On Saturday April 5th the Santa Barbara 4WD Club rallied our troops to again support Vallor on the Greens and their local Pour-Overland fundraising/charity show and coffee social event at the South Coast Community Church.
Many of our members came out to support this event for disabled 1st responders and Military Veterans by displaying their rigs and gear and helping to raise money for this worthy cause.
There was also event related merchandise, breakfast burritos, bakery items, coffee and homemade cookies for sale as well. The raffle had many popular items to be passed out and was very popular too.
Thanks again to those members who came out to support this fundraiser by displaying their rigs and for those other members who also showed up for support of the event and our club.
Members, for more photos from the event, please checkout (and contribute items) the club album photo album in the members only section of the website
A dozen Club Members embarked on an exploratory run in/around Cougar Buttes and the areas north and east. The weather forecast gave us pause several days in advance, yet we attempted to press on.
Jim was one of the first to get his tent up, just in time for the first batch of hail.
Thursday and Friday nights were far below optimal camping conditions given the strong winds (two tents were damaged over the weekend by the winds), yet daytime runs were still outstanding
Thursday evening did allow for a good view of the lunar eclipse.
Friday was dedicated to the local rock formations and sand plains. This allowed the group to grow as more arrivals landed
By the end of Friday, everyone who could attend was in camp. Unfortunately the winds limited socializing. We observed multiple large campers in the area with our crew being the only one biased towards tent shelters.
Saturday the run was a long loop to the north and east. This extended beyond the Johnson Valley OHV areas onto a variety of public lands. In total we covered over 70 miles.
After a lengthy gravel road section we broke west into open rangeland. There was an abundance of indication cattle had recently been there, but none today. This connected us to an access road along a high pressure gas line. This included some shale climbs, loop trails and a little wash driving.
The geology was changing as we pushed north, encountering volcanic layers and some eroded canyons. We noticed a big horn watching us from above, the first we had seen in this area.
For lunchtime we checked out a box end canyon where the volcanic layer has held up allowing the erosion to collapse the canyon wall below almost in a concave fashion.
After lunch our path took us far enough north to view the truck / train traffic along I-40. We needed to loop around a wilderness reserve area. The trail back south brought us through sand washes bisecting volcanic flows.
As we crested and tipped back down towards Johnson Valley, Danny was able to connect via radio with friends down by the King of the Hammers site.
Eventually we decided that half the group would work their way south and east to check out the KOH site while the other half turned west and returned to camp.
For several, the prior night’s brutal winds had us questioning that a comfortable evening and a fire would follow. Since we needed to leave early on Sunday anyway, several bugged out. The crew back from KOH did benefit from improving conditions and were able to have a fire and enjoy some local fireworks.
Those who stayed into Sunday did get some more Butte climbing, good times had by all accounts
Thanks again to everyone who came and explored the area. I think this gives us plenty to consider for future runs in this area.
Check out the full photo and video album stored in the members only section of our site. We have over 125 contributions and growing
For the second year in a row a small group of Club members opened the season with a trip to explore Panamint Valley the second weekend of February.
Fernando, Brent and Jim arrived first to a campsite near Surprise Canyon, and just as we were arriving Brent’s Turtle trailer suffered a catastrophic axle failure! Bryan and Oliver arrived just in time to help attempt a repair to limp it to the road, but despite Bryan’s best efforts with the Club welder the axle didn’t hold.
We unloaded the trailer and set up camp, with Brent spending the weekend in the group tent brought to stay out of the strong winds expected for the first few nights. Brad showed up later in his fancy Lexus. The winds arrived as advertised.
On Friday, while Brent followed his trailer to a shop in Ridgecrest the rest of the group first stopped in at the Ballarat general store.
After checking out Ballarat the group ran the Fish Canyon/Escape Trail, a historic route where Manly led his expedition out of Death Valley. This was a new trail for all of us.
By the time we got to Trona to refuel, Brent rejoined the group! We continued with our day of exploring historic trails by running the Nadeau Trail, admiring the very fine craftsmanship of the Chinese laborers who built the retaining walls almost 150 years ago as the trail went straight down Searles Pass and straight (very straight) up Panamint Valley.
The group explored a side canyon with an old townsite, and eventually were halted by an impassable washout. It was getting late so we decided to call it a day and head back to camp.
On Saturday we decided to venture into Death Valley via Goler Canyon, a classic route most of the group had never done.
Brad’s Lexus was stopped by a waterfall near the beginning of the canyon, but a quick pull from Brent got him past the hump and we were on our way, stopping occasionally for a ruin here in there until we reached the turnoff for the Keystone Mine.
