Mendocino National Forest Overnight R1S Camping (2h North of San Francisco)

[Mojave]

Relatively close to the Bay Area, and convenient superchargers (Williams and Upper Lake).

Some stats, for those who wonder

You can get from the Bay Area to Williams (on I-5) with 90% or so battery. There you fill up to ~90% (we did 97%) at the Tesla NACS while you eat at Granzellas. It takes an hour to fully charge the Rivian.

Then we headed in on Walker Ridge Road. 26 highway miles took us down to 82%. We arrived at camp with 76% and left with 68% so we used about 8% for the night (sleeping in the car) Outside was about 40F in the morning.

We drove a total of 80 miles on dirt over two days , and we came out with 30%. So we used about 52% total or 44% for 80 miles. That leads to about 700Wh/mile which is higher than I thought, but there is no part of this route that is flat, it's only up and down. Also, this was almost 10h of driving, with stops to scout situations and take pictures. But the car is on for 10h.

Another 16 miles took 1% (all downhill) to the supercharger. We ended up charging for 26 minutes to 74% while tailgating dinner and then drove home in one go.

There are other ways to get in of course, e.g. Goat Mountain Road/Little Stony Creek.

You need the USFS MVUM (motor vehicle use maps) and those are e.g. in Gaia GPS, or you can get paper copies at the ranger station in Upper Lake.

Walker Ridge

Indian Valley Reservoir. One car drove by on the road, late at night.

Bartlett Springs Road at Hough Springs. Yes, you go down there and across to get to the M5 road.

Lots of recent fires, unfortunately, and more recent storms make it a bit apocalyptic.

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[elatrickWheels]

Thanks for a great trip report and recommendation. Those are some pretty serious pinstripes. Ouch.

 

[Mojave]

I think the stripes came off. Just dirt. I did wash the car but didn't investigate.

 

[sfvR1S]

Good stuff

 

[PsyTrance]

Thank you!!
I’m really intrigued now. If it’s not too much work, mind sharing a couple of waypoints where you slept? I’m going to repeat this with my 4-year old.
Cheers.

 

[PC UT R1S]

Can you tell me what spare tire rack that is? Did it require any mods or just plug and play? Pretty stable off road?

 

[kyunam]

Great photos!
For the spare tire rack/mount, where did you buy it?

 

[Joules Burn]

Nice write up. But darn you. You mentioned Granzella's and now I want a hot ruben!

 

[C.R. Rivian]

Relatively close to the Bay Area, and convenient superchargers (Williams and Upper Lake).

Some stats, for those who wonder

You can get from the Bay Area to Williams (on I-5) with 90% or so battery. There you fill up to ~90% (we did 97%) at the Tesla NACS while you eat at Granzellas. It takes an hour to fully charge the Rivian.

Then we headed in on Walker Ridge Road. 26 highway miles took us down to 82%. We arrived at camp with 76% and left with 68% so we used about 8% for the night (sleeping in the car) Outside was about 40F in the morning.

We drove a total of 80 miles on dirt over two days , and we came out with 30%. So we used about 52% total or 44% for 80 miles. That leads to about 700Wh/mile which is higher than I thought, but there is no part of this route that is flat, it's only up and down. Also, this was almost 10h of driving, with stops to scout situations and take pictures. But the car is on for 10h.

Another 16 miles took 1% (all downhill) to the supercharger. We ended up charging for 26 minutes to 74% while tailgating dinner and then drove home in one go.

There are other ways to get in of course, e.g. Goat Mountain Road/Little Stony Creek.

You need the USFS MVUM (motor vehicle use maps) and those are e.g. in Gaia GPS, or you can get paper copies at the ranger station in Upper Lake.

Walker Ridge

Indian Valley Reservoir. One car drove by on the road, late at night.

Bartlett Springs Road at Hough Springs. Yes, you go down there and across to get to the M5 road.

Lots of recent fires, unfortunately, and more recent storms make it a bit apocalyptic.

What rig are you using for the spare tire? Good idea for the R1T as well. Unloading to change the tire? Not optimal...again, good idea.

 

[Mojave]

What rig are you using for the spare tire? Good idea for the R1T as well. Unloading to change the tire? Not optimal...again, good idea.

I use the Rigid Armor. I did a lot of research to go cheaper with a la carte setup with different parts, and eventually decided to just go with this. It's a mixed bag and I am not sure I like the hitch rack. It basically prevents easy access to the trunk and sub trunk - where sometimes my fridge rides. As a result, I moved recovery gear from the frunk to the sub trunk. Fridge is on the bed now, because the frunk gets hot for the fridge. The rack also blocks the backup camera, and backing up has become a pain. I am still working on the light for the license plate.

I have used a different configuration where I have the wheel inside, after removing the second row.
The wheel is then under my bed. Should be a rare occasion, no? I swapped it twice on the next few thousand miles. It's an involved process, but so is changing the wheel. But the bigger issue is that the seat removal is more work, and pretty much requires 2 people, and then I have to store the seats somewhere in the garage. But inside has no aero or camera impact.

I think the way forward will be inside for longer trips where the configuration is worth it, and more driving is on pavement, but outside for shorter trips with more off-road.

 

[Virtio]

What drive mode(s) were you using?

 

[C.R. Rivian]

I use the Rigid Armor. I did a lot of research to go cheaper with a la carte setup with different parts, and eventually decided to just go with this. It's a mixed bag and I am not sure I like the hitch rack. It basically prevents easy access to the trunk and sub trunk - where sometimes my fridge rides. As a result, I moved recovery gear from the frunk to the sub trunk. Fridge is on the bed now, because the frunk gets hot for the fridge. The rack also blocks the backup camera, and backing up has become a pain. I am still working on the light for the license plate.

I have used a different configuration where I have the wheel inside, after removing the second row.
The wheel is then under my bed. Should be a rare occasion, no? I swapped it twice on the next few thousand miles. It's an involved process, but so is changing the wheel. But the bigger issue is that the seat removal is more work, and pretty much requires 2 people, and then I have to store the seats somewhere in the garage. But inside has no aero or camera impact.

I think the way forward will be inside for longer trips where the configuration is worth it, and more driving is on pavement, but outside for shorter trips with more off-road.

Thanks! Appreciate the detail.

 

[glassman]

Did alot of dirt biking in that neck of the woods at Davis Flat/Stoneyford. Love that area, this road report intrigues me, thanx for posting, Cheers, M

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