The Sierra National Forest has 1.3 million acres located in Central California on the western side of the Sierra Nevada Mountains. Besides the usual recreational uses, such as fishing, hiking, boating, & camping, you will find plenty of off road vehicle opportunities as well. From the easier Brewer and Bald Mountain routes that can be traveled with two wheel drive ATVs all the way to the most extreme and famous Dusy-Ershim trail where large diameter tires and four wheel drive with lockers are required.
Recently, I tackled two of the more popular advanced OHV routes within the designated areas, the Spanish Lake trail and the Swamp Lake trail. The Spanish Lake trail is about thirty-two miles east of the Town of Shaver Lake and five miles south of the Wishon Reservoir dam. Shaver Lake is approximately fifty-one miles from the city of Fresno on Hwy 168. From Shaver Lake, take the Dinky Creed Rd and follow the signs to Wishon Reservoir.
We opted to dry camp at a popular open area that allows overnight camping at no charge. This campground can be found off of McKinley Grove road at 36°59’52.56”N 119° 1’39.81”W. The area is large enough to handle many toy haulers, so space should not be an issue. From this camp, you can trailer your toys to a staging area found at 36°57’14.01”N 118°58’11.76”W, five miles south of the dam. Post these coordinates into your GPS or the free Google Earth mapping program to fully understand the area. From here you can ride the quarter mile across a bridge to the trailhead. For those who don’t like to “rough it”, Wishon Village RV campground with full hookups is also available nearby. But whether you’re roughing it or not, DO NOT fill up your fresh water tanks until you reach Shaver Lake or the RV Village. The climb from the valley floor is long and steep and you don’t want to pull that extra weight. Once you get up the grade, you can fill up your fresh water tanks at the Village or in the Town of Shaver Lake at the 76 station. Also, be aware there is no camping within 100 feet from lakes, streams, trails and meadows. Campfire permits are free and available at the local Forest Service office. A campfire permit is required for: wood fires, charcoal fires, or portable gas stoves. As always, tread lightly.
The Spanish Lake route is rated by the Forest Service as more difficult due to its steep rocky climbs. But don’t let this trail rating scare you away, intermediate riders will have no problems. While only five miles long, the trail is well worth the effort that results in excellent views of the sierras and is a perfect day trip.
Starting at 6,498 feet, this trail starts in a dense green forest of tall pine trees that provide shade for most of the ride. The trail is basically packed dirt that switches back up the mountain, snaking around trees and passing through lush green meadows. The trail climbs fast and hard in places so be prepared to put it in four wheel drive and give it some gas. Speeds rarely get beyond ten miles per hour due to many rocky sections, some that will test the durability of your skid plate and your ability to pick the correct line. In addition, many opportunities present themselves for more challenging rock crawling; you’re limited only by your ability and your tire size. In between the difficult sections there are many pull outs that provide great picture moments. At 8,970 feet, the trail ends at the edge of the John Muir Wilderness. Here you will find some open camp spots complete with picnic bench and fire rings with grills.
It is also here where the biggest disappointment of the trail becomes evident. The trail down to Spanish Lake is off limits to OHV use because traveling through the John Muir Wilderness is not permitted on a wheeled vehicle. That means you will have to hoof it the rest of the way if you want to experience the lake. If you are into fishing, I’m told that the three quater mile hike to Little Spanish Lake and the one mile hike to Big Spanish Lake is well worth it. Being old and lazy we opted to eat lunch and retrace our tracks back to the base. Since it was mostly downhill, the trip back went much faster than the trip up. Here is where I got the chance to abuse Polaris’ new RZR side by side. My first impression was that this vehicle was too small for me; I’m 6’3” and weigh 240. The next thing I noticed is the available power this thing puts out. It is very quick and the accelerator is very responsive. Braking was equally impressive. Long story short is, although the ride was very different than the Rhino in that you are much lower to the ground, I was very impressed with its off-road capability.
The total distance of this round trip was ten and a half miles, which took us only two and a half hours. Max elevation was 9,070 feet, total elevation gained was 2,592 feet. At this elevation we experienced no performance issues on either machine. It’s not a long ride but I recommend it to those who are looking for a quick day trip.
The next trail we did was the Swamp Lake Trail. The Swamp Lake Trail is rated most difficult. You can camp at the spot previously mentioned and trailer your rides to the trailhead or you can take a chance and find one of the many pullouts you will see along the road up near the trailhead. We did the later and found a nice spot at 37° 3’10.85”N 119° 6’56.84”W. The trailhead to Swamp can be found at 37° 4’24.17”N 119° 6’7.03”W.
The trail starts off pretty smooth and easy alongside a meadow among tall pine trees. As the trail climbs and switches back up the mountain the view opens up to reveal the Central Valley below and the rocky sections begin to increase in frequency, size, and difficulty. Once you reach the top of the climb a nice turnout appears giving you a nice photo opportunity for a group shot with the beautiful Sierras as the backdrop.
After traveling a few more miles you will come within a half mile of Hatch Lake. Again, if you’re into fishing I hear this is another good spot as it does not get fished often. The trail then climbs a steep hill before topping out on a ridge at 9,286 feet. From here you have clear views of the LeConte Divide and 13,568 foot Mt. Goddard to the east.
The trail then begins to head downhill, switching back several times. Once it levels out and just after passing Betty Lake on your left you reach a small wood sign attached to a tree directing you to the left, away from the Mud Lakes private property area. This is where the trail gets tough. For the next mile and a third we traveled at an average of 0.7 mph through a rock garden that was as unforgiving on our bodies as it was on our skid plates. Each set of rocks took careful thought and an experienced spotter. Needless to say, we took a lot of skid plate damage, although nothing major.
Eventually we came across Rooster Rock, a fifty foot vertical climb on a huge granite dome. After climbing the granite dome the trail begins to climb again. After about a mile and a half you will reach Grouse Lake. The fishing here is also supposed to be very good. The route begins another steep climb away from Grouse Lake towards the ridge at 9,600 feet. At the pass you should be able to get a panoramic shot of the surrounding lakes, meadows, and peaks. Swamp Lake is another half mile or so below the ridge. At this point you can decide to pitch a tent and spend the night or turn around and do the reverse. Or, if you have a street legal vehicle you can continue on until you reach the gate and turn-off to the Dinkey Creeks trailhead. The trail turns into a rough passenger car road and ends up at a gate where it crosses with road 9S10. Turn left onto the road and travel about three miles until it intersects with road GIS09. Turn left again for seven miles to the Dinkey Creek Road. Turn left and you will find the Dinkey Ranger Station in 2.8 miles. Consult a map or GPS for clarification.
The Swamp lake trail really tested our machines and our bodies. After ten miles of constant rock crawling I felt more tired than the three straight days we spent at Moab (see July/August 2007 issue). I also came away with an even greater respect for these machines’ toughness as we pounded many rocks and had no mechanical failures. The next trail we plan to conquer is the famous Dusy-Erhsim trail. Although similar to Swamp, the Dusy is three times longer and will require several days to complete.
For more information about these and other OHV trails in the area visit
www.fs.fed.us/r5/sierra/recreation/activities/ohv.shtml
-Kevin McKenzie
