Pinkham Canyon

Completed this trail on 10/25/2023. I haven't seen any reviews since the big storm in August, and I have not been on this trail before, so I don't know if the conditions have changed. I am not very experienced so my rating of 'Harder' probably translates to 'harder than I expected'. I expect someone with more experience would rate this as Spot On. I was in a stock JL Wrangler Willys 2-door. Overall an enjoyable trail with a variety of terrain and challenges to test a newbie. There are a few washouts on the first section heading west, most of these are across the trail and kind of fun. There were a couple of places where the washout was on one side of the trail leaving the right hand track lower than the left. Most of these were no issue but there were a couple where the height difference was about at least 10 inches which were harder. There is no way to straddle the washout because there is either a ditch or thick bushes to the right. The mini-obstacle definitely made me think. I picked the best line I could but with no spotter it was hard. I got down it ok but did scrape a skid plate support on the drivers side. Before going through I got out and looked around. There was a dark line of fluid in the sand right after the rocks, I checked and it smelled of oil so someone had a bad day. For the final part through the wash I was way off the GPS track, I think it changes a lot so I just kept going south and got to the end I did not see any other vehicles or people all day. Picked up some pinstriping, no practical way to avoid it.

This is a nice peaceful trail that is very good for new offroaders. Coming from the south, the actual turnoff for the trail from Aqueduct Road is at waypoint 8, further west than what the GPS track shows. There is a signpost at the designated entrance. The route overall is easy, mostly consisting of sand wash in the south and rocky hardpack in the north. The trail has fun wash ruts that let beginners get a taste of offroading and will likely set the hook. The rock obstacle at waypoint 4 was not a problem for a stock JL on factory "All Terrain" 31-inch tires. We came through in late April after a winter of good rains in SoCal, and the Ocotillo and wildflowers were in full bloom.

Completed in a stock Toyota 4Runner SR5 with Toyo ATs. Aired down to 20 PSI which worked out fine. Definitely narrow areas/pinstriping. The rocky "mini challenge" was no problem with good line placement. Very peaceful and pretty to drive.

I did this trail in a stock 2021 F150 FX4 with only upgraded tires (285/70R17 Nitto Terra Grappler G2). The trail is very narrow and I would not recommend for a full size truck or long wheelbase vehicle. I ended up rubbing against a lot of brush. The difficult waterfall section also becomes more difficult with a long wheelbase vehicle. With a good spotter and smart rock placement, you can get through. It was a nice experience but there was really no pay off with views or destinations and I would warn that the payoff may not be worth the damage to your vehicle.

Ran this trail from south to north, east trail with no issues

We ran this south to north from the Aqueduct road. The trail is remote and beautiful with plenty of solitude. You will find this an easy ride without much technical driving, even if you are in an unmodified rig. The areas with sand and deep gravel do not have the washboarded surface that other popular trails in the area suffer from. We did the side trip to the Snow Cloud mine remnants which is short, but well worth the effort as this is a nicely preserved piece of the area's history. Seems like nobody goes there either, so you would likely have it to yourself. The only issue to be aware of is the area where this trail connects to the Aqueduct road. There is a marked sign for the trail which we ignored in favor of the GPS tracks here, which turned out to be a mistake. No doubt late summer rains change the topo significantly over time and that appeared to be the case. We ended up route-finding in heavy brush and wash debris in a section that is likely a wilderness designation. Since we prefer to tread lightly whenever possible, it was not a happy moment. But this lasted for only about the first mile. We started the day on Fargo Canyon (also a fun trek), made our way over on the Aqueduct Road and had a lunch stop at the Cactus City Rest Area on I-10 before heading out on this trail. All in all, a very solid and scenic day.

Have not been on this trail in over 25 years. And now I have never felt older... Hoping to see wild flowers but we missed the bloom. We did see birds, squirrels and a few Big Horn Sheep. Only saw one other person on the trail. 4wheel drive and high clearance highly recommended as there are two areas towards the end (west end) of the trail where you will need both. Also the sand in the washs gets soft. Otherwise this is a very easy and fun trail! Enjoy and please pack your trash.

This is a great trail!!! I'm sorry I didn't do it sooner. It's very secluded and really quite beautiful. I actually prefer this trail over Berdoo Canyon. The trail is truly a mix and depending on some of the lines you take through the wash, it can be either easy or push into four/five rating range if you choose the wrong set of tracks to follow.

Started the trail from I-10. It appears that the trail has been “erased” by rains. It was very difficult to follow and we back-tracked numerous times. We eventually gave up since we were making such slow progress and retraced our steps back to 10.

