Anchor ads are not supported on this page.

4S Ranch Allied Gardens Alpine Baja Balboa Park Bankers Hill Barrio Logan Bay Ho Bay Park Black Mountain Ranch Blossom Valley Bonita Bonsall Borrego Springs Boulevard Campo Cardiff-by-the-Sea Carlsbad Carmel Mountain Carmel Valley Chollas View Chula Vista City College City Heights Clairemont College Area Coronado CSU San Marcos Cuyamaca College Del Cerro Del Mar Descanso Downtown San Diego Eastlake East Village El Cajon Emerald Hills Encanto Encinitas Escondido Fallbrook Fletcher Hills Golden Hill Grant Hill Grantville Grossmont College Guatay Harbor Island Hillcrest Imperial Beach Imperial Valley Jacumba Jamacha-Lomita Jamul Julian Kearny Mesa Kensington La Jolla Lakeside La Mesa Lemon Grove Leucadia Liberty Station Lincoln Acres Lincoln Park Linda Vista Little Italy Logan Heights Mesa College Midway District MiraCosta College Miramar Miramar College Mira Mesa Mission Beach Mission Hills Mission Valley Mountain View Mount Hope Mount Laguna National City Nestor Normal Heights North Park Oak Park Ocean Beach Oceanside Old Town Otay Mesa Pacific Beach Pala Palomar College Palomar Mountain Paradise Hills Pauma Valley Pine Valley Point Loma Point Loma Nazarene Potrero Poway Rainbow Ramona Rancho Bernardo Rancho Penasquitos Rancho San Diego Rancho Santa Fe Rolando San Carlos San Marcos San Onofre Santa Ysabel Santee San Ysidro Scripps Ranch SDSU Serra Mesa Shelltown Shelter Island Sherman Heights Skyline Solana Beach Sorrento Valley Southcrest South Park Southwestern College Spring Valley Stockton Talmadge Temecula Tierrasanta Tijuana UCSD University City University Heights USD Valencia Park Valley Center Vista Warner Springs

Four Wheelin' in Palm Springs

The author's son on a quad
The author's son on a quad

I've driven past the funky Offroad Rentals place for over 20 years. Their office is in an old, brightly painted railroad boxcar, right on Hwy. 111 as you come off the 10 freeway heading into Palm Springs – a remote area known as Windy Point. It always looked fun, seeing ATVs, quads and dune buggies running up and down the hills and sand dunes.

Sponsored
Sponsored

As payback to my 12-year-old son for helping me out with a weekend of cleaning out a desert-area storage unit, I surprised him with a stop at Offroad Rentals.

We chose the quads. Anyone over the age of ten can drive one. For $40, you get 30 minutes on a fairly new quad, up on the dunes or several courses with banked corners. They provide helmets and goggles, teach you how to shift gears, and you listen to a ten-minute recorded safety lesson. The guy who recorded the lesson was hilarious; his humor makes you want to pay attention. Once out on the hill, if you show you're a responsible rider, they give you an extra ten minutes in riding time.

Even with millions of miles of desert in California, in an ever increasing eco-restrictive world, Offroad Rentals seems out of place – riding fast, up and down hills, throwing sand everywhere, making tracks in the untracked dirt. The firm is very strict about not harming plants and animals. Yet environmental wackos, not wanting any motorized use of the desert, have previously been spotted trying to place endangered species onto the property.

"We have cameras everywhere,” said one employee. They also own the land, which keeps the government from trying to shut down people having fun.

Offroad Rentals is open 365 days a year, 10 a.m. to sundown.

My wife and I have a rule: We can't go out and shop for new “big boy” toys unless we actually use one at least three times within a year. Things like jet skis, kayaks, golf clubs or a boat.

After a visit to Palm Springs' Offroad Rentals, consider it a number-one priority on my way to becoming a desert rat. The clock is now ticking with only two more visits to go, and then I can start shopping for quads.

Here's something you might be interested in.
Submit a free classified
or view all
Previous article

Nation’s sexy soldiers stage protest at Pendleton in wake of change in Marine uniform policy

Semper WHY?
The author's son on a quad
The author's son on a quad

I've driven past the funky Offroad Rentals place for over 20 years. Their office is in an old, brightly painted railroad boxcar, right on Hwy. 111 as you come off the 10 freeway heading into Palm Springs – a remote area known as Windy Point. It always looked fun, seeing ATVs, quads and dune buggies running up and down the hills and sand dunes.

Sponsored
Sponsored

As payback to my 12-year-old son for helping me out with a weekend of cleaning out a desert-area storage unit, I surprised him with a stop at Offroad Rentals.

We chose the quads. Anyone over the age of ten can drive one. For $40, you get 30 minutes on a fairly new quad, up on the dunes or several courses with banked corners. They provide helmets and goggles, teach you how to shift gears, and you listen to a ten-minute recorded safety lesson. The guy who recorded the lesson was hilarious; his humor makes you want to pay attention. Once out on the hill, if you show you're a responsible rider, they give you an extra ten minutes in riding time.

