Elbe Hills OHV - Sunrise Trail

Fun trail, recommend 33” tires and a rear locker but I can be done with less.

Ran this trail last week. It's been 3-4 years since I've been to Elbe. This trail was actually a little easier than I remember. No issues for my JKU on 37's but it was completely dry. If it was slick, it may be another story. As previous reviewers have said, good warm up for the rest of the trail system out at Elbe Hills.

We ran this on a wet March day. We ran it with a Wrangler on 37s. We didn't have too much trouble with it. The bridges are in decent shape and, though they are narrow, are pretty solid. Traction was good even in the rain. The trail was an overall good warmup for the rest of Elbe.

Not Recommended For AN Subaru. The gate keeper was not exactly indicative of the trail to follow. We took a mildly modified '96 Subaru Legacy, and a stock '00 Pathfinder up Sunrise. With minimal mechanical sympathy, the Subaru blasted through the gate keeper without much issue. Using the "rock bouncer" method of scouting my line and just pinning proved to be effective. However, taking the more calculated approach, the Pathfinder found itself at the end of my voodoo strap to make it through. In his defense, that was the only time he was on the wrong end of the strap on this trail. The gate keeper was immediately followed by a couple of hillclimbs that compromise the majority of Sunrise trail. On which we rapidly discovered, being without low range in the less than 100 horsepower Subaru with 3.90 gears and 30" tires was a major issue. I can tell you, in this case, traction was the enemy. After about an hour maybe 2. This half mile trail left my clutch smoking, tow strap tired, and a massive smile on my face. Would be a fun trail in a stock 4x4 WITH low range. Again NOT recommended for AWD.

This is no longer easy to moderate. Barley made it in a 5.5" lifted Cherokee locked front and rear on new 33 mts. Lot harder than two years ago.