My friend Robert was my trail backup when I lived in California. I’m now mapping trails in Idaho. Robert is doing an excellent job of running the trails and providing much-needed Trail Reviews, check out his review from 9/14/2020

This is our 4th trip through Pinkham Canyon and it has not changed much since the original mapping except for 1 thing, the wildlife. We entered Pinkham at Thermal Canyon, about 1/3 along the trail and headed North towards the Cottonwood Visitor Center. There is a lot of soft, fairly deep sand and speed or 4WD will get you through it. We happened to stop on a soft spot and found our rear wheels spinning out and digging in and we needed to engage 4WD to pull ourselves out. We were surprised at the amount of jack rabbits and cotton tail rabbits running across the road in front of us and commented there must be a lot of predators around and sure enough a few minutes later a coyote ran across the road. But by far the highlight of this trip was seeing a large horned stag deer running along side us. We barely had time reach for the phone and snap a video from inside the Jeep.

Great

Currently closed due to C-19, still a great trail to get some practice on

Fun little back way into Joshua Tree. Great aconditions after the recent rain and snow. Took the trail from the south side and as stated it can be a little confusing as the canyon wash spreads out closer to the 10

Beautiful trail with some decent variation in the environment. It's in a national park so you know everything is just spectacular! The mapping crew did a great job pointing out the desert view waypoints IMO. An alternative way to enter or exit the national park vs traditional paved roads.

Can’t add much to SJ’s excellent review. A week later the wildflowers are still going bananas! In the final section of Thermal Canyon, Don't be surprised if you find yourself on a different “braid” of the trail than is indicated on the gps track. This is a river wash following a canyon, and it splits & splits again; not to worry, they all follow the canyon out towards hwy 10.

Enjoyable, easy ride. Very, very special for us, because the super bloom was on, and it was a great show. I doubt this road will look this way again for a long, long time. Try to get there before the blooms go away. Only real challenge, and you have to be careful here, is the "waterfall." Steep drop, maybe 3 feet. Having someone guide me was helpful. Entered at Joshua Tree, and headed west. At the very end, when you get onto Aqueduct Road, you need to be careful to find the entrance to I-10. We stayed on Aqueduct Road for about 3 miles, and found the opening on our left.

This was a great trail. The last few miles (heading west) are really hard to follow and we ended up on a trail that had only one set of tire tracks for the last hundred yards or so. I would highly suggest having a GPS with the trail loaded into it . The obstacles are not bad if you have the right clearance. Overall, it was a great trail.

A flat sandy desert 2 track trail with only 1 obstacle of note. The air temp was 70 but there was a bit of chill in the air. We entered at Cottonwood Springs Ranger Station where the trail takes you south ending near Interstate 10. Mostly open wide desert, a section of the trail enters a canyon where you will encounter a short waterfall obstacle requiring some tight turns and definitely a high clearance vehicle. New since my last visit are park trail markers placed every few hundred feet. Even with the markers its easy to wander off trail and follow other well worn and recent tracks as we did towards the end of Pinkum. We ended up about 1/2 mile east of the trail on a still well traveled path (we weren't the only ones to wander off trail!). At this point you are back onto BLM land where we we ran into a boulder wall that was man made to prevent access to Aqueduct Rd but the wall had been modified providing a gap allowing us to squeeze through and onto Aqueduct Rd. Now at this point to get back to paved roads you can follow Aqueduct Rd (parallel to Interstate 10) about 10 miles east or west. OR....once on Aqueduct Rd turn right and about 1/2 miles on your left you will find a well groomed dirt path to a Interstate 10 rest stop. While gated at the rest-stop, it is not locked and held closed with a twisted steel cable. Untwist the cable to open the gate, go through locking the gate behind you and you will be at a Interstate 10 on-ramp heading west. Of note the Pinkum trail-head is marked with a sign at Aqueduct road but it it not appear to have tire tracks. Someday Ill have to try it again starting at the south trail-head to understand how we got so far off track.

This isn't the best time of the year to visit JTNP but not bad with an early start. The east trailhead is the easiest to find since it's directly across the road from the JTNP Visitor Center. Bring plenty of water and never travel out here alone.

A wonderful flat sandy desert trail through the heart of Joshua Tree National Park. We entered for the north end which is right at the Cottonwood Springs Ranger Station. The south end of the trail enters Pinkum Canyon and the steep sides can close in and be intimidating. There is only 1 waterfall section that is very technical which is the reason for Dennis's difficulty rating of 4. While for me as a new driver in a new JKU it was intimidating, completing the obstacle was exhilarating. I got through the obstacle just fine but my stock JKU did pay a price of a scrape or 2 on the bottom. It is very isolated and you are potentially 10 miles from help so take all safety and survival precautions should you get breakdown.