Barney Riley

Total Miles
11.2

Elevation

2,444.62 ft

Duration

3 Hours

Technical Rating

4

Moderate

Best Time

Summer

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Barney Riley
5

Trail Overview

Ride a mix of open and forested trail and make time to enjoy beautiful aspen groves, stone hot spring pools, and the Carson River. There are places to camp at the end of the ride along Carson River's east fork. Motorized vehicles cannot cross the river, but you can cross by foot, raft or canoe.

Photos of Barney Riley

Barney Riley
Barney Riley

Difficulty

Moderate: Most of this trail is easy, but several steep, rocky sections will test novice drivers. Stock SUVs can do it, but skid plates and moderate ground clearance are recommended.

History

The cemented stone pools at the hot springs were built by the general public over a long period of time. The Forest Service has attempted to knock them down, but people just rebuild them. The pools are very popular with river rafters when the river is high and 4-wheelers when the river is low. During our visit in early September, we found the river ankle deep at the hot springs.

Technical Rating

4

Status Reports

Mark Johnson
Oct 14, 2024
2020 Jeep Gladiator
Open
Rough/Deteriorated
I’d say this trail is more like a 5 rating (not a 4). The main reason is a couple tougher sections, one affecting vehicles with more height (I have a wedge camper atop a Jeep Gladiator) and more width higher up (eg awning): Going thru an aspen grove, the crevasse/rut along passenger side (heading in) is deep and immediately adjacent the trees. Aligning passenger tires along top of crevasse will end up striking awning as it sticks out. Running passenger tires into the rut tilts vehicle, putting awning into trees. Shorter & thinner trucks may squeeze past. I tried bailing out the next day by going down FS2063 but gate was locked
Mickey Hatt
Oct 06, 2024
Open
Dusty
Rough/Deteriorated
Super rocky. Would not recommend stock rig. Not crazy hard but some technical, rocky, hill sections that could certainly challenge lower clearance vehicles. Definitely some fun sections. Water crossing deeper than expected.
Brian Salinero
Aug 30, 2024
4x4
Open
Dusty
Lots of dust. Very dry and rocky. Good trail and definitely harder than the 4/10 that it’s listed at.
Peter Hsieh
Aug 24, 2024
4x4
Open
Dusty
I would actually rate this trail at the lower end of difficult and I definitely wouldn't take a stock 4x4 SUV down it. There is severe erosion near the descent to the river at the end`that makes things a little spicy. Not sure how this trail was rated moderate and the corresponding trail on the NV side was rated as difficult. From experience with both I would flip the two ratings.

Access Description

From South Lake Tahoe, take Highway 50 south to Hwy. 89. Then follow 89 southeast about 28 miles. When Hwy. 4 continues south, bear left and stay on 89 another 1.7 miles. Loope Canyon Road is a wide dirt road and comes downhill on the left. We saw no signs, so it was easy to miss. Look for a wide spot to pull over on the south side of Hwy. 89 opposite the start.

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