The trail to the Keystone mine was a steep shelf road in sometimes dubious condition.
Eventually Fernando, Bryan and Jim made it to the Keystone Mine and decided to explore, going in the mine until stopped by a cave-in about 100 yards in. During their exploration they found a new-ish looking box of dynamite (probably from when the mine was restarted in the 1980’s and 90’s) but left it alone.
Entering Death Valley proper, the group continued on Goler Wash Road and reached Mengel Pass for the most difficult part of the trip. Everyone eventually made it through with the help of some spotting.
We stopped for lunch at Russell Camp. Fernando spilled tinned trout oil in his cooler.
Then checked out Geologists Cabin, admiring the view of Striped Butte.
Realizing we were running out of daylight and wanting to make sure we crossed Mengel Pass and Goler Canyon in daylight, we decided to head home.
We decided to take the long way around the Alkali Flat to avoid the washboard of Wingate Road, and drove the last hour or so in the dark, getting to use our trail lights.
Saturday night the wind finally died down and we enjoyed our first and only campfire.
Sunday we all left for home, Brent without his trusty Turtleback, making it back in time for the Super Bowl.
Members: As usual, check out the members only section where we have 177 photos and videos contributed by the members on this trip.
Opting for a modified FunDay event for January, Club Members (organized by longtime Pismo Official Mike Bishop) pulled together for a caravan up the 101 Saturday morning.
Michael (Santa Mike) Williams volunteered to take tail and check the Five Points parking lot to ensure nobody was being left behind.
After the run we reached out to Mike for comment.
Mike B: Wow! What a run to Pizmo it was, absolutely amazing. We had so much fun.
The weather was nice and sunny. We hiked along the Oso Flaco lake.
We climbed the monster Hills and that VA Jeep kicked my ass.!
Michael came back out after getting his truck fixed. And we did another hour and a half in the dunes and of course I got stuck and had to pop me off a Razorback!
Thanks Mike for the recap and Michael for the clips of the action
If you’re looking for a sand adventure in Pismo, Mike is frequently looking for another adventure in the dunes.
Six rigs departed Santa Barbara and headed over the 154 to Los Olivos, meeting up with two more rigs at the 246/154 intersection.
From Los Olivos, we headed down Figueroa Mountain Rd for a few miles and picked up Forest Service Route 8N02, more commonly known as Zaca Ridge Rd.
This area was devastated by the Lake fire in July 2024 but there are good signs of nature’s recovery.
Because of all the fire fighting equipment used to battle the fire, the route has been well graded, but it’s still a great trail through the Los Padres National Forest. I didn’t get out of 2WD at any point, but it’s not always about that.
We followed the route to the end and soaked up the stunning 360° views of the Santa Ynez Valley, Zaca Lake, Figueroa Mountain, and out over Vandenberg Air Force Base to the Pacific Ocean.
This would be a great place to watch a SpaceX launch!
On the way back, we decided to explore a couple offshoots – one to Zaca Peak and the other being the OHV Jeep Trail, or 29W02.
The Jeep trail was also well graded but a fun route to drive, and wide enough to avoid pinstripes, which I’m told hasn’t always been the case.
This trail leads down to the Davy Brown campground, where we picked up Sunset Valley Road and headed for a lunch stop at its intersection with Figueroa Mountain Rd.
After lunch, we made our way back to the 154 along Figueroa Mountain Rd and HappyCanyon Road. An easy but fun ride out with a great group!
A variety of rigs of the Santa Barbara 4 Wheel Drive Club headed across the West Camino Cielo Ridge trail Saturday morning Dec. 28th.
Included were eleven vehicles, their drivers, spouses, a few welcomed guests as well as a couple of mascot doggies, Otis and Benny.
There was a substantial fog layer covering the city which cleared into sunny skies halfway up the 154 San Marcos Pass. Once arriving on the trail-head, we all enjoyed a beautiful morning exploring the Santa Barbara backcountry with fall temperatures.
We followed the main trail as well as enjoyed a few fun off-shoots to boot.
Thank you Jerry for organizing, Bryan (Swifty) for leading, Mike for taking tail and Danny for bringing homemade Christmas cookies to share.
The Santa Barbara 4WD Club joined the 2024 Goleta Old Town Holiday Parade on December 7, 2024. This year’s Parade Grand Marshals were the George Washington Hill Family and was also the largest in event history with more than 1,700 people and 83 entries joining in the festivities in Old Town Goleta.
Our club members decorated their Jeeps with a variety of decorations including a multitude of lights, garland, large lighted ornamental figures as well as various types of holiday themed inflatables including grinches, snowmen, nutcracker soldiers and even Rudolph the red-nosed reindeer.
