I just checked out a small trail that leads to Morton Tower, which is a fire lookout tower in the San Bernardino National Forest. It's about 11 miles outside of Redlands. To get there (from Redlands) Take the 38 east through the town of Mentone. Continue past the Ranger Station. The trail head will be on your left about 2 miles past the Ranger Station.



here's a shot of the first part of the trail


the trail is easy for a stock 4x4 with decent ground clearance. some areas are rutted and rocky and might dent rigs with factory running boards (I know this by experience with my dad's land cruiser on a similar trail).




about 1.5miles up the trail you'll come up to a gate that leads to the tower. the gate is only open if there is a volunteer up at the tower. If not, you can hike up there. The hike will take about 30 minutes each way. The hike is very worth it, the views are amazing. I'd imagine in the winter, or pretty much any non-summer season, the views would be even better.



If you go past the gate to the tower, you'll shortly come up to a large clearing that branches off.


I took the trail that is behind my truck in the previous picture. I went up about a mile, but then turned around because I was getting super hungry. This portion of the trail can be seen here


There's also an area nearby where you can sit by the creek. Seems like a good spot to relax and maybe have beer and bbq


I thought this was a pretty fun, short trail. For those living in San Bernardino county, it's pretty much in our backyard. It's a fairly busy trail...I saw about 7 other vehicles in the short time I was there. So don't worry about going alone...if you break down or need a pull, you probably won't wait more than half hour. There's a lot more to the trail that I didn't get a chance to explore, so if any of you have done these areas, let us know how they are. have fun out there!

 

Good stuff, I day dream about those types of places every day (lol), houston does not have anything like that, thanks for the pics.