Off Road April 2021

In the 1800’s there was a canyon
east of Jacumba CA, (now located
off of the 8 freeway) called Devils
Canyon. The canyon ran from the Yuha
Desert up to Mountain Springs. In the early
to mid-1800’s, this route was discovered
and developed by the U.S Army as a
mule trail to travel to and from the Port of
San Diego. Over the years, the trail was
further developed into a toll road for stage
coaches, freight wagons and finally a main
thoroughfare for automobiles. In the early
1900’s a better route was constructed for
automobiles and the old trail was promptly
forgotten and fell into a state of serious
disrepair.
Fast forward to 2006. A couple of
wheelers, Vern Britain and Steve Unwin,
decided to explore and see if the old trail
could be reopened to off road travel,
but mother nature had taken its toll on
her. Thanks to erosion, flash floods and
landslides, the trail was all but impassable.
For over three months they toiled, moving
rocks and trimming brush to make the trail
accessible.
Make no mistake, Steve and Vern
did make the trail passable but only to
the very experienced, well prepared and
with very well built rigs. They had all of
that and more but even so, on their first
run the group suffered body damage all
around; several bent and broken tie rods,
an exploded wheel hub and a broken stub
shaft. An extreme rock crawling trail was
born!
"We tell others
that in order
to join us
on the trail,
they will need
to have a
very casual
attitude
towards body
damage."
18 S&S OFF ROAD MAGAZINE - APRIL 2021 - www.ssorm.com