Rattlesnake Canyon - RC3331

I have done this trail a few times before and have always found it to be a fun easy to low moderate trail. I found the trail this time to be more consistent in being moderate. The wash was more sandy than it has been in the past and the areas with rocks were a little bigger than last time I was there. However, with that being said, I believe a stock 4x4 vehicle can still do this trail. It's a fun trail to do and scenic once in the wash area and entering the Joshua trees. With the trail being a bit more sandy, I would recommend slowing down on turns where boulders may be sticking out, you have a good chance of sliding into them if going too fast.

Not much damage from Hillary. In fact, seemed easier.

Its open

As of this writing it's open but the sand is currently fairly deep. It was easy enough in our Rubicon in 4H but I wouldn't try it at the moment in anything that didn't have soft sand worthy tires and some clearance. The west side is worth exploring, plenty of interesting nooks and features but imo the trail itself is more of a corridor to/from Burns Canyon etc and the 247 than a destination in itself.

First time on this trail and we liked it a lot. I should note there had been some substantial in in the area in the days/weeks before I went, there was clear evidence of the running water further into the canyon but the trail was largely unaffected. This is listed as a difficulty of 3-4 but I am inclined to say it leans toward the 2-3 difficulty, mostly because there are a few rocky corners that might require extra attention to navigate (especially if you have lower clearance) and much of the canyon is sand. The sand wasn’t difficult at all when we went, perfect if it had been dry for a longer period of time the sand could be more difficult. We took our time and stopped to climb a few rocks and explore the surroundings so it took us 2-3 hours to reach Burns Canyon (the southern terminal end). As far as ‘desert’ trails go tie one is really cool. The trail goes from the desert floor up the mountain enough to see several changes in flora and fauna…and near to top there is a great place to stop, cool down and take in the views. I’m marking the difficulty description as ‘spot on’ but I think it will be easier for those who hit the trail with a 4x4 and some skill (or adventure)

Ran up to see what damage the rain had done after seeing posts in the Mojave and Death Valley. Didn’t think this trail would be as affected given there wasn’t as much rain here as those locations, but boy was I wrong! It’s a wasteland. Completely washed out. Lots and lots and lots of wood from the trees that came down from the hills. Most of the fun rocky “obstacles” or gone, with just remnants of what those corners used to hold. Lots of sludge at the start (bottom of the canyon) which was a bit intimidating to navigate through as I was first to lay tracks and those walls can give in, but there are safe lines. Sad to see it so torn up, but on the bright side…..the dreaded washboard has been cleansed and it is no longer torture to get through the wash on the Lucerne side. Comes back after the rocks and towards the Joshua trees though! Good reminder! Be safe, more rain coming this week!

I had only been on this trail as a passenger, and it was a lot more fun driving this time! Took all of the off shoots, including what my pals call "Kiddie Pool Cyn", which had the two hardest obstacles of the canyon. A nice long and hot ramble up this very pretty (is it under-rated for its beauty?) trail. Had a great day with all the guys and gals and cant wait to come back to this one... probably wait until it cools off a little bit though. Started this from the desert, and ran it up hill to 2N02, and then over to 2N01.

easy trail only 1 rocky obstacle 2019 tacoma long bed

Definitely a fun trail to test out your rig. I say around 5-7 rocky obstacles and tons of optional offshoots. I did it in 2wd no locker on 33s. Here’s the video for those looking to see those obstacles. https://youtu.be/iCrm0bM89W4

Did this in our 4dr JKU Sport with 4” lift and 35’s. Lots of washboard/whoops, some moderate technical sections more towards the end which were fun but definitely more difficult in our 4 door due to the longer wheelbase. Ended up taking Burns Canyon the rest of the way up to Big Bear. Saw lots of people on the trail but it was overall a very fun day, views were amazing the whole way up, and would definitely do it again!

Rattlesnake through Burns Canyon is a go-to for my family. We run it at least twice a month, usually as a Friday night, end of the week run. We love that the two of them combined covers almost every kind of terrain - desert wash to rocks to mountain shelf road. And watching the sunrise over Baldwin lake is to die for. There is little challenge between the two trails. Only thing that might get newer drivers or full sized and long wheel base vehicles are the waterfalls on Rattlesnake as they are within tight hairpin turns so getting a good line would require good tire placement or a good spotter. In Burns, make sure to stop at the playground where the red sand sneaks in! I would agree with the trail rating, though both trails have a few spots that are getting a bit more challenging due to weather and use. Oh! And don’t forget to watch for cows in Rattlesnake! Usually there are only a a few if any, but we have come through when the whole herd is out too! Also watch for snakes, turtles, and there seems to be a very hungry cat out there (I have seen it twice at night) so keep your eyes open and ready to distract kids unless you want them to see how the circle of life looks (we’ve found a handful of carcasses too). And finally, last weekend there was a light dusting of snow and the normal water flow was next to gone other than a few spot where it was pure ice. The sand was also almost completely ice. So don’t think that just because it’s in the desert you don’t need to check weather!

