Seeking Resources for off-road trails - Newbie 101

Using the collective wisdom of our forum... is there already a place to find maps, pictures, and advice for exploring off-road? I'm starting in SoCal with a wife and dog that love to hike. I'll be solo, so not looking to start any rock crawling in 4L. . Much appreciated.

 

I’ve been using GAIA maps which seems to work great in SoCal. I also use a lot of YouTube for trail ideas.

I’m a firm believer of having a buddy when going wheeling.

 

This is the best place to find SW US trails with pics, waypoint directions, reviews, closure updates and more. Like $25 for a year. I download their premade maps for areas I am going to and then install them in GAIA. GAIA however is a self adjustable multi layering map (USFS, Google street, USGS, BLM and many others, that let you create maps on the fly or createe them before you travel. Pairing this with a tablet with built in GPS allows you to be way off grid and not rely on your mobile phone for connectivity. I use this on a Samsung Tab A. Zero issues. I download the map I want from trails offroad to my laptop, it automatically installs via Google to my tablet and GAIA software. Then its a matter of selecting the map you want to view once youre in the area.

trailsoffroad.com/

gaia.com

 

You guys rock. Anybody use meetup or other to find groups to 'join in'?

 

Facebook is your best bet. Tons of groups there with members in the thousands

 

Check out the "Off-road Rookies" group on FaceBook. A lot of trail runs posted are posted there. The SoCal 4Runners group on Facebook doesn't really have many runs posted.

 

Trailsoffroad.com was a great resource for me starting out and I still use them regularly. They keep improving the site which is great.

 

Trailsoffroad is where I started too.

Before I started using Gaia and later OnX maps, Trailsoffroad site let me copy and past the gpx map file from trailsoffroad site directly to my old gps unit.

 

Overland trail guide. The routes are long but you can do sections

 

Owlshead Maps (https://owlsheadgps.com/map/) has a variety of downloadable GPS data. The Friends of Jawbone (www.jawbone.org) sells a variety of printed maps and GPS data. They have a very good visitor center on Highway 14, about 20 miles north of Mojave.

Local BLM and USFS offices are (usually) good for current conditions on trails in their areas. Try to talk with a recreation planner.

You can find the complete set of Desert Magazine online for download as pdfs. This was a great publication in its day and I still consider it a valuable research tool.

Books by Walt Wheelock's La Siesta Press and books by Russ Leadarand and Roger Mitchell can be found in some libraries and used book stores. These are also very good for researching areas, but you will also need to use modern maps as well since the land/route status has changed in many areas.

The Auto Club of Southern California is phasing out their printed maps. If you're a member, these are still excellent resources for wide area planning.