Trail Run-Las Vegas area-Nov 9th

[Vegas Matt]

Hello all,

I've been meaning to post this for better than a week, but haven't quite made it till now.

On this coming Sunday, I'm planning an offroad run up Kodachrome Trail in the Rainbow Gardens Rec Area on the east side of town. I used to ride my dirtbike with friends along this trail many times, but unfortunately it was closed to off-highway vehicles a couple years back, yet is still available to licensed 4WD vehicles according to the latest BLM map I can find (check here: BLM map at VV4W.com). I haven't been out there since they kicked us out on the bikes, but I understand it is still open to licensed vehicle traffic. I'm planning on calling BLM tomorrow to re-verify trail availability, as long as I can get a break in between work tomorrow.

This trail runs from the Hollywood/Vegas Valley area up north to Lake Mead Blvd. I'm thinking it will be a fairly short run (maybe 2-2.5 hours), but there may be alternate trail routes home that could extend that greatly. I'd call it a cakewalk easy trail on a bike, but would say it's probably a mostly easy to moderate trail in the Touareg. There are a couple rocky spots, but I don't recall there being anything overly challenging or destructive.

So far it's Arkarch and I going up the trail, but I'd like to invite anyone else along that would like to go for a run. As with any offroad adventure, damage can and does happen, especially if you're not sure of your rig or its capabilities. To be clear, you are ultimately responsible for your own actions, and their consequences. Obviously, we'll be spotting our way up the trail as necessary to minimize this potential situation, so if you're new to this don't be apprehensive, as it's all a learning experience. But, as with most things in life, there' no guarantee.

As of now, I'd say let's meet at 10:00am at IHOP on Warm Springs behind Sunset Station. Grab breakfast, and hit the road for the trail. There's really nowhere of note that I can think of closer to the trail where we could meet up, hence IHOP. The schedule is pretty open for change though, but is pretty much locked to Sunday the 9th due to other "challenges" going on.

Prerequisites: FRS and/or 2-meter/440 ham radio, food, and water. Other good things to have: Full size spare is strongly recommended (not the inflate-a-donut), shovel, and tow strap. I'm running oversized tires, so my spare won't really work for the stock 29" diameter tires.

Please reply to this thread or PM me if you are interested in going.

Looking forward to Sunday!
Matt

[Yeti]

Will my rental from Hertz make it?

[Vegas Matt]

Get the insurance, and I'm sure it will

Matt

[Vegas Matt]

Unfortunately, the run is cancelled. I just got off the phone with the BLM. The map I have is out of date, and that entire area is now a no-man's land due to the Clark County Health District complaining about the dust created by any vehicles out there, not just OHVs. This is a true bummer, as that really was a great area, and one I was looking forward to taking the Touareg through. I miss riding out there, and it's too bad that I (and many others) will never be able to experience that area again.

The truly great person I talked to at the BLM did, however, tell me to stop by there sometime, and they could recommend other areas to go to in southern Nevada. There are still some trails around, but none anywhere in the Vegas Valley, due to the dust ordinance. They have maps and brochures that can be had at their office, which is only open from 7:30 to 4:30 Monday thru Friday. Looks like it will be a while before I can get up there to get the info.

Sorry,
Matt

[Vegas Matt]

The newest closure map from the BLM:

Closure Map-11/2007

The one I had was from early 2007.

Matt