Lake Mohave - Lake Mead National Recreation Area

[pickettf3nce]

Roxanne (the Ranger) got her inaugural chance to get her shoes dirty this past weekend, and I am quite impressed! The GF and I took her down to a couple of coves on the AZ side of Lake Mohave and spent the day at the beach. (Side note: For all of you Northerners and Midwesterners, it was a blisteringly cold 70-75'F down by the water's edge. )

The dirt road/trail ended up being a lot easier than expected. With only a couple sections of road partially washed out, and a good amount of wash boarding headed down to the lake, but the ranger handled it like a champ, nonetheless. (Most SUVS or Trucks with decent ground clearance could make it in and out without too much trouble.) If you venture down there, I recommend having a portable air compressor and tire gauge on hand. We dropped our tires down to about 20 PSI and it made the wash boarded sections much more tolerable... Once we got to the lake, the views were absolutely worth it. - blue water, clear skies, and not another soul in sight. We spent the afternoon cooking hotdogs and pudgy pies, sipping Modelos, and lounging in the hammock.

We're stoked to see what other adventures this truck will take us on. Here are a few pictures of the truck and trail - let me know what you guys think, and if you have any suggestions for other light-to-medium difficulty off-road spots! We're always looking for the next place to explore.

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[veedubtuner]

Looks like an amazing area!

 

[AzScorpion]

Looks like you had a good first trip off road with your Ranger. We never did get a chance to go there while living out that way but drove by several times coming home from Vegas and Utah. See, I tell everyone it's cold there when the temps are under 70 but no one believes me. ?

If you're ever in southern UT around St George/ Springdale area you have to go out to Torquerville Falls. The first couple miles going in are pretty rough and it's been a couple years since we were there so it could be worse now but it was well worth it. You'll come to the waterfall in the middle of the desert and when it's warm out everyone goes there to swim in the pools below.

 

[pickettf3nce]

Looks like you had a good first trip off road with your Ranger. We never did get a chance to go there while living out that way but drove by several times coming home from Vegas and Utah. See, I tell everyone it's cold there when the temps are under 70 but no one believes me. ?

If you're ever in southern UT around St George/ Springdale area you have to go out to Torquerville Falls. The first couple miles going in are pretty rough and it's been a couple years since we were there so it could be worse now but it was well worth it. You'll come to the waterfall in the middle of the desert and when it's warm out everyone goes there to swim in the pools below.

That it was and the lake is surprisingly accessible! I've heard about a few natural hot springs locations further up the river, by the Hoover Dam, with more difficult trails we may need to try before the weather heats up again!
To the naysayers, 70 degrees is pretty cold in comparison to the summer temps you'd feel at that same spot! We went just south of there a few times this summer when midday surface temps were pushing 120.

We've only ever stayed the night in and driven through St George, but your pictures and a quick Google search have convinced me we need to go back! Google Street View makes that first bit of trail out to the falls look like it's littered with a decent amount of loose rock and gravel, but I'm not seeing too many boulders or large rocks we'd need to crawl over. Was that your experience too?

 

[AzScorpion]

That it was and the lake is surprisingly accessible! I've heard about a few natural hot springs locations further up the river, by the Hoover Dam, with more difficult trails we may need to try before the weather heats up again!
To be naysayers, 70 degrees is pretty cold in comparison to the summer temps you'd feel at that same spot! We went just south of there a few times this summer when midday surface temps were pushing 120.

We've only ever stayed the night in and driven through St George, but your pictures and a quick Google search have convinced me we need to go back! Google Street View makes that first bit of trail out to the falls look like it's littered with a decent amount of loose rock and gravel, but I'm not seeing too many boulders or large rocks we'd need to crawl over. Was that your experience too?

Yeah, the heat in the valley is just brutal! Then you're kind of use to 100+ temps for 5-6 months and the 70's feel like someone dropped you off in Alaska. lol

We stay in Hurricane and it's a nice small town that's centrally located (Zion & St George are close by) with some good restaurants around. The last time we were there (in '22) we rented a Airbnb and it was a small cabin. It's a small little area right off the main drag and there were only 4 duplex buildings like this one below. It's only one large room with a small kitchenette and bath but it was very quiet and reasonable and the owner was really nice. If you're ever interested I have all the info and the owners direct number. We rented it online on our way back from South Dakota and once there wanted to stay a few more days and he gave us a really good deal.

There were some pretty good size ones but nothing too big. I only had a 2.5" level kit and 33's when I did it and made it through without tearing anything up underneath. They don't maintain that trail so it could be worse now from snow, rain and traffic and it's pretty wide in the event it gets to crazy you can always turn around. There's one spot going up (I'd say1/4- 1/2 way up) where you're going up a decent incline and you can't see over the ridge. It's turns hard left at the top and there was a good size rock up there but a small drop off of it. The remaining trail is flat and very dusty and keeplookpng off to the right and you'll eventually see the falls. There's a back way out that a couple guys were taking on 4 wheelers but I'm not sure how that trail is and didn't want to chance getting stuck with just the two of us.

After the rocky area most of the trail looks like this.

