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Ocotillo Wells Trip Report

gqchris

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Well, I gave the place one more chance this weekend. Reasons i dont like this place are its too far, too crowded and no destination rides. It delivered all as usual!

First ride out I follow my buddy who is leading the pack. Takes us down a wash, fucking mud everywhere. That clay type mud. Im like bro, was that needed? Now my car is a fucking shit stain the first 10 mins there.

People are EVERYWHERE. Yes I know its the holiday, but the trails were like the 405 freeway.

Saturday, we are “pretend” rock climbing a bit up a hill , against my wifes better judgment. She hates it! I take my time, got out to look at lines 3 or 4 times. Anyways, as im looking over the last time, a white RZR comes blazing past us on the ridgeline and makes a right down a rock shoot. I hear some noise, then make my way down slowly.

You guessed it, rzr rolled down the chute. I jump out and ask if everyone is OK. Dude runs back saying “ no its bad”. My EMT ambulance days kick back in from 20 years ago. Find a guy holding his arm. Compound double fracture. Almost amputation. You guessed it, stuck his arm out the window on the roll. My buddy Randyhad a nicely stocked tramua bag. I start calling off supplies in ems terms, and he is handing me all the right shit! I was like damn, good job! . Tryed to secure the arm as much as we could to get him out of razor and off the hill. Finally did, by then the cavalary arrived and every ranger in the park. I counted 15 by the way.

Kinda amped me up for the evening and got back to camp to start some dinner and drinks.

Im not sure the allure is for everyone. My buddy loves the place. Just isnt my cup of tea.

Didnt take many pics but I did get one of my buddy stuck on a dune and buried when i finally convinced the group to go across the highway to some BLM land. That was a fun change and less crowded.

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Carlson-jet

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Cool on you and your bud.
It's been 25 years ago last time I went and it was a shit show then on weekends.
Tuesday thru Thursday or starting out in the morning at dark.
I take it the hotsprings are still closed?
 

RiverDave

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I don’t get ocotillo either but a lot of my friends love it. They will
Leave here to go there and I’m like wtf? Lol
 

gqchris

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I don’t get ocotillo either but a lot of my friends love it. They will
Leave here to go there and I’m like wtf? Lol

Same here Dave. Not sure what the alure is. Maybe i just have the wrong guides? Lol
 

gqchris

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Cool on you and your bud.
It's been 25 years ago last time I went and it was a shit show then on weekends.
Tuesday thru Thursday or starting out in the morning at dark.
I take it the hotsprings are still closed?

Hmmmm. Never heard of the hotsprings. We went to shell reef, pumpkin patch, and devils slide. Not impressed with any of those.
 

Carlson-jet

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This might help..
El-Cajon to Ocotilla wells 1:41 hrs.

Hmmmm. Never heard of the hotsprings. We went to shell reef, pumpkin patch, and devils slide. Not impressed with any of those.

Ya, they closed the land for the hotsprings that connects the two.
 
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monkeyswrench

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@gqchris
The riding may have not been great, but it was still time with friends and family...that's a good thing.
I am also a believer in all things happen for a reason. You aren't usually riding there, but happened to be near the scene of an accident. You guys were ready and rolling, and helped someone who was having a much worse trip. The best part of the trip, may also have been the worst...perspective is everything.
 

Riverbound

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Ocotillo is closed.
Sounds like you had the wrong group, stay off the main trials on holidays.

tons of destination rides out there.
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rivrrts429

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Hmmmm. Never heard of the hotsprings. We went to shell reef, pumpkin patch, and devils slide. Not impressed with any of those.

That’s like 8-10 miles round trip lol.

A few weeks ago we did over 100 miles on Saturday. From Ocotillo to Superstition to Salton City to Truck Haven and all of those spots you mentioned.

You need to go with people who actually ride all day.
 

Bpracing1127

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That’s like 8-10 miles round trip lol.

A few weeks ago we did over 100 miles on Saturday. From Ocotillo to Superstition to Salton City to Truck Haven and all of those spots you mentioned.

You need to go with people who actually ride all day.

yea doing a 20 mile ride is kinda not the point lol.

we went to Johnson valley and started to figure it out on Sunday that you need to stay off the main trails.

I still think out of the dirt places to ride

ocotillo
Johnson valley
Stoddard Wells
Havasu

that havasu is the best type of riding for a sxs. Plenty of destinations. Plenty of different terrain. Big drawback as it’s 5-7 hours towing for most people. I’ve havnt been to ocotillo in years. Last time I was on a quad. Sucked then too. Maybe we need riverbound to show us the way
 

gqchris

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@gqchris
The riding may have not been great, but it was still time with friends and family...that's a good thing.
I am also a believer in all things happen for a reason. You aren't usually riding there, but happened to be near the scene of an accident. You guys were ready and rolling, and helped someone who was having a much worse trip. The best part of the trip, may also have been the worst...perspective is everything.


