Ocotillo Wells State Vehicular Recreation Area — Attraction in Westmorland

(Edited 12/16/19)

I want to point out a common courtesy for us off-roaders in Ocotillo. First of all, there can be tons of traffic out there on the trails on any given weekend. This common courtesy is a hand signal for your fellow oncoming off-roader. This hand gesture tells the oncoming rider/driver HOW MANY VEHICLES that are BEHIND you.

Holding up a closed fist means no one is behind you. You are the last rider in your group. Holding up 1 finger means there is ONE vehicle behind you. Holding up 2 fingers means there are TWO vehicles behind you. Holding up 3 fingers means there are THREE vehicles behind you. Holding up 4 fingers means there are FOUR vehicles behind you. Holding up 5 fingers means there are FIVE OR MORE vehicles behind you.

When I put up 2 fingers, I am not giving you the peace sign. It means I have 2 vehicles behind me. I want to point this out because I think it is a very simple and logical hand gesture to keep us all just a wee bit safer out there.

My parents bought an "off road" house near Ocotillo Wells SVRA and I literally ride no where else. This is California's best kept off road secret. This place is MASSIVE and you can ride all day long and not see the same trail twice, except when you need to get back home. Even though the place is massive, it is difficult to get lost thanks to Pole Line road. Just look for the telephone poles and you should be OK. I ride a 2004 KTM MXC 525 and it loves the place...so does...

It’s like the surface of the moon. Huge ugly area. Gross to look at. The few times I’ve been there people have been either completely absent, or it’s been busy but polite. Some sand hills. They occasionally grade the roads, some are in drivable washboarded, some are smoother than the highway. It’s so big, it might take you a good amount of time on the main roads to get where you’re going, so good roads mean something . Not tons to do. Hills. Banks. You’re not going anywhere. It’s the surface of the moon. But it’s legal and it’s free with lots of pit toilets. Ya don’t expect parts of the country that are worth seeing to let people drive all over the landscape. They ought to expand this park to all of the south west. It is the ugliest scenery I’ve ever seen. Ever see the photos from Venus’s surface? Worse than that. Looks like a strip mine. By May it’s 100 degrees. 115+ later in the year. No cell...

One of our favorite spots to go camping and offroading! I've camped everywhere from the blow sand side to pole line road. There is so much to explore and great for any skill level. When we ride our dirtbikes I can easily follow along the steeper trails with some trails down below if I'm being a scaredy cat. I brought my 4runner out for the first time last week and it was so much fun! It was perfect in the 100 degree heat cruising in ac haha I also always try to go out there on a weekday. There is literally no one out there, you are alone in the desert. But I feel safer than trying to ride my dirtbike on hills and with blind corners when everyone has a side by side these days. Also, make sure you check how windy it will be before coming here, Ocotillo in the wind...