The Fall run benefits Toys for Tots, and with over 500 participants, this year raised more than $10,000 for the holiday toy drive! It takes a lot of coordination and dedication to pull off a weekend like this - the checkpoints are manned by volunteer BLM personnel, Toys for Tots handles registration, Local Boy Scouts Troup #62 has sold hot dogs and refreshments since the second year of the event.

A retired CHP officer who lives adjacent to Stoddard Valley furnishes the course layout, set up and clean up. Even emergency medical teams and track-day communications comes from volunteers.

Raffle and Poker prizes are donated, allowing for all the funds raised to go right to the charities. The event runs all weekend, with the largest crowd showing up for Saturday's festivities. We pulled in Sunday mid-morning, and met most vehicles already packing up and heading out. However, for $20 you get to ride the 20-mile loop twice (pay another $20 and go two more times!) with a lot less traffic, less dust and no waiting at the checkpoints. There are fewer bodies in line at the Boy Scout snack trailer, and you have a much better shot at the winning Poker hand or at some cool stuff in the raffle! Your choice - go for the party, or go for the ride. There's plenty of both, and it all benefits the kids.

There are two different courses - one for bikes & ATVs, and one for trucks & desert cars. We did have to dodge several trucks running the bike/ATV course (some with more success than others). The two courses are to allow a more technical bike course - It's not especially tight in most places, but there are lots of close, choppy whoops.

And let's face it - when you're on a bike or quad, we just appreciate not being run over by a truck. Though the courses were very well-marked, we did get off course at least once. But that was our fault for focussing on the course directly in front of us and not looking 10 - 20 feet ahead where the trail turned - and besides, the technical portion up and over the hill looked like fun.

It was, but it cost us some time to backtrack and figure out where we had gone astray. All for fun, and no time penaties, so what the heck. The bike/ATV course is laid out to allow for all levels of riders and bikes, and we certainly saw every size and shape enjoying it. We ran a stock Z400, a race-modified Raptor, and a Prairie 650 (you can't say we play brand favorites!), and all did well.

There were times when whoops rewarded suspension, and other sections provided hills that were much easier to scoot up with 4WD traction. Lots of deep sand washes, and more than enough high-speed soft silt-banked corners. Hats off to the course planners!

It's open desert camping, so bring everything you need. There are a few porta-potties at base camp, but with 500 people partying on, it's probably best to bring your own and camp as far out as possible. The sage is just high enough to hide small bodies from fast-moving vehicles, so keep small kids and dogs on a short leash - any other weekend of the year, they are probably good to just run wild.

(It's easy to find - but look for the crowd of campers in the desert, don't rely on the directions on the web site. We found they missed the Slash X cafe by several miles, and by Sunday, there WERE no signs to follow to the registration area.)

Check out the photo gallery, and we'll see you there in April!

Contact Information:

BarstowPokerRun.com