Bedford Road (aka Bedford Motorway)

Hello everyone, Bedford Motorway is a wonderful trail that leads from Riverside into the Cleveland National Forest. The trail was closed in 2021 by a disgruntled property owner who was tired of all the traffic going trough his property as Bedford was the last trail leading into CNF, on the Riverside portion, due to other trail closures. There is little to no action being done to open this trail, and according to CNF is closed indefinitely. We need the locals and the 4x4 community to help fight these closures of our forest. Email Joe Rosen at joseph_a_rosen@yahoo.com to join the Cleveland Caretakers if you're a local. if not reach out to CORVA to show them there is an interest in keeping Cleveland open. Finally email Ranger Vance at darrell.vance@usda.gov to show the CNF that we will no longer stand this closure. Thank you!

Sounds like they are making progress on getting this reopened. But still closed.

Still closed

Definitely still closed. I got my hopes up for a minute when I hit dirt, but just past the fancy house on the left hand side, the gate is closed up tight. I think it sucks that I was only 10 miles away from Silverado canyon at that point but had to drive 29 miles out of the way to get around to the other way up the mountain. I hope this gets resolved somehow soon.

My good friend drove from the main divide road, and found the road closed. Same spot as the prior post. He had not read up on the road status from this site, or USFS. As a reminder, “know before you go”. Make sure to get as much information on the trails you ride.

I've been following activity on this trail due to conflicts with a property owner and the Bedford Road bisecting his property. As of today, Cleveland National Forest rangers have officially closed the trail until further notice. The GPX track of this trail does not include the section that crosses through the homeowner's property. The property is closer to the paved portion and near the other houses in the area (see photo).

Came down the Bedford Trail from Santiago Peak. Got there via Maple Springs Trail. When I got to the end of Bedford Trail to go into Corona, the trail was blocked by several red locked cables strung across with several signs stating private road and no trespassing. It being my first time on the trail, I believe it to be a public road. According to two of my off-road apps, it shows it as a public road. The road was impassable. Being new to the trail and driving off-road, I did not see any other trails that were public access. We ended up having to drive back the way we came, canceling other plans we had in Corona. Plus side though, I had more trail driving time.

This trail is very local to me and one I really enjoy as a quick way to hit some dirt (had just been here last week). However this morning while heading up from Knabe, one of the homeowners had put an unlocked chain across the dirt road. I let the first one down, re-hung it and proceeded under the impression this was a public thru-way. That quickly ended when there was another zig zagged dog chain across the road about 40’ from the first. The owner came outside when he saw me there and explained that the stretch in front of his house is his property, therefore his driveway, and that he had paperwork from the city saying he was within his rights to effectively close it down. I’m interested in researching the validity of this because everywhere I’ve read said the road to the trail was public, not to mention having gone here for years I’ve never had an issue with any residents. I wasn’t going to get in a fight with the guy over it so I went back down the hill. I have a feeling it was disrespectful people blasting passed his house over the 4th (a**holes ruin everything). Like I mentioned earlier, I’d be interested in seeing this “paperwork” or talking to someone who would have a more official say on whether or not we, as the general public, have access to the trail via Bedford from Knabe.

Looks like I got to this trail right before it closed! Better to be lucky then good. A nice trail with some good views.

Road is open all the way from the base to Main Divide and in good condition. No ruts or washouts

Went here today. Perhaps I backed out too early, but there were signs everywhere saying I was on a private road and only authorized vehicles were allowed. Never even made it to dirt. Bummer.

Went up wanting a nice, easy, night run and was met with a closed gate and light snow starting to precipitate.

I used this trail to get from the Corona side of the mountains to Orange County. There is one optional route half-way up that offers a good test of your articulation.

Easy trail, very scenic. Not very many others on trail especially considering it was on a Sunday. Will definitely do again and explore the connecting trails as well!

Who can we call to get the gate opened up?

Tried to go through this trail but gate was closed. Was able to explore some other nearby dirt and pastures.

Easy relaxing ride. Felt like the only one on the mountain. Lots of stops along the way to enjoy the view. Took it up to Main Divide, then the North road from the divide for 2 miles. Windy day so view was beautiful. 4wd most of the way but probably not necessary. Saw only one car in two hours. It was a Crosstrek who might have issues with some ruts along the way.

Another nice and easy trail. Entered from the main divide north and went straight to the 15 freeway.👍🏿 I'm not sure if I was on the right road exiting because it said private road, but it was fairly short, less than 3 minutes to get to the main street.

My first time up Bedford Motorway. No traffic going up or down. I only saw a Jeep and. Landcruiser on the trail. Not technical perfect for first timers. Great view when it forks out to North/South Main Divide. If you venture either left or right there is no other way down. Per the Ranger everything is closed going down Skyline or towards the OC, especially towards the OC because of recent fires. Pretty much an out and back.

Ran up Maple Springs, across Divide, and down Bedford today in search of mud. We found it, and lots of it. Bedford is extremely torn up, the rains in the last week have wreaked havoc on it, there's now big ruts, some rocks strewn across the road, and lots of very loose quicksand-type mud. Did it in a Subaru Crosstrek (AWD) and a 4x4 Range Rover, and didn't have any issues besides the slipping and sliding.

This was our exit after traveling the Main Divide road to get to the 15. A well maintained road and it fact during our trip there was a dozer and water truck working the road. Easy with no offroad challenges except perhaps for the large bumps built into the road to divert water. My long JKU would occasionally bottom out on these.

Extremely quiet for a Memorial weekend. Stayed overnight on Main Divide North at the "Lone Tree"

Gates were open and the trail was dry, no issues in a 2wd.

Gate was closed at trailhead. Notice stated closure due to Silverado fire damage.

Did a quick trip up the mnt for my B-Day... What a great time. Love this area.

My geocaching buddy and I hunted for BenchMarks today (surveyor disks), with less than our usual 50% success rate. I'll blame it on the heat and humidity, plus location descriptions written in 1935 with SCALED coordinates (+/- error of 600 feet). Besides this trail, we ran the Main Divide and Indian Truck Trail for a total of 30 miles and 5 hours. 2wd capable but very rough in spots with a 10mph max speed.