Really fun trail with a couple springs located in the canyon. Stock 5th Gen TRD Off-Road 4Runner (with AT's and skids/sliders) made it through with a couple new scrapes and scratches on the protection; a couple inches and some bigger tires definitely could have helped in places, luckily I have the protection in place. It does get pretty narrow in some places, I got some of my first scrapes on my sliders going through some of the passages so keep that in mind if you have a wider rig. Really fun and beautiful though, went on to do Heartbreak Ridge afterwards which was another really fun one

Lots of fun and not impacted by the National Forest closure. The springs were neat and unexpected in the middle of the desert. I don’t think a stock vehicle can make it through. I drive a Jeep Grand Cherokee (WK2) with 2” lift and 32” tires. Never had issue but tire placement was really important. Definitely not a trail for long wheelbase vehicles.

Took Rattlesnake Canyon up to do Mottino Wash. was a fun easy sandy road great views of Joshua trees that line the trail. I did not do the entire trail this trip.

The trail is looking good. I would say 90% of it is easy but that 10% will send a lot of stock vehicles back the way they came. From the bottom you can do most of the trail before you get to the hard area. A short wheel base with 32" tires got me though with just some rock stacking and a scrape here or there. A longer wheel base would need to take some of the rocks head on. No one was on the trail and it was getting hot out. I had the trail to my self until just before I hit Burns Canyon Road. There are some really cool rock formations great for some photos, and water was still flowing in some places. Few cows, it was too hot for them they were nearly all hiding. A little rain could move the sand around and change up the canyon again.

Decent trail. Lots of cattle. Favorite part is the J tree forest. I’d say this is more moderate to hard, depending if people move rocks to get over obstacles. There are some relatively tight squeezes with turns so if you are long wheelbase or pretty wide...it may get tricky for you. Some areas are wet right now. There are a handful of rocky obstacles where placement and picking the right line is very important. It would be good to go with another capable 4x4, if you are just starting out. And I think a higher clearance vehicle is better for this trail. Stockers might run into issues with the obstacles. Took this down to Burns Canyon.

Ran this with a small group on New Year's Day, starting from the 247 and connecting with Burns Canyon into Big Bear. Fun, scenic trail with nicely varied terrain. Photos don't do Rattlesnake Canyon justice; it's really quite spectacular in person. However, the difficulty ratings of the trails in this area are not quite accurate or consistent. Rattlesnake is certainly not easier than adjacent Burns Canyon, which is listed as "moderate" while this trail is rated "Easy". The handful of rock obstacles on this trail would give a solo inexperienced off roader in a stock vehicle a very hard time and possibly cause body damage. By comparison, Burns Canyons has literally no obstacles. We had a beginner in our group with a stock Gladiator Rubicon and he made it through okay with some spotting. If he were solo, he would've been in trouble. All in all, this is a great trail and is now my favorite way to get to Big Bear.

The trail is pretty nice. I started about 30 minutes before sunset. There were two spots that were a little sketchy for my stock Jeep Gladiator. The first I had to really pick a nice line and take my time and I still scrapped my undercarriage. The second spot was the picture. Its a tight right turn with a couple of good size rocks to try to avoid before you get to a descent size boulder. I rearranged some already stacked rocks and managed to make it through. If I had 35s and a lift it would have been slightly easier in those two spots. All the rest is pretty scenic. Definitely want to do again. I connected it with Burns Canyon, 2N02.

Ran in our 3rd gen Tacoma TRDOR w/2" lift and 33 MT's. Got some minor rock rash on sliders and arms but if I was driving smarter lines it would easily have been a no-contact trail. Amazing experience that is highly recommended (in dry weather conditions); plenty of cattle, rodents, trickling streams, birds, etc. on the ride up into a beautiful Joshua Tree forest that is more dense than Joshua Tree NP itself, with interspersed mining structures. Highly recommended. Make sure you gas up and have some snacks/lunch for stopping along the way. Finished the trail via Burns Canyon to Baldwin Lake.