Cabin we were in:

 

[FM AZ]

That looks like two very nice off road trips. If you want the easy way to check out the hot springs on the Colorado below Hoover dam, take a river trip from the dam to Willow Beach. I don’t know if they still allow this, but we rented 6 canoes and put in just below the dam. It’s a easy day and a half float to Willow Beach. There’s a few nice sand bars to camp on.

 

[awd.nv]

Glad you are enjoying the Ranger! We live near Lake Mead from the entrance at Lake Mead Pkwy and have enjoyed many days there. The current water level is a little sad but still nice when I need some time to clear my mind. On the Nevada side, Box car cove and 1/8 mile rd are fun. Boxcar opens up to some nice "hidden" trails.

Sand Hollow State Park, UT is a lot of fun, can take the Ranger on the dunes there and camp in the park if rent a room a the resort across the street. The sand at Sand Hollow is like a proving ground since so many people get stuck there lol I have only taken the trek to top of the world and blasted around the area a bit. The reservoir does get swimmers itch in the summer though. Toquerville falls is not too far from there either.

t




Our 2016 Honda Pilot AWD was our gateway into off-roading then we got the Ranger and man, what a difference. The Pilot was awesome actually, the AWD system Honda has is good but comfort the truck wins.

Looks like you had a good first trip off road with your Ranger. We never did get a chance to go there while living out that way but drove by several times coming home from Vegas and Utah. See, I tell everyone it's cold there when the temps are under 70 but no one believes me. ?

If you're ever in southern UT around St George/ Springdale area you have to go out to Torquerville Falls. The first couple miles going in are pretty rough and it's been a couple years since we were there so it could be worse now but it was well worth it. You'll come to the waterfall in the middle of the desert and when it's warm out everyone goes there to swim in the pools below.

Man the falls are nice to see. Only been once this Feb in my buddies SxS, we went up river for parts of it, started at Sand Hollow and worked our way to the falls. Thank goodness the river water level wasnt higher. Was evening when we got there so we just took the roads back even though we didnt have street lights lol. We hoped an officer would understand considering the time of day. Want to go back through the conventional way with the Ranger.

 

[pickettf3nce]

That looks like two very nice off road trips. If you want the easy way to check out the hot springs on the Colorado below Hoover dam, take a river trip from the dam to Willow Beach. I don’t know if they still allow this, but we rented 6 canoes and put in just below the dam. It’s a easy day and a half float to Willow Beach. There’s a few nice sand bars to camp on.

Hey that's a great idea! We have a couple of kayaks at home we could use, and some adventurous coworkers we might be able to talk into joining us.

Where did you put your canoes in at during your trip? That tour boat port on the Nevada side of the river?

 

[FM AZ]

Yes, it was on the NV side, just below the dam, down a dirt road. A government official open the gate. This was in 1989 and I didn't make the arrangements. We used canoes rented on Base. A friend drove the truck and empty trailer to Willow Beach. I'm sure you could find info on the BLM website if this trip is still an option. Your kayaks would be perfect.

 

[pickettf3nce]

Glad you are enjoying the Ranger! We live near Lake Mead from the entrance at Lake Mead Pkwy and have enjoyed many days there. The current water level is a little sad but still nice when I need some time to clear my mind. On the Nevada side, Box car cove and 1/8 mile rd are fun. Boxcar opens up to some nice "hidden" trails.

Sand Hollow State Park, UT is a lot of fun, can take the Ranger on the dunes there and camp in the park if rent a room a the resort across the street. The sand at Sand Hollow is like a proving ground since so many people get stuck there lol I have only taken the trek to top of the world and blasted around the area a bit. The reservoir does get swimmers itch in the summer though. Toquerville falls is not too far from there either.

Our 2016 Honda Pilot AWD was our gateway into off-roading then we got the Ranger and man, what a difference. The Pilot was awesome actually, the AWD system Honda has is good but comfort the truck wins.

Man the falls are nice to see. Only been once this Feb in my buddies SxS, we went up river for parts of it, started at Sand Hollow and worked our way to the falls. Thank goodness the river water level wasnt higher. Was evening when we got there so we just took the roads back even though we didnt have street lights lol. We hoped an officer would understand considering the time of day. Want to go back through the conventional way with the Ranger.

I will keep those locations in mind too!
To date, we've mostly gone down to Havasu, Lake Mohave, or the river down near Chloride at Pirates Cove and paddled our kayaks around the wetlands there. Lake Mead feels a bit intimidating without having a boat or jetski.

Sounds like we'll need to plan for Toquerville and Sand Hollow and hit them at the same time. On a map they're only a short drive apart!

Matt makes some great Youtube content! I stumbled upon his videos a while back and they're quite entertaining. (partially what gave me the itch to get out and try some of our trails nearby) Hopefully we don't end up in a future episode, then again, I wouldn't mind one of those t-shirts haha.

 

[TxOTRRanger]

Excellent pictures, looks like Fun! My favorite picture is the first one of your truck with the mountains and the sunset in the background, very cool. BTW, thank you for the information and help with the wheel shopping venture on my truck.
Rock On!

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