Yup, I agree sir. and my wife brought along her friend who happens to be hot like her, so I was the guy with two smoking chicks in his coach and rig all weekend! Life was good no matter what!
 

gqchris

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yea doing a 20 mile ride is kinda not the point lol.

we went to Johnson valley and started to figure it out on Sunday that you need to stay off the main trails.

I still think out of the dirt places to ride

ocotillo
Johnson valley
Stoddard Wells
Havasu

that havasu is the best type of riding for a sxs. Plenty of destinations. Plenty of different terrain. Big drawback as it’s 5-7 hours towing for most people. I’ve havnt been to ocotillo in years. Last time I was on a quad. Sucked then too. Maybe we need riverbound to show us the way

I agree with ya Ian. We need a Riverbound guided tour. I didnt see any of that stuff while there!
 

monkeyswrench

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Yup, I agree sir. and my wife brought along her friend who happens to be hot like her, so I was the guy with two smoking chicks in his coach and rig all weekend! Life was good no matter what!
And all you had to do is wash some mud off...yep, successful weekend ;)
 

DUNEFLYER

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Did you see the only "sand car" (orange) out there? This was my first trip out there. Had a great time camping with friends, also nice as we were on private property. Riding is for the bikes and SxS's. Friends that live in Temecula can get there in under 2hrs so I see the attraction.
I am a sand guy and glamis is only 45min longer drive. See ya in the sand..
 

riverroyal

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I’ve had fun there. The ONLY good thing about it is it’s close to home.
Other than that I’ve never understood the lure compared to other places
 

PlanB

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Grew up going out there, and it is close enough for a day trip. We now keep our stuff in Havasu, so we don’t do Ocotillo anymore. Looked busy driving through the area on Saturday on the way to Havasu though...
 

Xring01

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To me, Ocotillo is just boring...
We ride Dirt Bikes and the trails put me to sleep...

I prefer Stoddard / Slash X, which is where a few of us went on Sunday... Good news is it wasnt that busy as all. I was expecting a zoo, but there were far fewer people.

The bad news, my son got a flat about half way thru the day, but he does that alot. It happens when you ride fast with alot of Rocks... Pinch Flats, or puncture holes....
 

LargeOrangeFont

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yea doing a 20 mile ride is kinda not the point lol.

we went to Johnson valley and started to figure it out on Sunday that you need to stay off the main trails.

I still think out of the dirt places to ride

ocotillo
Johnson valley
Stoddard Wells
Havasu

that havasu is the best type of riding for a sxs. Plenty of destinations. Plenty of different terrain. Big drawback as it’s 5-7 hours towing for most people. I’ve havnt been to ocotillo in years. Last time I was on a quad. Sucked then too. Maybe we need riverbound to show us the way

Yea Johnson Valley was bad ass. We could have spent another 2-3 days exploring. I think it has even more varied terrain than Havasu does, and if you have Dirtbikes and quads in your group with SXSs it is really cool because there are many sub-trails off the main trails that are single track or more fun for quads, etc. Definitely going back for sure.

@gqchris - Johnson Valley was not crowded at all.
 
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HB2Havasu

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If I'm going to make the 4 hour drive to Ocotillo Wells I would much rather just go another 1/2 hour to Glamis for some real riding. Ocotillo Wells might be the most over-rated riding area in the world. It's just a whooped out dustbowl. I can think of about 100 better places to ride than OW!
 

Riverryder

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Yup, I agree sir. and my wife brought along her friend who happens to be hot like her, so I was the guy with two smoking chicks in his coach and rig all weekend! Life was good no matter what!

Pics of hottie or it didn’t happen!


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 

LowRiver2

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Truckhaven was great: not crowded at all, low dust, small hills and wide open spaces for the kids. It’s like camping on gecko and then drive down pole line road to the “washes”, lol. Pretty sure I saw the ambulance heading to your incident Pole line. I saw a brand new RR cut off an old guy on a BMW dual sport, who quickly chased him down to scold him. Saw a bunch of Rangers by shell reef talking to a group, otherwise peaceful weekend . It’s never Glamis but there is terrain to explore for sure. Met some off duty Border Patrol agents camped next to us and got some great intel on what’s going on at the border.
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HBCraig

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Lots of destination rides there

Salton sea
Badlands
Persian Well
Gas Domes
Pumpkin patch
Shell Reef
Etc
 

DoughBallin14

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Sounds like a wrong guides trip to me. Been going there since being a kid over 20 years now. Only 1 hour away from my house so day trips were always a fun for us. Crowded weekends Always avoid main trails and stops such as, devils slide, shell reef, gas dome, pumpkin patch, etc. most people only know the main trail to get to these places, which makes it like the 405.
Our go to is always turning on split mountain road heading south towards the mountains. South of the 78 to an open flat spot after the S turn.
Ride starts there towards the mountains down some washes, out towards superstition and stopping and some small set of dunes, on the way back from there maybe hit the old aircraft salvage yard and pole line north towards salton sea and hit some canyons and come back to camp.

been out there dawn to dusk many times with never seeing the same place or a handful of other riders.

our group consists of bikes and quads usually.
 

