So, Andy and I visited Bear Valley Loop OHV on Sunday (9/28).

The campground was easy to locate. It's free to camp there, and there was tons of fire wood around. Two other sites were taken, but they looke like they practically live there.

So, this OHV trail is about 18 miles long, rated "more difficult," and it says to take about 6 hours to complete. ...Well, we didn't complete. We wanted to get home before it gets dark. So, we actually spend about 3.5 hours...from 9:30 am to 1 pm. We think we completed about half way...since my trip odometer didn't even hit 10 miles from the beginning of the trail.

The major hilights of the trail are 2 winch hills, and rock garden, but the Winch Hill #1 was fairly easy, and rock garden was not all that. The Winch Hill #2 was a different story... I spent about 20 min... I couldn' make it. Well, I could if I used my winch, but we just decided to take the bypass and go on.

Overall, the trail does require some modifications to your xterra. A stock xterra would be hitting the bottom about every few mintues on this trail. 3" suspension lift and 31" tires are must. Rocker protection is optinal but very nice to have as well as skid plates.

I do think it'd take about 6 hours to complete. There was no rock garden like the one from Deer Valley, but there were sections with LOTS of rocks all over.

Well, anyway...enjoy the pics...

Bear Valley Loop OHV

Nice pics. It looked really powdery and loose, like a dusty version of Fremontia trail or like Five Fingers. I'm not surprised you couldn't make it. If there were more rocks embedded into the dust/dirt you might have been able to get more traction.

So, would you run this trail again? Was it worth it (the trail scenery, time to get there, pleasantness of campsite, etc.)?

Yep...that's what I was thinking... The ground was very soft...almost exactly the same as Hollister's softness. The point where I was able to get to was where the dirt ends. My front wheel(s) got to the rocky part, but all the other wheels could not get any traction at all. Andy's has better traction than my Geolanders, but probably he'd get to the same place and get to dig harder...

I'd like to complete the trail... at some point. Althought the trail was dusty/bouncy/rocky, the scenery was pretty good. Time to get there...well...you know how long it takes to get there. Approximately 250 miles, 4 hours. That's about the same as going to Deer Valley, isn't it? The campground has 10 sites. Each has picnic table, and fire ring. There is 1 vault toilet. Since it IS a vault toilet, the smell is very bad and bugs are around while it's warm or hot. Once it gets cooler...no smell...no bugs. I guess that's normal(?) for a vault toilet...

Overall, I'd rate the trail as 5 out of 10, and Slick Rock is rated 5...as reference. The length of the trail does require some endurance and patience, by the way.

Looks good. I went up there toward the end of last winter and couldn't get all that far up. I didn't even make it to the campground. There is a lot of cool stuff to do in that area and I try and get out there when I can.