No problem. The hairiest part of the trail is the eastern most section from the epic camping spots on top of the ridge back down to the highway near Bear Valley Ski resort. . If you want to avoid this section you can make it to the camp spots coming from the western entrance to the trail...the portion that goes past the Bear Trap cabin. Then you can come back out the same way you came in. Past the cabin and going to the epic camp spots the trail is pretty rocky (nothing much bigger than a grapefruit from what I remember) and has some rutted out areas.....but nothing a 4Runner Pro shouldn't be able to handle with some care and caution mixed in.
Influencer II
Will do! We just ran a loop around the Black Rock (about 170 miles off road in total). It was an absolutely amazing time. It had been 17 years since I had been there last. Don't know why I waited so long to do it again. That won't happen next time. Hope to go back in the next couple years and run the same trip but in reverse.
Influencer II
No. We didn't stay at the ranch but we did stop there for coffee on the way back south. We camped in Soldier Meadows BLM cabin the second night. That was a treat as I never thought we would have access to a free cabin like that...made it very nice as it was clean and had a fire ring, tables and a vault toilet. We camped along Soldier Meadows Road the first night at a beautiful spot at the base of the Calico Mountains...Soldier Meadow Cabin the second and then camped at the base of Black Rock Point by the Springs the third and fourth night with was absolutely epic. Best camp spot I have ever had...didn't want to leave.
Corral Hollow is a lot more washed out on the east end than previously and was graded on the west end this summer, so it's super dusty. That said, it's still just a dirt road. The East end can be done with a 2wd Tacoma. You don't need to worry about company or help. It's well traveled and follows CA4 pretty closely. I would get there early if you want a chance at the cabin. From those of us that use it, too, please clean up after yourself, take some extra wood to leave and even some hand tools and nail/screws to fix minor things. Have fun.
Thanks, @James Feldermann! I'll give it a go in a few weeks when I'm back in BV. I have spent a lot of my life cleaning up after others on hiking trails, so am an ardent "leave no trace" advocate. The good news is that there seems to be less "intentional" trash on the trails these days. It's more often stuff that blew out of a pocket or was forgotten in camp...except for the people who still think a fire ring is an appropriate place to dispose of aluminum or tin cans. That logic eludes me.