My wife and I ran this trail yesterday, for the most part the trail is pretty easy. At around mile 9 it starts to get rocky and I would rate it as moderate to some what difficult, maybe due to all the rain we had last winter. At about the 10 mile mark there was a small bolder in the middle of the road where at the same time the road narrows. At this point it became impassable and had to turn around. I was driving a stock Ford Ranger 4x4 with good A/T tires, if your are in a lifted vehicle with 35 inch tires you probably will not call the parts I called difficult that, but I don’t think you will get past that big rock. The section in the accompanying image I would call moderate to give some reference.

Ran the trail to get to the old Rattlesnake Canyon Upper. Still rather easy and never put in 4wd.

Great trail. Hard to know where it stops and other start. Much is easy but there are some technical areas that my wife had to spot for me. I have clearance but no sliders so most was quick!

We choose Rattlesnake Canyon as its shown as green or easy on the TOR map and we discovered it is anything but. Expecting typical sandy desert track we found ourselves in a very difficult narrow large rock strewn valley. I think that section is actually Rattlesnake canyon. Before you take this trail realize there are NO BYPASS's to the difficult sections. It either turn around or push through. We came in the opposite direction of the authors map and on coming upon the first obstacle at the south entrance to the canyon (N34° 16.856' W116° 39.539') it looked impassible but walking it revealed a doable path with a sharp right angle turn requiring a Y turn to make. We had a lifted Jeep with 34" tires and at this point and further north on the trail there are other obtacles we took some hits to the armor underneath but at the end of the day no visible damage on the outside. At times any indication of a trail disappears and you driving on a rocky dry creek bed with no visible tire tracks but impossible to get lost in the narrow canyon. It reminded a lot of the TOR map colored orange Berdoo Canyon in the Joshua Tree National Park. That all said if your up to the driving challenge its a beautiful and fun offroad challenging drive. The canyon rock formations are striking and the southern entrance is through a beautiful Joshua Tree forest. Water was running down the center of the canyon and we counted about 18 cattle grazing and watering. Still very narrow one needs to gentle move forward to persuade the cattle off the path. Towards the end of the road near 247 its easy to follow the road onto a private ranch at N34° 20.378' W116° 41.629' be sure to keep left (if heading north). At Burns Canyon intersection, where we began the road to Rattlesnake the temperature was 88 degrees and when we got to Hwy 247 it was 108 degrees. Be aware there is no cover for miles around near the intersection of Rattlesnake and Hwy247 and it was too hot to air up and reconnect. We decided to drive west on Hwy 247 and at about 10 miles found a park in Lucern Valley where we pulled over, aired up and reconnected in the comfort of the shade.

Very fun trail!!! We ran the trail as intended from Lucerne Valley into Big Bear. Great trail for all off road experiences because you can take on your choice of difficult extra credit lines or stick to the main trail. There are sections once you get into the creek area where the water runs through the trail that get the 4 rating because you will want 4x4 high clearance due to the tight turns with rocks that you will have to carefully navigate through. Careful lines & spotters can be helpful if you are new ( We had 2 in our group ) otherwise fun little obstacles to keep you entertained. A great trail that I will be visiting again soon in the future!

Very cool trail! We started from Lucerne Valley and headed up to Big Bear for the night. The tail is very scenic and it took our group of (4) about 2 hours to complete. No concerns for a vehicle with 33" tires and a small lift. A stock vehicle can do it but expect some bumps and scarps. There are a couple of tight turns but with some spotting you'll be ok. Oh, watch out for the cow poo!! We saw a ton of that crap (lol) and cows all along the trail. Pretty cool to see wild life hanging out and watching you go by. Overall, a really cool trail to experience and has a little of everything.

This was nice nice long trail in our 2020 JLU w/33" A/T tires and stock, no lift. We started at Old Woman Springs road coming from where we live in Joshua Tree. It starts out as many trails do around here on the flats in a rather large wash. Pretty sandy throughout, and as you start gently gaining in elevation there are some natural springs that were still running at the end of June. It made the trail a bit sandy/muddy, but also made it fun as this time of year water on the trail is pretty rare. There were some points as we got higher in elevation that I needed my spotter (beautiful wife) and at times we would both get out and discuss options. I scrapped the bottom (no damage) twice and there were also some very tight turns. I read where there were some pick-up trucks on this trail and I can't for the life of me figure out how they would be able to make these turns. I have a JLU and it was really tight. I kind of wonder if we got off on a side trail as this was more difficult in terms of clearance then the description made it out to be. I don't think we got on Motino because that's an out and back and we were able to travel right on through. It is a bit difficult to navigate because there are trail leading everywhere, but they all seem to meet back up with the main trail at some point being that it's in a canyon. We then continued on Burns Canyon trail and had lunch In Big Bear. We took the highway back down to Old Woman and then home. It's a great trail with lots of different variants and I highly recomend.

