Big Pine/Bishop

[tripdog]

Are there any fun beginners trails in this area? My wife and I are driving our very recently lifted '00 XJ up from San Diego and were thinking about putting a few trail miles in. We are staying at the Glacier Lodge and we thought maybe there are some trails near the Alabama Hills, but we've never been there before and a Google search didn't produce much info as far as Jeep trails are concerned.

Any suggestions Sierra folks?:sunshine:

 

[XJedi23]

http://www.norcalttora.com/trails/strawberry.php

http://www.californiajeeper.com/trail-review.htm

Some trail info.

 

[tripdog]

Thanks Xjedi23, those trails seem like they're in the vincinity of Tahoe. We'll be hanging around the Owens Valley near Bishop which is about 200 miles south of Tahoe. Thanks though!

 

[jeepboy_90]

Did you read the most recent 4 Wheel Drive and Sport Utility Mag. Had an article about trails above Bishop. Search for the Goldens? Something like that. If you ever get up torward above Lee Vining, try Green Creek area not bad. I have camped on the S. Folk of Bishop Creek for the past 15 years every summer with my family and have never found any really good trails, but maybe ask some locals. The Fishing Shop in the center of Bishop may have a few answers. The guys that work in there are real cool.

 

[DesertXJ]

Try getting ahold of the Mammoth Mountain 4 Wheelers.

 

[AZcrawler]

Silver Canyon just outside of Bishop goes up the west side of the White Mountains up to the Bristlecone Pine Forest. Its not very technical, but its a beautiful view once you get to the top. From the top, you can either take the paved road back to Hwy 168, or go down Wyman Canyon to the east end and up on 168 by the stateline. Either way, just head west to go back to Big Pine.


A good book to have is Tony Huegel's "Sierra Nevada Byways" - lots of good trails in it.

 

[Letterman]

Some more CA trail info here:
http://www.northtrails.com/trails.html

 

[tripdog]

Silver Canyon just outside of Bishop goes up the west side of the White Mountains up to the Bristlecone Pine Forest. Its not very technical, but its a beautiful view once you get to the top. From the top, you can either take the paved road back to Hwy 168, or go down Wyman Canyon to the east end and up on 168 by the stateline. Either way, just head west to go back to Big Pine.


A good book to have is Tony Huegel's "Sierra Nevada Byways" - lots of good trails in it.

Sounds perfect! Been wanting to see the Ancient Bristolcone Pines too. I'll see if I can snag the book before we hit the road.

Thanks everybody for the responses.

 

[XJedi23]

Some more CA trail info here:
http://www.northtrails.com/trails.html

Cool Link!

 

[Letterman]

Cool Link!

Thanks, me and a friend built it (more him then me), some of the links are dead now, we need to re-work it but it is a start.

 

[Slonopotam]

Laurel Lakes - kinda fun, narrow road
Sand Canyon - VERY scenic at the end.
Buttermilk - a couple of nice places along the road.
Movie Road - lots of movies shot there, but this is already to the south.

Don't have any links, just GPS coordinates.

 

[karstic]

Head up to Coyote Flats outside of Bishop, Awesome Scenery.

 

[tripdog]

Well I've been back for a few days and awesome scenery indeed!

I left right after AZcrawler suggested Silver Canyon to the Bristlecones. The road was closed due to snow and rock slides but we traveled 5 miles in to the closure and tested the Jeep for the first time being disconnected.There were about 5 mellow stream crossings which was pretty fun.

On a side note: I haven't installed the pegs that hold the disconnects (and apparently the sway bar itself) while disconnected and the sway bar got caught up in my coils. So I enjoyed my first on-the-trail repair, which basically consisted of removing the sway bar and reinstalling it. Then I nearly killed myself on the side of the highway trying to use a hi-lift jack to change a flat, but that is a different story entirely. (I know better now):doh:

Anyway here are some pix from the trip. Thanks for all the suggestions, I'm definitely headed back to the area.

 

[jeepboy_90]

SPEC'S?

 

[tripdog]

SPEC'S?

Sure, it's a 2000 with the 5.5" RE lift, 33" MTR's, 4.56 Gears, AA HD SYE, Tom Wood's Shaft, Axles are hp30 and 8.25 with a LSD. I think that's about it. I just ordered the rock rails from JKS so I can finally actually wheel the thing. Nothing exotic here, just your basic Jeep.

 

[Letterman]

Great Photos thanks for posting!

 

[AZcrawler]

Glad to hear you had a good time. Thanks for posting some pix. Its been about 7 or 8 years since I've been there, when I used to live in Ridgecrest. Man, I miss that scenery!! Southeast Arizona has nothing like it.

BTW, sweet setup on your XJ...