Ide Valley

Ide Valley is a straight-through trail traveling along the edge of the Paiute Wilderness, connecting Mud Mountain Road to Black Rock Mountain. Unlike its two connecting roads, Ide Valley is a moderately challenging, consistently slow, rough, and rocky trail, traversing many loose sections peppered with fist and grapefruit-sized rocks. This road is also highly prone to washouts throughout its journey, but if you are looking to make a loop back to Mesquite and want more than just a graded washboard road, this is definitely the trail for you.

Coming from the south, the first 2 miles are a hardpacked dirt road with a few small roadside campsites. The road then shrinks to one lane wide and gains elevation along an exposed shelf portion above a shallow drainage. There are virtually no opportunities for full-size vehicles to pass one another while traversing this shelf section. The road is wide enough for side-by-sides to pass, but not other vehicles such as Jeeps. This nearly 1-mile section is the roughest terrain with the most rocks. The road levels out and widens slightly as you approach Ide Valley, with spectacular views through the thick pinyon and juniper trees. Several large and level campsites sit along the plateau that overlooks the valley. The trail turns east and skirts the wilderness boundary, crossing many washes prone to flooding that can quickly erode the trail. The track remains rough but becomes more hardpacked as you pass Ide Springs and Mustang Springs, which are unsafe to drink from without boiling, and eventually meet up with Black Rock Mountain.

This road is suitable for any high-clearance 4WD vehicle with rugged offroad tires, such as all-terrain or mud-terrain tires. Low-profile tires are not recommended, and all users should carry at least one full-size spare.