This is such a fun trail! We came from Big Bear and took it back towards the Apple Valley side where most people start. When you get to the area around Heartbreak Ridge, there are a bunch of great places to camp. I wouldn't recommend camping at any of the turnoff type spots near the main track. I'd say you wouldn't want to attempt this trail in a 2WD vehicle, although some may be able to pull it off. Right now the water is still running in the canyon so it makes for some cool little mudding spots. Lots of cattle in the canyon and the Joshua Tree forest is epic. Plenty of legal places to shoot guns as well. Really fun trail, want to come back when the season changes and maybe see a little bit of snow.

Brought my stock FJ cruiser there, drove from Old Woman Spring Rd and up. Heard the recently rain washed the creek bed away and exposed more rocks, defiantly the limit for STOCK FJ or 4runner if you DO NOT want to have any damage to your vehicle. I was driving very careful and still scratched my front bumper but oh well it was fun. 4LO is for sure needed, I didn't want to take chance so rear locker and Atrac were all engaged during hard parts. It's perfect trail for beginners want to taste some intermediate trails, because it's fun and you get to use all the gimmick but the hard parts are not too long. It was fun to see all the cattle, we saw at least 50 of them.

So glad the trail was open. Saw three other vehicles. Great run, beautiful wildlife, great description. Great day to go up, over the mountain to the lakes and back home to civilization. The Joshua Tree forest is pretty amazing! I'm new to the website and watched the YouTube vid a couple of times, printed out the route on the website, and had no problem. You really go somewhere, see an amazing array of nature, some cool artifacts and victims of the harsh environment, all while having a great time with a bit of some maneuvering and low-range thrown in. A great day!

Wonderful mixture of terrain going from the desert floor into low alpine territory. We had a Tacoma 4x4 and a FJ Cruiser. The Taco is a 4-door with full size bed, so quiet a bit longer than the FJ. Going through the creek section the trail is very manageable with the right approach. Deep sand, rocky ledges, tight turns and ever changing scenery make this a really fun trail.

Fun easy trail. Lots of traffic but wide enough to get around them. Very nice scenery water from spring makes it better. Very cool 2wd trail.

Our trip started with the Wildhorse Meadow Trail and ended here... GREAT trail and very beautiful! The owner of the land grants access, but he says a lot more people are disrespectful than used to be, leaving trash and scaring the cattle. We need to respect this trail and the owner's property and cattle or we will lose the ability to enjoy this amazing trail. There are a few places where there are tight turns and longer vehicles are likely to get some pin striping! There are also about 4 places where you are crawling over some good sized rocks. A quick note on Jeeping Common Sense: We had to help boulder straddled, lone stock 2012 Jeep with a lone driver, no tools, and no water, that was going in the opposite direction. Once we helped him, I suggested he follow us back out, because it was worse further up. He decided to continue. SO leave flowers at the Jeep with the skeleton in the driver seat. :)

Ran part of the trail with Adventure Offroad at the 1st ever Jeep Bash. What a great trip!!!

This adventure was recommended by our Son who has done it a few times prior in a lifted 4Runner made for elevated off gridding. I have an above average 2010 4Runner, no longer stock, but not lifted. In any case, he was our guide up Rattlesnake Canyon, and we've already done 2N02 to Baldwin Lake. Started from HWY 247, pretty easy, sighting cattle, and drove with respect... Entering canyon started to get rocky, nothing extreme, but IMO there are four what the Boy called 'Gates", I made 3, and the last one wound up with a memory scrape on the lower fender. My fault for not waiting for the spotter...Use one & you will be fine. At this time there is seeping water/mud & lots of flowers to see. If you go, try not to tear it up any more in the mud, same with 2N02, it's getting bad, just because you can, doesn't mean you have to.... Have Fun. let's make it last... Not recommended for rookies, or being self guided/alone. We saw nothing but cattle & nice scenery for 41 miles... And, it's getting hot. 90+ degrees all the way up to 5000'.

