Rattlesnake Canyon (RC3331)
Johnson Valley (San Bernardino Mountains edge) · near Landers / Yucca Valley · California Desert
Off-Road
At a glance
- Skill level
- intermediate
- Size
- An overland route from Johnson Valley into the San Bernardino Mountains
- Best season
- Fall–spring · Summer hot in the low desert, cooler as you climb · Springs flow in wet years
Permits and booking
- Permit
- BLM (Johnson Valley OHV Area). No permit for general travel, but note Johnson Valley includes a shared-use area with the military (Twentynine Palms) — check current access and any closures (especially around the King of the Hammers event). Green Sticker or street-legal registration. Remote high desert; carry water.
What is here
- Terrain
- overland · desert-wash · mountain-4x4
Worth knowing
- Good for a first timer
- Yes
Off-Road detail
- Nickname
- The Johnson Valley Overland Escape
- Vehicles
- 4x4-jeep · overland
- Signature routes
- The canyon climb · Multi-day trail linkups
- Intl tip
- Rattlesnake Canyon is in Johnson Valley, the same vast OHV area that hosts King of the Hammers (this guide). Combine with the Mojave's other routes and Joshua Tree National Park to the south. Yucca Valley and Landers are the nearest towns; the region's dark skies and desert solitude are the draw. Check access around the February KOH event.
The guide
Rattlesnake Canyon (RC3331) is a scenic overland escape from the Johnson Valley off-road country into the San Bernardino Mounta…
In the Guidebook
Everything above is yours for free. The written guide to Rattlesnake Canyon (RC3331) — what it is actually like, and what we would tell a friend before they went — comes with the Guidebook.
Getting there
- Coordinates
- 34.386, -116.624