- Thread starter
- #41
The opposite side of the deer lake trail (the one we got turned around on last summer) is right there along with Tamarack lakes and the Buttes.
Btw, Tamarack Lake is another option for a camp spot.
Spring/Summer Lakes Basin Cruiser Trip :NorCal:
- Thread starter The Machinist
- Start date
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The opposite side of the deer lake trail (the one we got turned around on last summer) is right there along with Tamarack lakes and the Buttes.
Btw, Tamarack Lake is another option for a camp spot.
There's also a small campsite at the south end of Little Deer Lake. Could fit a few rigs there although setting up tents would be challenging. Directly west from where you see my truck, about 30-40ft is the Snake Lake 4x4 trail and on the other side of that is a small clearing where you could fit more tents.
I sleep in the truck, tents arent a problem for me as long as I have a place to park somewhere
I'm prolly gonna be solo and could go without a tent. Or I might look into getting me one of them new fangled tent cots. Either way I won't need much space.
Anyone drove the trail from Gold Lake to Johnsville? Looks sweet but I hear it gets pretty tight.
Anyone drove the trail from Gold Lake to Johnsville? Looks sweet but I hear it gets pretty tight.
I sorta did that, but backwards. I started up north in Johnsville and worked my way down, even though I never made it out to Gold Lake. You would have to do 1/2 of the Snake Lake loop and take the junction to the Gold Valley OHV trail. Or you could take the detour around Little Deer Lake/Snake Lake to go from Gold Lake to the Gold Valley trail
No but ive done la porte to johnsville via backroads on opener of deer season...never again will I go in the woods on opener...or at least thats what I keep telling myself lol
Im going to probably do a day trip this weekend to the gold lake 4x4 trail if it doesnt snow this week, anyone want to join?
Yes! Monday.
Shootin you a text now.
- Thread starter
- #49
There's also a small campsite at the south end of Little Deer Lake. Could fit a few rigs there although setting up tents would be challenging. Directly west from where you see my truck, about 30-40ft is the Snake Lake 4x4 trail and on the other side of that is a small clearing where you could fit more tents.
Hows the trail out to Little Deer lake? Just a dirt road more or less? Suitable for stock trucks?
I'd like to drive out to that one to check it out. (although it might not be where we camp)
Dude you are the farthest thing from stock and shouldnt even be worrying about that haha
Nooooooooooo. Little Deer Lake is on the Snake Lake trail loop. It's a very difficult trail. Steep climbs and drops, boulders, loose rock, etc. If you only wanted to go to Little Deer Lake and no further, it would be pretty easy to get to it going CLOCKWISE on the Snake Lake loop. Past Little Deer Lake it gets really tough.
The longer, more difficult route would be to run Snake Lake counterclockwise, and Little Deer Lake would then be the last stop on the trail. More info:
http://4x4trailmaps.com/4x4Trails.php?Trail_ID=47
Also, don't confuse Little Deer Lake with Deer Lake. Deer Lake is on the Gold Valley OHV trail and is easy to get to, suitable for stock rigs. Only thing is you can't actually drive to the shore of the lake. Well you could, but I don't think you're supposed to. There's a staircase-looking series of climbs to reach the shores of Deer Lake, but it's blocked off by a few boulders. You could easily climb over these if you wanted to, but I think they put them there for a reason.
This is Deer Lake on the Gold Valley trail
This is Deer Lake on the Gold Valley trail
- Thread starter
- #53
Some of the people that want to come don't have 4 inch lifts and 33s. I wasn't worried about my truck.
- Thread starter
- #54
I know that its on the snake lake loop, I was just curious about the section that goes from summit lake to little deer lake. Im not interested in running the snake lake loop.
Ok gotcha. Yeah that shouldn't be too bad. There will be just one pretty steep drop down into the Little Deer Lake area, I would think any stock 4x4 can make it that far.
I'm stock. Wait for me!
For anyone not familiar:
With the exception of Snake Loop, these are up to level 5 trails in some spots. But with patients a stock Toyota can get through. I saw a brand new 4runner limited on 20s out there last time.
I plan on at least upgrading my tires to 32" before this trip so you won't have to wait too long
For anyone not familiar:
With the exception of Snake Loop, these are up to level 5 trails in some spots. But with patients a stock Toyota can get through. I saw a brand new 4runner limited on 20s out there last time.
I plan on at least upgrading my tires to 32" before this trip so you won't have to wait too long
I'm interested in running snake lake loop counter-clockwise. 
- Thread starter
- #58
I'm stock. Wait for me!
For anyone not familiar:
With the exception of Snake Loop, these are up to level 5 trails in some spots. But with patients a stock Toyota can get through. I saw a brand new 4runner limited on 20s out there last time.
I plan on at least upgrading my tires to 32" before this trip so you won't have to wait too long
This is why I suggested those other spots for possible camp spots that are just off of a paved road. There are plenty of trails nearby to play on during the day.