K-DOG

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I know people who own private property off of Split Mountain Rd and they made their own little compound. We go out there a few times a year and its pretty nice. You just have to know where to ride so its not busy or whooped up. Also if you have jeeps there are allot of trails that are only for street legal vehicles. They keep trying to get me to put a trailer out there but I like the river better. They can only use it for 6 months a year and take all their stuff home over the summer. At the river we off road in the winter and boat in the summer, use all year long.
 

rivermobster

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Well, I gave the place one more chance this weekend. Reasons i dont like this place are its too far, too crowded and no destination rides. It delivered all as usual!

First ride out I follow my buddy who is leading the pack. Takes us down a wash, fucking mud everywhere. That clay type mud. Im like bro, was that needed? Now my car is a fucking shit stain the first 10 mins there.

People are EVERYWHERE. Yes I know its the holiday, but the trails were like the 405 freeway.

Saturday, we are “pretend” rock climbing a bit up a hill , against my wifes better judgment. She hates it! I take my time, got out to look at lines 3 or 4 times. Anyways, as im looking over the last time, a white RZR comes blazing past us on the ridgeline and makes a right down a rock shoot. I hear some noise, then make my way down slowly.

You guessed it, rzr rolled down the chute. I jump out and ask if everyone is OK. Dude runs back saying “ no its bad”. My EMT ambulance days kick back in from 20 years ago. Find a guy holding his arm. Compound double fracture. Almost amputation. You guessed it, stuck his arm out the window on the roll. My buddy Randyhad a nicely stocked tramua bag. I start calling off supplies in ems terms, and he is handing me all the right shit! I was like damn, good job! . Tryed to secure the arm as much as we could to get him out of razor and off the hill. Finally did, by then the cavalary arrived and every ranger in the park. I counted 15 by the way.

Kinda amped me up for the evening and got back to camp to start some dinner and drinks.

Im not sure the allure is for everyone. My buddy loves the place. Just isnt my cup of tea.

Didnt take many pics but I did get one of my buddy stuck on a dune and buried when i finally convinced the group to go across the highway to some BLM land. That was a fun change and less crowded.

View attachment 845939

I'm with ya all the way...

It's like the fucking moon! lol All dust and dirt. Nothing green to be found. To me, it's a tiny area that really has zero to offer.

Pumpkin patch. Boring. Sand washes, that last for a mile or two, boring. Did I mention the dirt?? F that place!!! lol

And there was nobody there last time I went there. Would be a nightmare if it was packed. *shivers*

I'll take Dove Springs and points north all day long, where you can ride for days and never cover the same trail twice. And you can ride into the mountains into the pines if you want!

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The lower deserts suck with the exception of Glamis! 😁
 

gqchris

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Yea Johnson Valley was bad ass. We could have spent another 2-3 days exploring. I think it has even more varied terrain than Havasu does, and if you have Dirtbikes and quads in your group with SXSs it is really cool because there are many sub-trails off the main trails that are single track or more fun for quads, etc. Definitely going back for sure.

@gqchris - Johnson Valley was not crowded at all.

Trust me brotha. Id much rather joined you guys. I love Johnson Valley. Thats my spot. Next time for sure.
 

Riverbound

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I know people who own private property off of Split Mountain Rd and they made their own little compound. We go out there a few times a year and its pretty nice. You just have to know where to ride so its not busy or whooped up. Also if you have jeeps there are allot of trails that are only for street legal vehicles. They keep trying to get me to put a trailer out there but I like the river better. They can only use it for 6 months a year and take all their stuff home over the summer. At the river we off road in the winter and boat in the summer, use all year long.

having a compound is the way to go. we are set up at a buddy’s Private 40acres. keeps us away from the yahoos and we are above the dust where we sit.
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WhatExit?

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Best thing about Ocotillo Wells is I know the Side-by-Sides, quads and most bikes won't be in Anza-Borrego Desert State Park because only street legal vehicles can ride there.

I'll visit Ocotillo to see the sites and the crazies but I cruise most of it slowly due to all the kids and the SxS's. A-B DSP has miles and miles of great terrain to ride and explore
 
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