SC65 - McIvers Cabin

Made it to about the 15 mile mark, snow and ice was making it sketchy. Fun trail.

Pretty cool trail that takes you from the high desert of the Mojave all the way up to the Sequoia forest. Beside some deep ruts and other random obstacles ( this trail keeps changing due to weather and usage ) it’s pretty easy but a very fun trail to drive since it winds and curves between the trees so there’s a lot of “steering wheel work “ and gear shifting ( for manual transition rigs ). It climbs very high in elevation so you get much colder weather once you make it up to the forest. We’ve done it countless times and it keeps on changing. Either way it’s a fun trail that will take about half a day ( in and out ) If you run this trail in the summer, it’s a great escape from the desert heat. If you run it in the winter, there most likely to be snow on the trail ( even mid fall ) which makes it even more fun. Be mindful about the first section ( at the lower desert section ) it’s a very popular off road area and the access trail has many other trails crossing it so don’t even think you’re there all by yourself. People run at very high speeds on those flat and long trails and not everyone has the brains to slow down ( or stop ) at trails intersections, sometimes when you see the other guy it’s already too late. Nothing to be worried about, just keep it in mind.

This was my first trail, so don’t have any to compare it with. It felt like two separate trails, both in terms of the landscape but also the difficulty. Up to waypoint 11 it was a very easy but fun fire road and shelf road. At around waypoint 12 it became a lot more challenging, with heavy rutting, lots of off-camber and large rocks. Though we managed and it was a great way to learn a lot about the vehicles response to different terrain, I would have chosen a slightly easier trail for our first run. Definitely a blast, but personally would not recommend it to a complete novice.

Traveled the road twice before around the holidays. The first trip (solo) yielded a dusting of snow once up in the Sequoia National Forest. On our second trip after the wet weather throughout California, we experienced snow 12-15 inches deep up there and had a very fun adventurous day! The lower portion of the trail is now graded as evidenced by the grader that was parked off to the side and the pristine condition of the "trail" in the lower few miles. However, once you start to climb the trail gets far more rutted with a step or two that requires high clearance. The portion in the forest was incredible as the trail literally meanders between trees. The snow made things really nice. We cleaned the cabin up both times and the second time left some provisions. We encountered a couple of side-by-sides containing young families who had just left the cabin and literally tossed their soda cans on the ground before leaving according to another visitor. C'mon folks! A friend with an Expedition came along on our second trip and found out his transfer case wasn't working (he had low range but no drive to the front wheels) but required only one little tug on a slippery slope at the top. Our friend is an experienced off-roader and wouldn't recommend repeating what he did. As a summary, the trail is very beautiful at higher elevations, the area around the cabin is beautiful, and any high-clearance 4x4 with low-range should be fine!

Amazing trail, definitely worth checking out for anyone with a trail-ready rig, especially for drivers ready to up their skill level. While not overly-intense, there are definitely some ruts and small rock ledges that will force you to choose your line carefully. There are some narrow sections between trees that will make full size truck and SUV's pay close attention to their line. You will definitely hear the joyous symphony of brush scraping against your paint, so if you are concerned about getting scratches on your nice new paint job, this trail isn't for you. My buddy and I did this trail in 4Runners--mine is a 4th Gen with KO2's and a two-inch lift and his is a stock 5th Gen TRD Pro. I would not attempt this trail with road tires. Previous trail reports mention flat tires & I would agree that this is a possibility, especially since you're going to need to air down and pinching a side wall is a possibility. We did this run after a long, dry summer and in wet, muddy conditions it would add another level of challenge. Trail is popular with ATV's, RZR's and dirt bikers so keep a eye/ear out for them. There are many campable spots along the way, so this is a great trail to plan an overnight trip around. I wouldn't consider the Cabin to be ideal spot to camp since you will get a lot of visitors but there are several spots within the last ten or fifteen minutes of the approach. It took us about three hours to get from CA14 to the cabin. I consider this trail to be two parts: CA14 to the tree line (easy, desert stuff) and then from the tree line to the cabin where the trail requires 4x4 and knobby tires. Here is my video of the first part: https://youtu.be/Jb1OCpo6jIc Here is my video of the second part: https://youtu.be/cnWTsAs38ZQ

Good little trail. Don't attempt if you're not ready for some new pinstripes. Did it in a 19 Tacoma OR DCLB. I've got full skids and sliders (and I used them), but otherwise stock. Did about 80-85% in 4H, and I probably didn't need 4L for the other 20. Didn't have to lock the diff or use any of the "fancy" features. Just try to pick a line and you'll be good. I did air down to ~23psi as well. I'd give yourself 2.5-3hrs each way from the highway. Watch for dirt bikers and sides by sides. Had to lay on the horn for a couple groups ripping around turns.

Epic little trail, technical enough to pose a bit of a challenge, but with enough ground clearance and low gears this is a great little trail to the cabin. When I did this trail and blew 2 tires on rock, Chuck himself came to pull me out. Can't wait to come back!

A small group of us visited the cabin this past weekend. The road from Jawbone Canyon area to the cabin (Trail #SC65) had numerous whoop-dee-doos every 100' or so preventing anyone from traveling at a high rate of speed. It was pretty annoying. Once the whoops ended we started to climb the Scodie Mountains along a narrow shelf road (Waypoint #11) with pot-holed asphalt with very sharp corners making for a tough and slow commute. Once we reached the top and started traveling across the higher reaches of the trail, we started coming up to Pacific Crest Trail hikers who graciously moved out of the way for all of us. By the time we reached the upper elevation, we stopped at the radio tower for lunch and it was getting cold. We reached the cabin at about 2:30PM and a couple of us set up our campsites along with other hikers. The rest of our group headed back down the mountain as they could only come for the day. We spent the night and made a large campfire for us and the numerous PCT backpackers. They were stoked as they told us they were too tired to make a fire. Most of the hikers went to bed early (5pm) and we called it a night at 10pm. To help keep good relations between us (off-roaders) and them (hikers), we offered to carry out any trash that they had accumulated over their trip and they gladly gave us what they had. They were very happy!