Even with millions of miles of desert in California, in an ever increasing eco-restrictive world, Offroad Rentals seems out of place – riding fast, up and down hills, throwing sand everywhere, making tracks in the untracked dirt. The firm is very strict about not harming plants and animals. Yet environmental wackos, not wanting any motorized use of the desert, have previously been spotted trying to place endangered species onto the property.

"We have cameras everywhere,” said one employee. They also own the land, which keeps the government from trying to shut down people having fun.

Offroad Rentals is open 365 days a year, 10 a.m. to sundown.

My wife and I have a rule: We can't go out and shop for new “big boy” toys unless we actually use one at least three times within a year. Things like jet skis, kayaks, golf clubs or a boat.

After a visit to Palm Springs' Offroad Rentals, consider it a number-one priority on my way to becoming a desert rat. The clock is now ticking with only two more visits to go, and then I can start shopping for quads.

Comments
Sponsored
Here's something you might be interested in.
Submit a free classified
or view all
Previous article

2024 continues to impress with yellowfin much closer to San Diego than they should be

New rockfish regulations coming this week as opener approaches
Next Article

How to Get Legal Assistance When Your Car Accident Insurance Claim is Denied?

Comments
Ask a Hipster — Advice you didn't know you needed Big Screen — Movie commentary Blurt — Music's inside track Booze News — San Diego spirits Classical Music — Immortal beauty Classifieds — Free and easy Cover Stories — Front-page features Drinks All Around — Bartenders' drink recipes Excerpts — Literary and spiritual excerpts Feast! — Food & drink reviews Feature Stories — Local news & stories Fishing Report — What’s getting hooked from ship and shore From the Archives — Spotlight on the past Golden Dreams — Talk of the town The Gonzo Report — Making the musical scene, or at least reporting from it Letters — Our inbox Movies@Home — Local movie buffs share favorites Movie Reviews — Our critics' picks and pans Musician Interviews — Up close with local artists Neighborhood News from Stringers — Hyperlocal news News Ticker — News & politics Obermeyer — San Diego politics illustrated Outdoors — Weekly changes in flora and fauna Overheard in San Diego — Eavesdropping illustrated Poetry — The old and the new Reader Travel — Travel section built by travelers Reading — The hunt for intellectuals Roam-O-Rama — SoCal's best hiking/biking trails San Diego Beer — Inside San Diego suds SD on the QT — Almost factual news Sheep and Goats — Places of worship Special Issues — The best of Street Style — San Diego streets have style Surf Diego — Real stories from those braving the waves Theater — On stage in San Diego this week Tin Fork — Silver spoon alternative Under the Radar — Matt Potter's undercover work Unforgettable — Long-ago San Diego Unreal Estate — San Diego's priciest pads Your Week — Daily event picks
4S Ranch Allied Gardens Alpine Baja Balboa Park Bankers Hill Barrio Logan Bay Ho Bay Park Black Mountain Ranch Blossom Valley Bonita Bonsall Borrego Springs Boulevard Campo Cardiff-by-the-Sea Carlsbad Carmel Mountain Carmel Valley Chollas View Chula Vista City College City Heights Clairemont College Area Coronado CSU San Marcos Cuyamaca College Del Cerro Del Mar Descanso Downtown San Diego Eastlake East Village El Cajon Emerald Hills Encanto Encinitas Escondido Fallbrook Fletcher Hills Golden Hill Grant Hill Grantville Grossmont College Guatay Harbor Island Hillcrest Imperial Beach Imperial Valley Jacumba Jamacha-Lomita Jamul Julian Kearny Mesa Kensington La Jolla Lakeside La Mesa Lemon Grove Leucadia Liberty Station Lincoln Acres Lincoln Park Linda Vista Little Italy Logan Heights Mesa College Midway District MiraCosta College Miramar Miramar College Mira Mesa Mission Beach Mission Hills Mission Valley Mountain View Mount Hope Mount Laguna National City Nestor Normal Heights North Park Oak Park Ocean Beach Oceanside Old Town Otay Mesa Pacific Beach Pala Palomar College Palomar Mountain Paradise Hills Pauma Valley Pine Valley Point Loma Point Loma Nazarene Potrero Poway Rainbow Ramona Rancho Bernardo Rancho Penasquitos Rancho San Diego Rancho Santa Fe Rolando San Carlos San Marcos San Onofre Santa Ysabel Santee San Ysidro Scripps Ranch SDSU Serra Mesa Shelltown Shelter Island Sherman Heights Skyline Solana Beach Sorrento Valley Southcrest South Park Southwestern College Spring Valley Stockton Talmadge Temecula Tierrasanta Tijuana UCSD University City University Heights USD Valencia Park Valley Center Vista Warner Springs
Close

Anchor ads are not supported on this page.