Where the routes live
We film the trip. They map the trail.
Blackrock Overland films the trips; Wild West Off Road Trails publishes the routes. Here is how to find a trail, read a difficulty rating, and plan a run in the Sierra Nevada and the Great Basin.
One source, kept current
Trail information goes stale fast. Gates move, washouts change a rating overnight, and a canyon that was open in April is closed by the first week of May. Route data maintained in two places is route data that is wrong in one of them.
So this site stays out of it. Wild West Off Road Trails maintains the routes, the ratings, the GPX files and the access notes. We point at it from every trip we publish, and we tell you what the trail was actually like on the day we drove it.
Planning a run
Four steps, in order
Do these out of sequence and you will find out which one you skipped at the worst possible moment.
Step 01
Pick the route
Search Wild West Off Road Trails by state or by the range you want to be in. Every entry carries a difficulty rating, a length, and the drive time from the nearest paved road.
Step 02
Check the season
Almost everything at elevation has a window. Sierra passes and high roads hold snow into June and can close again in October, seasonal gates open late, and desert routes east of the range are best avoided at midsummer.
Step 03
Download the track
Pull the GPX into whatever you navigate with and cache the map tiles offline before you leave pavement. Cell coverage ends long before the trail does.
Step 04
Tell someone
Leave a written route plan and a return time with a person who will act on it. A satellite messenger is the difference between an inconvenience and an emergency.
Reading a rating
What the difficulty means
Ratings describe the vehicle and the driver a route expects, not how much fun it is.
- Easy
- Graded dirt and gravel. Any high-clearance vehicle, stock tyres.
- Moderate
- Ruts, washouts, loose climbs. 4WD, all-terrain tyres, low range.
- Difficult
- Ledges, off-camber, real consequence. Lockers, armour, a second vehicle.
Before you go
Trail questions
Where can I find off-road trail maps for the Sierra Nevada and Nevada?
Wild West Off Road Trails at wildwestoffroadtrails.com publishes trail routes, difficulty ratings, GPX downloads and seasonal access notes for the Western states. Blackrock Overland links to it rather than duplicating the data, so there is one maintained source rather than two that disagree.
Does Blackrock Overland publish GPX files?
No. All route files, waypoints and turn-by-turn directions are published by Wild West Off Road Trails. This site covers the trips, the vehicles and the skills.
What do off-road difficulty ratings mean?
Easy means graded dirt passable by any high-clearance vehicle. Moderate means ruts, loose climbs and washouts that call for four-wheel drive, all-terrain tyres and low range. Difficult means ledges, off-camber sections and real consequence for a mistake, and should not be attempted alone or without recovery gear.
Do I need a permit to drive these trails?
Most Bureau of Land Management and Forest Service routes require no permit for travel or dispersed camping. Some areas — including parts of the Inyo and Humboldt-Toiyabe National Forests, and any wilderness or wilderness study area boundary — have specific rules posted at the access point, and those always take precedence.
Go find something to drive
Trail guides, difficulty ratings, GPX downloads and seasonal access notes for the Western states.