2N33 - Pilot Rock Truck Trail

There is a new forest order overwriting the previous closures. Most trails, including this one, are open again. https://www.fs.usda.gov/Internet/FSE_DOCUMENTS/fseprd1105593.pdf

Unnecessary temporary closure of pretty much all of San Bernardino National forest. 🙄 Forest Order No. 05-12-00-23-03

The recent rains must have made this trail much harder. I included photos of the hardest spot and wash out where I turned around due to being by myself.

Great trail with options. I’ve done the fire road all the way through, easy and any stock vehicle can make it. Then I took all but two off chutes, 4WD needed. I took offchutes late night

Ran this trail from east to west starting at the 2N34 Tunnel Two intersection. The recent rains have left a handful of deep ruts that make it so you have to choose your line pretty carefully so in my rookie opinion I would say its more like a 3 rating. There are some fantastic views of the lake and some cool views of the desert to the north.

Great beginner trail. The variety and severity of the off shoots make this a great trail to learn. This is a heavily trafficked trail so beware of opposite direction traffic.

Less traffic than Cleghorn

2021 cherokee trailhawk 2 inch lift, 30.5 inch KO2s. Great trail. Absolutely worth the hype. I would say the main road should be rated a 2 because there are several spots where clearance is needed and at least one spot where 4wd is needed. The offshoots aren't terribly challenging, but still fun.

This trail is a good trail to test out your truck and learn your truck. It has an the easier trail or you can take many off shoots that are a bit more challenging but all passable. The 5” lift on my truck definitely saved my driver door. Amazing trail will definitely hit it up once again. Oh and yes you will get tons of Pin Stripes but hey…….. Battle scars lol

Had a good time out on this trail with my newly lifted and tired Jeep. We stayed away from 2N17X and just did the main trail with all of its various off shoots (but not the rock crawl... at least I didn't, LOL). Took my son and we had a great day out with our dog. The main fire road is easy, the off shoots can be of varying difficulty, but nothing was too hard. As an experienced hiker of most of these mountains, it is funny how easy a Jeep makes it to get into the back country. A lot less effort on my aging joints. The on coming side by sides were a little intense, and they are pretty hard on the trail. A great day out in the wilds of the Berdoo's.

Great morning on Pilot Rock Road. As someone else mentioned there is only one fairly technical deep rock rut that needs to be carefully navigated but for the most part very easy drive.

Third time on this trail within two years. Clearance would be the only limiting factor given the countless deep uneven rocky ruts. Especially one large off camber rock rut after passing Pilot Rock. Really fun but for sure requires some experience. Didnt see anyone else there, even after taking an hour lunch break. Highly recommend.

Great views of the lake from the get go, and then great views of fall foliage between waypoint 16 and 19. The trail is a little rocky at points and the only real obstacle on the main trail (easy mostly) is a portion with a DEEP rut running down the center of the tail. You just have to pick your line and you're good to go.

Good trail. Well marked. Buddy and I in an XJ and a ZJ went out on a Tuesday and saw absolutely no one. Some fun terrain challenges, but always a more moderate option. Out of this world views. Exciting to see the change of biomes from desert chaparral to more wooded forest. We started at the dam and ended in the woods, and went on to continue riding in the Willow Creek trail nearby.

The San Bernardino National Forest has reopened.

The current forest-wide emergency closure order has been extended, for San Bernardino National Forest, through midnight on Sept. 22.

The Forest Service has temporary closed all of the National Forests in California. This closure will is from Aug. 31, 2021 at 11:59 p.m. through September 17, 2021 at 11:59 p.m.

Had a blast on Pilot Rock came from Old Pilot Rock there are several harder off shoots that are fun with some challenging obstacles. Finally got to do this trail that we have a cat named after.

fun easy trail in elevation for a cooler summer run.

Great trail! Will definitely run it again with another vehicle or two as the spur and the alternate trails look like a lot of fun! The main trail is well marked and I did it in 2WD the entire way in my 92 XJ (3" lift, 31s). There is a hill that has a large rut running down what looks like the center, but as you climb the hill, you'll be able to pull to the left safely to avoid it if you'd like. To get up to Pilot Rock itself, I did throw down the 4x4, but I stopped halfway up that particular trail as I was by myself and didn't feel like being stuck hung up on a rock.

Did the trail today with 7 other rigs. Ive never run this before so first time was in the snow/mud. It was a blast! Turned what I imagine would have been a simple trail into a fun and exciting run, playing in the snow! Just be careful for the ice on the inclines of the trail and make sure to go with someone else in case a recovery is needed. Be cautious doing the off shoots because you cant see whats under the snow and the ice makes things tricky. There was an SUV that had rolled on the trail and is in the middle of the trail. There’s enough room to go around it though. Had a stock Jeep Compass Trailhawk in the group and they made it through with no issues

Open as of 12/20/2020.

I very much like this trail, From Side by Sides or Dirt Bike, Jeep or even my Rebel. Great to start on the North Side and end at Lake Arrowhead

Open as of 10/08/2020. https://www.fs.usda.gov/alerts/sbnf/alerts-notices

Temporary Closure. Even if the gates are open, you can be fined if they choose to enforce this. https://www.fs.usda.gov/main/r5/alert-notices#orders

Went last week with a few friends the trail is still open.

All California Forest trails are temporarily closed due to fire or risk of fire.

