Upper Lake OHV
RIDE TO UPPER LAKE OHV FROM STONY FORD!!
Upper Lake OHV recreation area could be considered the "back side" of Stonyford OHV, or visa versa. Upper Lake OHV is patrolled by a different ranger unit then Stonyford so if you plan to ride alone alert both districts.
If you plan to ride from Stonyford to Upper Lake OHV be sure to install an enduro size tank (3ish gallons).
Another option is rather ridiculous but depends simply on the amount of effort you are willing to put in to ride from one OHV areato the other. The option is to stash a tank of gas along a trail the night before assuming you are camping over night. If you decide to stash a gas tank be sure to take careful notice of where it is, make sure its along the correct trail and if you use a GPS device (I recommend the Garmin GPSMAP 60csx) you can mark the area where you leave your gas tank as a "waypoint." You of course need to bring your GPS device with you when you stash your tanks.
WHERE TO START!
I recommend parking up M-5 at the campsites above Mill Creek, Letts Ridge, and Potato Hill. These campsites are Old Mill up M-5, Cedar Creek way up at the top of Goat Mountain, Mill Valley just below Letts Lake adjacent to the "Lilly Pond," or Dixie Glade off of M-10. I personally like Mill Valley and Old Mill. Cedar Creek campground will put you the closest to the trails you need to take in order to arrive at Upper Lake OHV.
The main road you can take is M-10. M-10 will drop you down behind Letts Lake, make a hard right into the mountains and then hooks a complete 180 and heads westbound towards Upper Lake OHV. however I am not sure yet if this portion of M-10 allows off-highway vehicles. If you take M-10 it will bring you across a campground called Bear Creek Campgrounds.
Fear not. Either way, whether its on M-10 or you're taking trails, the 50" wide or less road you'll be taking is called Forest Route 17N16. This path is the one that will take you out to Upper Lake OHV! The first marked trail you will see is trail #34 which drops down to the left of Forest Route 17N16. Trail #34 will take you to the infamous Penny Pines campground!
Currently at this time google maps has incorrectly labeled M-10 and 17N16. They literally switched the names of the two roads. I called the Mendocino National Forest Office and over the phone confirmed that the roads are in fact in correctly labeled on google maps. The correct maps to view are the Mendocino National Forest OHV and Highway Vehicle Use Only Maps. The two links below are the Northern portion and the Southern portion of the Upper Lake OHV Recreational Area.
Upper Lake OHV - North
Upper Lake OHV - South
Upper Lake OHV recreation area could be considered the "back side" of Stonyford OHV, or visa versa. Upper Lake OHV is patrolled by a different ranger unit then Stonyford so if you plan to ride alone alert both districts.
If you plan to ride from Stonyford to Upper Lake OHV be sure to install an enduro size tank (3ish gallons).
Another option is rather ridiculous but depends simply on the amount of effort you are willing to put in to ride from one OHV areato the other. The option is to stash a tank of gas along a trail the night before assuming you are camping over night. If you decide to stash a gas tank be sure to take careful notice of where it is, make sure its along the correct trail and if you use a GPS device (I recommend the Garmin GPSMAP 60csx) you can mark the area where you leave your gas tank as a "waypoint." You of course need to bring your GPS device with you when you stash your tanks.
WHERE TO START!
I recommend parking up M-5 at the campsites above Mill Creek, Letts Ridge, and Potato Hill. These campsites are Old Mill up M-5, Cedar Creek way up at the top of Goat Mountain, Mill Valley just below Letts Lake adjacent to the "Lilly Pond," or Dixie Glade off of M-10. I personally like Mill Valley and Old Mill. Cedar Creek campground will put you the closest to the trails you need to take in order to arrive at Upper Lake OHV.
The main road you can take is M-10. M-10 will drop you down behind Letts Lake, make a hard right into the mountains and then hooks a complete 180 and heads westbound towards Upper Lake OHV. however I am not sure yet if this portion of M-10 allows off-highway vehicles. If you take M-10 it will bring you across a campground called Bear Creek Campgrounds.
Fear not. Either way, whether its on M-10 or you're taking trails, the 50" wide or less road you'll be taking is called Forest Route 17N16. This path is the one that will take you out to Upper Lake OHV! The first marked trail you will see is trail #34 which drops down to the left of Forest Route 17N16. Trail #34 will take you to the infamous Penny Pines campground!
Currently at this time google maps has incorrectly labeled M-10 and 17N16. They literally switched the names of the two roads. I called the Mendocino National Forest Office and over the phone confirmed that the roads are in fact in correctly labeled on google maps. The correct maps to view are the Mendocino National Forest OHV and Highway Vehicle Use Only Maps. The two links below are the Northern portion and the Southern portion of the Upper Lake OHV Recreational Area.
Upper Lake OHV - North
Upper Lake OHV - South
Keep checking back for interesting industry updates as well as information concerning OHV use in the Mendocino National Forest! Thanks for reading! Tell a friend!
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