[Superjoe]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rDJ23EXTYTc&feature=youtu.be

This is Rocky Gap road, which is part of the Red Rock scenic drive/national park. You can find it on Google Maps here: https://www.google.com/maps/dir/36....157334,-115.4887102,16z/data=!4m3!4m2!1m0!1m0

A fun trail. I'm pretty sure no matter what you'll have to turn around to get back out but in a stock Trailhawk you will for sure have to turn around before Wranglers and FJ's. It is just a matter of ground clearance. I banged the skid plate a couple times. Not bad, but hit it nonetheless. It ends up being a decent half day trip if you live in town.

This is also the first time I've ever aired-down for a trail (to 20PSI) and I will never offroad without airing down again. It is a must in the rocky trails we get in our neck of the woods. Already have my own quick deflator and portable air compressor.

Enjoy!

 

[Superjoe]

There is about an hour to go on the Youtube upload as of this post, FYI

 

[madchemist24]

pretty long vid, but it def shows you running the TH through its ranges. Looked like you drug it a few good times. How did the skid plates fare with all that contact near the end?

 

[zzjdzz]

Very nice video, Cool Terrain! Thanks for sharing, gotta love the desert!

 

[dustycherokee]

Hear is a video from my trip up Mormon Well road in the Desert Wildlife Refuge!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mCFU9J7ll0g

 

[Superjoe]

Nice!

 

[dustycherokee]

I am looking for other cherokee owners who want to get together and do other roads that are available to us and in surrounding area's! Send me a private message and i will reply with my contact info!

 

[hwstock]

I've actually taken my Subaru outback 2003 wagon 2.5 miles up from end of pavement (past min27 in your video). I took my new TH up there last Wednesday with far less worry. I've heard of a stock Cherokee making it up from pahrump side

 

[RShackleford]

Good to hear about the Cherokee tackling Rocky Gap Road. I'm hoping to head up there soon myself. I don't want to run the whole thing, just to Red Rock Summit. There is an all time classic, must do hike from there. It's called Bridge mountain and it involves route finding, rock scrambling with crazy exposure, thousand foot drop-offs, a natural arch and more. It's been years since I've been up there, but I remember just driving the road to the trailhead being a pretty amazing adventure itself. Good work getting the Subaru up there, makes me like my chances with the Latitude!

 

[hwstock]

I've been up Bridge Mountain 31 times, by 6 routes. That's why I took my TH up there last week -- stopped 2.5 miles from end of pavement at "trail" that goes up North Peak Ridge, took that route to Bridge (it skirts the sandstone-limestone boundary--this is not the trail from Red Rock Summit). One part of the road is a little rougher than when I last brought the soob up there; one part is better. Careful wheel placement is the key. I never had to use anything but default 4wd, even on the 4 cyl.

From a few years back: http://hwstock.org/bridge25x/ The 2nd part of this report details the route I took last week.

 

[hwstock]

I went up Rocky Gap Road from the SW side ("Pahrump side") for a ways today; I stopped about 1/2 mile before the last photo (01), and hoofed it to North Peak (about 7200') as the snow started to come down. The 2nd and 3rd photos (02.jpg and 03.jpg) show the sections I drove in the TH, and don't do justice to the roughness of the road here; the 2nd photo has a blue arrow, which corresponds to the rock shown in detail in the 1st photo (04.jpg). People have back-filled the drop with rocks, but there is still about 8" of drop. This was a reasonable road till fall 2004, when a big storm washed it out on the SW side.

I'm told a "stock" Cherokee made it up this side (NOT the normal side) in 2011, but I've never seen anything milder than a lifted wrangler since 2004, and today the old tracks up high seemed to be from a dirt bike.