Turkey Claw is a fun and difficult rock crawling trail that will put any 4x4 to its test. Whether you are a Toyota, a 2 door Jeep Wrangler, or a 4 Door JKU person. Turkey Claw will make even the most hardcore off-road enthusiast think twice in the first few feet of the trail. Body damage, driveline failure, and great memories are all likely to be found on this trail. The next time you decide to have an adventure in the home of The King Of The Hammers in Johnson Valley, California, take a trip to the southwest of Means Dry Lake and check out one of the most fun, short, and epic 4x4 trails in Southern California.
Turkey Claw is off Desert Run Road between Mommas Sand Hill and Boone Road.
***To get to Boone Road from Lucerne Valley***
Take 247 east roughly 24 miles. You will see a Johnson Valley sign on the right side of the road and the white lines will be broken on the left side of the road where the dirt road starts.
***To get to Boone Road from Yucca Valley***
From Highway 62 and 247, take the 247 north / west for roughly 20 miles. The turnoff for Boone Road is on the right just after the highway curves to the left.
Camping
Dispersed
Land Use Issues
The US Government has come to an agreement with the Off-Roaders that use the area, and we will be sharing areas of the land in Johnson Valley with the US Military. During these times which are unknown, civilians will not be allowed in the area. There is no set schedule yet of when it will be closing and reopening. This is a growing concern for many people that enjoy the area for the fear that they will permanently close this area after the first time they use this area for Military training.
You can find more information on closures by clicking here
Ran this trail and took the fork to the right instead of exiting to the left. Fun trail. 37s on my JLU with rubicon axles made the trail fun and enjoyable. The lower SOS part was much harder than Turkey lol
Fun trail rear locker needed at least with at least 33s. One guy in the group struggled with his open diffs. Made it with spotting but took longer. Close to camping area with easier lines to choose from.
Cool trail, lots of fun. I was sad to see people moved some of the large rocks out of the way at the hard obstacle making it a lot easier. I lowered the rating to a 6 which might still be to high.
We run Turkey Claw in the wee hours of the morning. The trail conditions were awesome. If you are looking for a short technical trail, Turkey Claw is for you.
Joshua Noesser grew up in Southern California but has lived in different parts of the country during his young adult life. Josh was first turned to four wheeling when he road with one of his friends dad up Surprise Canyon in the Panamint Valley at age14. After nearly 3 different roll overs later and a half dozen intense waterfalls, Josh was hooked. At 16 he purchased his first Jeep a CJ 7 and by 17 was putting his first locker in it.
Currently, Josh is the owner and CEO of Nybble, an IT Solutions Company based in Orange County, California. Nybble isn't your normal IT company where everyone stays in and plays video games. Nybble's average company trip is out on the trails since a good amount of his staff enjoy wheeling too. As Josh likes to say, he offers the only IT Company with the ability to provide services in extreme locations. "If you want a server at the top of The Hammers, we will take care of that for you."
Today you can find Josh out on the trail behind the wheel in one of his three different off-road vehicles. See the vehicles below for more information.
If you ever run into Josh, please say high, he is a very friendly person and is always happy to have a new person join the group.
