3S09 - Hurley Flats is a 4wd offroad trail in the San Bernardino National Forest. This trail is perfect for the new wheeler as there are no obstacles. Pair it with a loop run with the trail to the east 3S08 Vista Grande for a day of sightseeing, photography, and fun. It is the most northern Forest Service numbered trail in the San Jacinto Mountain District. Though shorter than 3S08 - Vista Grande, it is a carbon copy with it's lower elevations almost desert like, to it's forested and wooded, green meadow like climate at the southern end. The northern trailhead is just off Hwy 243 on Twin Pines Road, and the southern trailhead ends on Hwy 243 less than a mile from the trailhead for 3S08 - Vista Grande.
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From Hemet, go east on Hwy 74 to Mountain Center. Take Hwy 243 and pass through Idyllwild and Pine Cove. Continue on Hwy 243 to Twin Pines Road and turn right or east. Go 3.25 miles to it's end at a Juvenile Detention Facility. A dirt road veers to the right and you will be at the trailhead for 3S09 Hurley Flats in 300 feet. There is a "Y" junction at that point, 3S08 Vista Grande is to the left and 3S09 Hurley Flats is to the right.
From Banning and the I10 Freeway, go south on 8th Street, turn left at Lincoln and turn right on Hwy 243. Take Hwy 243 to Twin Pines Road and follow the directions above.
My brother and I did Vista Grande to Hurley Flats. The trail was easy, with some areas having very small and short rock gardens. As you get closer to the end and towards the highway, the vegetation is slightly overgrown so be comfortable with getting some pinstripping. Other than that it was easy and we actually never aired down to complete the trails. It was actually smoother than going up Black Mountain, which we did later on in the day.
I did hurley flats and Vista grande together. Beautiful trail. Lots of pinstriping. Small amount of v notching and off camber situations. Not to bad though, pretty much the 3 rating comes from those situations. Rest of the trail was smooth.
Trail was engaging but heavily over grown with shrubs. Expect pin striping. About a mile from the end we hit a road block-large oak tree blocking with no way around. We spent 2 hours sawing and winching the tree off the trail. Gave my Warn Winch a good work out. Trail reopen now :-)
Hey all, ran this and Vista Grande today with my brother. I have a 2020 Tundra TRD Sport 4x4 and he had a 2001 f250 crew cab with the long bed. The trail is definitely TIGHT lol. It’s ok I wear pinstripes with pride! Made it past the boulder blocking most of the road. All in all it was a good trail but I will not be running it again, it was just too narrow lol. Pinstriping should be added to the concerns list.
First half of the trail is over grown!! I have a Nissan Frontier and it got put through the ringer. Do not take a full size vehicle here unless you don’t like your mirrors or your paint job. I got through but probably should have turned around. Minus the over grown vegetation, the trail would be nice and not hard.
Easy and fun. Pin striping for sure. But other than that the trail is fairly easy. Looks like there was a slid Boulder that could make it tight for some.
Everything else everyone mentioned is pretty accurate but due to overgrowth pin striping is really bad now. I drive a Colorado ZR2 and several locations casued pin striping, other than that an okay trail to get some dirt time.
Drove the road from the bottom up after coming down 3S08 - Vista Grande in a Jeep Grand Cherokee Trailhawk. Appeared to be rarely traveled. Tiny bit of snow here and there. Tight squeeze at The Boulder and at two points near the top where big branches were hanging low over the road and needed to be lifted out of the way. Otherwise no issues. Nice views of San Gorgonio and the west side of San Jacinto.
Trail was a great ride for my Xterra 2wd, didn’t struggle at all. Some brush gets pretty narrow so prepare for scratches and the Boulder is definitely a tight squeeze.
JKU - Rubicon 3.5 lift w/ 35 tires
The recent rains brought plenty of snow. About half a mile in, the snow is easy with 4x4 until the boulder. After the boulder I had to go into 4-Low. It was a fun beautiful ride but I recommend going with a buddy.
Being basically a beginner we wanted to explore and get our JL dirty. This trail was easy and had some nice water crossings and great views. We’re new to this lifestyle and this trail was perfect to get us going.
All trails in the San Jacinto Ranger District are under a fire closure until 08/31/18
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Dennis Clark was born in Los Angeles in 1942 and after 76 years of living in So Cal he moved to Emmett, Idaho with his wife Patricia, has four adult children with many grand and great grandchildren. He has loved the outdoors since his Cub Scout and Boy Scout days while camping with the family. He's an archer, hunter and fisherman but no longer wishes to harm animals. He has been involved with photography since the 1960's. He became more of a serious hiker in 2010 when he started Geocaching and has hiked the three tallest peaks in So Cal, Mt San Jacinto, Mt San Gorgonio and Mt Baldy, along with most of the lesser peaks in search of caches. Geocaching started his love for the USFS Trail system as he used the trails frequently to get to certain trailheads. He had a 2002 Ford Ranger 2wd and its amazing where that little pickup took him. In 5 years of weekly geocaching he was only stuck once in some Palm Springs sand. His 2016 Wrangler Sport Unlimited was purchased in 2015. He has become quite lazy in the hiking department as he can now drive to most locations. He's looking forward to posting some trails and don't hesitate to ask him for any help you might need.
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