Everyone up and down the packed parade route were definitely in the holiday spirit.
With Christmas music abounding, the parade entered Hollister avenue at Orange Avenue and proceeded up to the Goleta Community Center.
The Goleta Old Town Holiday Parade is a wonderful community event that celebrates the holiday season and brings people together. We were proud to be a part of it and look forward to participating in future events.
Thank you to all the volunteers, sponsors and the Greater Goleta Santa Barbara Lions Club for organizing this event.
Bryan Slattery tallied the most runs and club events for the calendar year 2024!
Sometimes he was wheeling in Chub Chub, other times the Gladiator was the rig for the event. Give him a ring, he is usually ready with ideas for an adventure
Danny Kato earned the Club Rookie of the year, pulling in the highest participation points for a member in their 2024 inaugural year with the club. Danny led his first run, Trail Boss on the November 24 outing to Death Valley.
We had a great time camping at Stovepipe Wells, and we did three runs:
1. On Thursday, Brad and I went up Echo Canyon (FT43)
as far as the dry falls obstacle, which is about 12 miles up the road.
The obstacle is basically three rock ledges, and with more experienced people to help out, we might have tried it, but we turned around them. We didn’t explore the Inyo mine site, as we were running out of daylight.
2. On Friday, Dick Hoppe, Matt (from Lompoc) Brutosky, Brad and I went to Chloride City (FT 42), which was a fantastic, not too difficult run to some expansive views of Death Valley (Badwater to Stovepipe Wells and further north).
Dick is the only one who went up the last steep grade to Chloride Cliff.
He was happy to be able to finally use 4 Low. We also explored some mines that were in the area.
Then we kicked up a bunch of dust going down dirt roads across the desert and ended up in Beatty, where we had excellent BBQ for lunch. After lunch, we took an old railroad grade from Beatty to Rhyolite. There’s a ton of trails on the BLM land that’s in this area, and it would fun to explore it on the next trip.
3. On Saturday, the four of us did the Hunter Mountain Racetrack loop (FT39). Again, this was a not too difficult run, with the butt-puckering part being the narrow (no room to pass) shelf road descent of Lippincott Grade. More about that later. On the Hunter Mountain Road, we witnessed changes in climate zones as we ascended, starting with Joshua Trees, then Junipers, then Pinyon Pines (we think), then no trees at all. We walked on the Racetrack Playa, and saw the evidence of the rocks moving across the Playa.
Interesting fact; the Racetrack Playa is one of the flattest places on earth with a 2 inch elevation difference over probably 2-3 miles of length. Then lunch in a primitive campground a few miles to the south of the Racetrack, then the Lippincott Grade.
The road was rocky and slow going, but not too steep and totally doable. We were always worried about people coming up, as there is absolutely no room to pass, and a lot of backing up would have been required.
At one point, we saw a group of 9 vehicles coming up, and we were in the perfect and about only spot to pull over and wait for them to pass. It would have sucked had we met them further down the trail. Yay for good luck!
We ended the day blasting back down the smooth dirt road to the highway, and saw the most amazing cloud formation, lit up by the sunset.
Members: Check out the Club Members Page for pix and video. It’s worth a look!
This was a long day. We left just before the crack of 9am, and got back to camp at 6pm. Total trip length was about 160 miles. Well worth it!
If you’re going to Death Valley, and want any more info on these trails or the camping situation, please contact me.
Seven members of the Santa Barbara 4 wheel drive club hit the road last weekend for an early morning run for our November “Sunday Fun-day” run. After a short rally meet up we traveled up to the local Santa Barbara mountains where we met a couple more members and proceeded to traverse the West Camino Cielo Ridge Trail.
It was an absolutely beautiful Fall day with crystal clear skies. On the way across the ridge we were able to enjoy several challenging “off-shoots” that were new trails for some club members.
At the end of one of these “off-shoots” was a very steep, quite sketchy descent with deep, deep crevasse’s, large boulders and significant holes which could easily throw you into an off-camber pucker moment to remember.
After standing around pondering and scratching our heads for a while, a couple members after a few deep breaths decided to try it. After choosing their preferred lines, Bryan and Mike ended up making it down just fine.
With their experience, longer wheelbases and some skilled carefully planned driving they both navigated the steep rough descent.
After a couple more trails and some hill climbing,we all headed back to Santa Barbara by noon and enjoyed the rest of the gorgeous Fall day.
Club Members: Remember to check out the full image / video library from this trip within the Members Only section of our website. There you can see Mike and Bryan in action!
