched the surface of exploring this area. I look forward to coming back again sometime.

Flashback | Mojave Road, January 2009 - Part 1 of 3

From Indian Trail to Wagon Road to 4WD Adventure

I started this journal back in 2008 but didn't really do anything with it until 2010. So here is a long lost report from my first Mojave Road trip from back in January 2009, with my 1989 YJ Jeep Wrangler. There is just so much to see and explore out there. Towering sand dunes, volcanic cinder cones, Joshua tree forests, and carpets of wildflowers are all found at this 1.6 million acre park. A visit to its canyons, mountains and mesas will reveal long-abandoned mines, homesteads, and settlements.

Three days is definitely the minimum amount of time you'd want to have to explore the Mojave Road or the preserve. One of these days I'll get my family out there to explore more of the preserve.

Well, around 3:30PM on a Thursday, I met up with my friend Steve in Santee and headed on out. Chatting on the CB made the long haul seem not so long. We gassed up again in Barstow and reached the Mojave Road trail head around 10:00PM. Our friend Ralphie, was probably already cozy in his hotel room at the Avi Resort & Casino just across the highway. I didn't feel like breaking out the tent so I just slept in the front of the Jeep. Well, not really slept, more like tossed and turned, trying to get comfortable- not the easiest thing to do in a Jeep Wrangler. I might have gotten a few hours of sleep, though. I regret not setting up the tent and air mattress that night…

Day 1:

Here we are camped out at the trail head, just off Needles Highway in Nevada.

While waiting for everyone to show up I decided to checkout the Colorado River here.

Lined up, aired down, and ready to go.

Our first stop was Fort Piute.

Exploring the remains of the old fort.

 After visiting the old fort we had to backtrack a ways to the main trail. On the way out I had a moment of inattention and drove up a little too high up on the side of the trail and punctured the sidewall of my front passenger tire on some rocks.

Back on the trail.

You'll often come across these old corrals that are scattered about the area.

New York Mountains in the distance, where our first night's camp is located.

This school bus in the middle of this Joshua tree forest is a well-known sight. Vandals recently overturned the bus. However, it was righted to its proper place by some local off-highway vehicle enthusiast.

Just passed the stone cabin we turned north up Caruthers Road towards our first night's camp in Caruthers Canyon.

All these folks following me have a lot of faith that I'm not getting them all lost!

Nestled high in the New York Mountains is Caruther's Canyon, a side trip offering a cooler setting when traveling the Mojave Road in the warmer months. Several primitive campsites are available here along with great scenery and rocks, canyons, and old mines to explore.

While I enjoyed camping at altitude the first night, the wind was a little much. I don't mind the cold but the wind was a different matter. Most of us ended up gathered around the fire as soon as our camps were set up to grill and enjoy some chicken, braut's and beer. We all ended up hitting' the sack pretty early.

Parts 2 & 3 of Flashback | Mojave Road, January 2009 coming soon!