CruiserClass
Full Access Member
I recently drove out to Big Bend and hit at least some of all the service roads/trails out there. I was in a Power Wagon, but thought I'd type up a bit of a heads up for you Raptor guys as well.
Conditions can change, particularly with rain and due to lots of cuts and washes. This is just how I found them in early/mid April. Only once did I find any standing water and it was less than a foot deep. Well, on a trail anyway.
Dagger Flats: A well maintained dirt/gravel road. I think you could do this in most anything that's not a lowrider. You could stretch your legs a bit on this one for speed, especially if you had a spotter vehicle ahead so you know there's no other traffic. Lightly traveled. Not particularly scenic.
Glenn Springs Road: Same, but a bit more scenic.
I just used these roads to get to the others below:
River Road: There's some slightly rough patches but nothing a Raptor wouldn't eat up. Lengthy road of a touch over 50 miles, be good on gas before you start. Lots of elevation change, lots of different things to see...but very seldom the river despite the name. We did the trail eastbound until Black Gap then turned north there instead of finishing the last bit of River Road. More on BG later. You get real good views of rock formations in the distance both north and sound, lots of blooming cactus and flowers this time of year, well worth doing. I met one Jeep driver, other than that completely empty.
Old Ore Road: There's no real "obstacles", just some real rough spots and ruts as well as some kinda-sorta steep climbs out of washes. You don't need 4wd, just decent clearance and approach/departure angles. It's a very scenic drive and was quite a bit of fun. Not a lot of long straight stretches so you'd need to keep the speed a bit more reasonable on most of it.
Black Gap Road: Absolute ton of fun, only a few real "obstacles" but lots of rough spots, tilty twisty areas, etc. It *is* rough and unmaintained as advertised but, again, no real challenge for a Raptor. The actual gap has a shelf but people have stacked enough rocks that it's not much of an obstacle. The washed out road just before and after the gap is rougher, TBH. Very pretty, gap is plenty wide enough for a Raptor, but it's the one place where rock rails may come in handy. Not an absolute necessity, but peace of mind sort of thing.
On the hiking side, there's an absolute ton of hikes ranging from .3 miles to multi-day backcountry camping treks. Grapevine Hill was a really nice shorter hike, it's about .75 miles on a canyon floor full of bloomed out plants and bees doing their thing with said plants. At the end you do some rock scampering (shorter folks may need a little help in a few spots, but there's no real climbing) and you end up at a balancing rock formation with splendid views. We did it near sunset and it was perfect. Dog Canyon is 4 miles, most of it in the open desert with zero shade, but the canyon is worth seeing when you get back there. There's trails to old ranches, to watering holes, etc. It was a ton of fun, just make sure you've got a hat and more water than you'd think you want if you've never hiked in these conditions before. There is no potable water or sources to filter your own on the vast majority of them.
Conditions can change, particularly with rain and due to lots of cuts and washes. This is just how I found them in early/mid April. Only once did I find any standing water and it was less than a foot deep. Well, on a trail anyway.
Dagger Flats: A well maintained dirt/gravel road. I think you could do this in most anything that's not a lowrider. You could stretch your legs a bit on this one for speed, especially if you had a spotter vehicle ahead so you know there's no other traffic. Lightly traveled. Not particularly scenic.
Glenn Springs Road: Same, but a bit more scenic.
I just used these roads to get to the others below:
River Road: There's some slightly rough patches but nothing a Raptor wouldn't eat up. Lengthy road of a touch over 50 miles, be good on gas before you start. Lots of elevation change, lots of different things to see...but very seldom the river despite the name. We did the trail eastbound until Black Gap then turned north there instead of finishing the last bit of River Road. More on BG later. You get real good views of rock formations in the distance both north and sound, lots of blooming cactus and flowers this time of year, well worth doing. I met one Jeep driver, other than that completely empty.
Old Ore Road: There's no real "obstacles", just some real rough spots and ruts as well as some kinda-sorta steep climbs out of washes. You don't need 4wd, just decent clearance and approach/departure angles. It's a very scenic drive and was quite a bit of fun. Not a lot of long straight stretches so you'd need to keep the speed a bit more reasonable on most of it.
Black Gap Road: Absolute ton of fun, only a few real "obstacles" but lots of rough spots, tilty twisty areas, etc. It *is* rough and unmaintained as advertised but, again, no real challenge for a Raptor. The actual gap has a shelf but people have stacked enough rocks that it's not much of an obstacle. The washed out road just before and after the gap is rougher, TBH. Very pretty, gap is plenty wide enough for a Raptor, but it's the one place where rock rails may come in handy. Not an absolute necessity, but peace of mind sort of thing.
On the hiking side, there's an absolute ton of hikes ranging from .3 miles to multi-day backcountry camping treks. Grapevine Hill was a really nice shorter hike, it's about .75 miles on a canyon floor full of bloomed out plants and bees doing their thing with said plants. At the end you do some rock scampering (shorter folks may need a little help in a few spots, but there's no real climbing) and you end up at a balancing rock formation with splendid views. We did it near sunset and it was perfect. Dog Canyon is 4 miles, most of it in the open desert with zero shade, but the canyon is worth seeing when you get back there. There's trails to old ranches, to watering holes, etc. It was a ton of fun, just make sure you've got a hat and more water than you'd think you want if you've never hiked in these conditions before. There is no potable water or sources to filter your own on the vast majority of them.
