In this episode of TrailRecon, Regena and I head to the Oriflamme Canyon Trail, located in Banner, California, looking to have a fun day of off-road adventuring in our Jeep Wrangler 392.

I’m also going to do something I’ve never done before…give the trail a score. I’ve been asked many times to rate the various trails I’ve been on and after giving it a lot of thought I’ve come up with criteria that I’ll use to rate this and future trails. Make sure to watch the whole video to find out how I scored this trail.

After airing down our tires at the trailhead and putting our Jeep into 4-wheel drive, we climb our way through the Chariot Mountains before descending towards the Anza-Borrego desert, then work our way back into the mountains along the Rodriguez Spur Truck Trail. The total distance we cover in this adventure is just over 17 miles on this looping trail, which is used by off-roaders, hikers, and others looking for some off the beaten path high desert camping.

The start of the trail is a fairly easy dirt road with loose rocks and a few ruts along the way, but as we head down the backside of the mountain, we discover it won’t be quite as easy as we thought it would be. This trail ended up being more difficult than we anticipated, but nothing that any four-wheel drive with high clearance can’t handle.

This off-road journey takes us through some breathtaking scenery and different types of terrain. The landscape looks so different from the first time we hit this trail together in January 2016. Back then, the landscape was mostly brown, dry, and dusty. Today, the mountains are covered in lush green vegetation and flowers are blooming everywhere. We can’t help but stop and admire all the plant life, including one that is unique to this region that was particularly interesting.

I also redeem myself after forgetting the propane the last time Regena and I hit the trail. With fuel for the camp stove, Regena can finally prepare that delicious lunch she had planned for last time we venture off-road and we enjoy a great meal while taking in the scenery at one of the terrific campsites we discovered.

We hope you enjoy coming along for the ride with us on this episode!