Nice & scenic trail! Ran as mapped from West to East and continuing down Tunnel Two then finished up through the Miller Canyon OHV trail. No off shoots taken during this ride, kept it nice and mellow. The fire road is very easy going except for one section ( See Photo 5 ) towards the end of the trail. It is easily passable just take it slow and use a spotter if needed and you'll be fine. A great way to escape the city and take in some great views.

We entered from the west or the Silverwood Lake end of the trail and you quickly come to overlooks with beautiful majestic views of the lake. The trail is OHV rated "Blue" on the signage, which is "More Difficult" but its an easy trail with 1 section that we paused at to pick a line. 2 wheel drive pickup would be fine IMO. Our vehicle was a lifted Jeep 4 door and in 2wd the entire trail and it was a breeze. The lower elevation part of the trail is loose and embedded rock so if you can air down it will make for a more comfortable ride. We came across a rattlesnake sunning in the road at the beginning of the trail. As the original mapper stated there are many opportunities to go off the main trail. Even many more then are identified in the original mapping. Some of these are not marked with signage, and some marked as "Open" and some have ratings of black diamond or "More Difficult". We found that it was easy to see the main trail and keep from inadvertently going on one of these alternate routes.

Great trail with some amazing views. Ran this west to east (followed TrailsOffroad GPX). Hiked up to Pilot Rock first then went back and drove the Jeep up (stock Rubicon). Nice trail by itself but thinking of combining this with Cleghorn for a full day next time.

This is such a fun one! It’s perfect for beginners (like us lol) but have fun options to make it more difficult. It’s shorter than the other two we have done, but it has the most gorgeous views! I definitely recommend.

Pilot Rock is an awesome fireroad trail. I only did a couple of the easy offshoots that particular day. There's a good amount of water holes to drive through and the staging area is right before the trail.

So many good views. Trail is well kept. Easy to Difficult depending on which route you want to go. Weather was perfect today, 60s/70s and a clear sky. Towards the end of the trail (Arrowhead side) there were some good size puddles to splash in!

I took the wife, kid and dog up the fireroad. A little mud and snow, but nothing difficult. We finished up with lunch on the lake. I can't wait to go back with some friends and try some of the alternate routes.

We ran this trail West - East starting at the Dam as our staging area to air down. Once we got to the "gatekeeper", we opted to go left and tackle the Ridge Trail 2N17X. Overall the Trail is pretty engaging with ups and downs from start to finish. Ruts and shelves and V notched sections are plentiful along the ridge. Having a small lift and off road tires will help your situation, having at least one locker will make your life way easier and less challenging. Weather was on the most side with a light drizzle when we ran this trail. But its a different ballgame when its totally wet, muddy or even icy. With most of the steep inclines, you will come up to a blind turn so you can either: walk it up first before u drive it, drive it up and make an educated turn based on how much u can see OR look at a map of the trail in reference to where u are and see which way to trail continues.

Ran this trail west to east. Did about half the offchutes. The first significant offchute after waypoint 7 is deeply rutted, One of our rigs broke a CV axle here (3rd gen Toyota 4runner) so a rear locker is definitely a plus. The fire trail is as easy as it gets.

We started off the 173 at The Pilot Rock OHV staging area and drove to the 2N36 intersection. From there we went right onto Pilot Rock Ridge Rd which brought us down to the 138. This was our first time doing any type of wheeling and it was a blast! I never felt uncomfortable with the trail and there was plenty of rocks, off camber and rain ruts to have fun with. Whatever your skill level is this is a great trail to cruise with some great views and cool places to pull off and relax.

Great trail to take for my first time off-roading. Took it west to east starting near Silverwood Lake. Didn’t feel comfortable about a section just past Pilot Rock so turned around.

The whole trail is pretty rutted out from recent rains, but still passable. We spent a little time playing on the harder lines before heading up into Lake Arrowhead.

Did the more difficult leg of this trail (2N17x) back in March, definitely has some challenging rutted out hill climbs. Fun time though and a locker helps tremendously! XJ is locked in front and my Montero has the factory air locker in the rear.

Great trail to visit with a great view. Definitely going to visit again.

Fun trail fire road with off shoots which are the fun parts of the trail weekends get really busy

First time ever going off roading and really enjoyed myself. You definitely need to check this trail out. Meant for beginners and Moderate drivers. Look out for bikers and quads guys and drive safe

Followed the trail map we found on this site. Everything was accurate and went very well. Made it to Pilot Rock, but didn’t get all the way up to the rock. Got close for only having stock Cherokee Trailhawk. Trail was fun and was a Saturday well spent.

We mapped a few trails to the south and ended up going west on Pilot Rock from Miller Canyon, I missed the by-pass on the rough section just west of the Rock and wasn't comfortable continuing without an experienced spotter so we turned around. The east half of the trail we did the optional routes and had a great time.

We did the Pilot Rock Truck Trail after coming off 2N17X where it meets 2N33. We headed east from there and did all of the optional offshoots. Some of them provided a pretty good challenge, especially if you took the harder lines (see video). The trail is somewhat similar to Cleghorn with the main dirt road which is easy, with the more difficult offshoots that can be bypassed if too difficult. Fun trail, especially combined with 2N17X and it's easy to keep going to Lake Arrowhead and head to areas such as Devil's Hole to finish off the day.