Very nice, easy trail to run. The Joshua tree forest is beautiful and so is the canyon! There are a few rocky areas that any stock truck should be able to clear, some sharp turns and narrow areas where a longer wheel base truck may end up with some pin striping, but not too bad. I did it in a 1999 Mitsubishi Montero on 33's and had no issues.

I visited this trail for the first time in a 4x4 Extended Cab Silverado. I had to turn back at around 10 mile marker when the turns got really sharp. There was no way to make some turns when I had to deal with both the rocks on the road and the tight turns. The first 10 miles are definitely fun and easy. Just be prepared to turn around when driving a longer vehicle.

Great scenic trail! We got to experience right after snow had hit the mountains, which made the joshua tree forest even more magical. There was only one rocky obstacle that required a little oomph to get over (JK w/2.5" lift on 35"s), but that may have been because everything was still wet.

Great trail and scenic. There are about 3 rocky obstacles I found to be a little more difficult than I expected. Needed some one to spot me. Ran with my stock rubicon and a stock Tacoma OR. A little more clearance would have made the trail a bit easier. The best part was the Joshua Tree forest.

Ran this trail in my Zj into big bear with my buddy who ran a 2017 taco on km3s. We didn’t make it there until it was dark but from what I could see it seemed like a beautiful trail with plenty of fun obstacles. I underestimated how long the trail actually was and ended up using 10 gallons of spare fuel. I’m definitely going to run this trail again during the daylight

Been running this trail for years. As with many trails in the area, it seems to change just a little bit every year. This might be the 5th or 6th time I ran this trail this summer/fall and the water just started flowing again. I love seeing the springs flow. Anyway, we jumped out and ran motino really quick before heading back over to the springs for a relaxing lunch. Love this trail. #FalkenTires

Ran the trail as part of a Motino and Rattlesnake Canyon day. Such a great combo for trails. We did our normal and had lunch at the springs. Check out the fish, but this time we spent the extra time and went to the cabins. Haven't done that in a long time. So cool... The trail was torn up a little. Still an accurate rating, that is a stock 2wd high ground clearance could likely do the full trail, with help from airing down and a locker in spots. The trail was softer than normal which made it sort of rough in spots. But all in all the trail is extremely beautiful and perfect for a new group of wheelers. #FalkenTires

Ran this trail from Johnson Valley up to Burns Canyon in a completely stock 2017 Tacoma TRD4x4OR and mostly stock 2016 Chevy Colorado Z71. Although I'd say a 4x4 vehicle is absolutely necessary, the trail was pretty easy for the first 10 miles with mostly loose sand and moguls. Some tight turns might scratch up the side of a full size truck, but well worth the drive with all the beautiful canyon views! At about the 10 mile mark from the Old Woman Springs turnoff is where the trail has it's first true "4" obstacle that required some good spotting to get our stock trucks through it, but we made it without hassle. Definitely looked like this obstacle took its toll on some vehicles with scattered plastic, cuts in the rocks, and oil spots visible. Another mile up the trail was another "4" obstacle that involved a tight turn for our trucks while rock crawling over some large and loose rocks. Other than those 2 obstacles though this trail was probably a 2-3 rating but those certainly made it a 4. Check out the video for a detailed report of the run from start to finish!

First time on this trail. Absolutely beautiful drive. We drove down from Highway 38 just below Onyx Summit (2N02) through Broom flats to get to it. We took it down to Johnson Valley. I drive a lifted Tundra. It’s a little tight in a few rocky places for a long wheelbase but not difficult. We went on a Tuesday and didn’t see another soul, just cattle, quail, doves and jackrabbits.

Really great trail, ran right after it rained and it was mostly bone dry except for a part where a spring came up. Saw a few steer sitting around in the shade. The trail is mostly pretty easy, but there's few rocky areas where low range is helpful no matter which way you're running it. Very scenic and well worth the trip!

This was my first time running this trail...and what a fantastic trail it is! From the high canyon walls to the ancient Joshua Tree forest that await you at the end of the trail - it's packed with fun things to see and also just difficult enough to keep you focused on where you are going. Interestingly, I was able to still experience the overflow from multiple natural springs that created wet spots along the trail - not sure if this is due to the recent rainfalls or if this is a normal occurrence throughout the year - but it does make for fun mud slinging. I like the fact that the end of this trail puts you on Burns Canyon, which is also another great trail that leads to many other ancillary trails like Tip Top Mountain, Heartbreak Ridge and Sidewinder Canyon.