A concentrated sheriff’s department patrol effort that led to the ticketing of nearly four dozen off-road vehicle operators last month was followed two days later by a federal judges ruling barring off-highway vehicles from over 2,200 miles of the west Mojave Desert.
Some off-road enthusiasts, who emphasized that they are strong supporters of both the Trump Administration and law enforcement generally say they feel betrayed. The proximate timing of what occurred in late January was suspicious, they say, and an indication that the liberal forces that dominate Sacramento and state government have made inroads on the offices of federal institutions in California.
On Saturday January 24, 2026, what was described as a “massive” social gathering of dirt bike riders and all-terrain vehicle owners and their machines took place at the Juniper Flats Off-Highway Vehicle] [OHV] Area near Deep Creek Road and Artistic Alley in Apple Valley.
A reliable count of the number of civilian vehicles present pegged that number at somewhere over 250 and the number of people between 750 and 1,000. Others said the numbers were substantially larger, with close to 400 different vehicles and bikes there and the number of people exceeding 1,200. Those participating had come from as near as Apple Valley, Victorville, Hesperia, Oro Grande, Silverlakes and Helendale and Oak Hills and as far away as Barstow, Ontario and Rancho Cucamonga.
Even before all of those who had driven to the location for the motorized meet-up arrived, they were joined by some others many in the group had not counted upon and who some considered unwelcome: members of the San Bernardino County Sheriff’s Department’s Off-Highway Vehicle Team rode out on dirt bikes and ATVs of their own to keep watch over the massive motorized meet-up, which drew more than 250 vehicles to the Juniper Flats OHV Area near Deep Creek Road and Artistic Alley, in Apple Valley.
The department subsequently memorialized its deputies’ activities as a “large-scale OHV education and enforcement operation.”
According to the department, deputies assigned to the Victor Valley, Apple Valley, Big Bear, Rancho Cucamonga and Fontana stations and the department’s transit operations division, together with personnel from the San Bernardino County Code Enforcement Department participated in the effort.
“The operation focused on a large-scale side-by-side group ride at the Juniper Flats staging area,” the sheriff’s department stated. “Approximately 250 side-by-side vehicles and roughly 600 people staged at Juniper Flats. During the operation deputies contacted about 900 people and provided educational and off-roading safety and guidance information to many off-road enthusiasts. About 50 traffic stops were conducted on off road vehicles for various violations including not wearing helmets, not wearing seatbelts, registration violations, and driving an OHV on a public roadway. As a result of the contacts and enforcement stops, 45 citations were written, seven OHVs were towed, one person was arrested and cite released for driving without a license, and one person was arrested for a felony warrant from Los Angeles County.”
The department was not being judgmental, Deputy Geoff Solorio said, about how people choose to “have fun,” but was seeking to impart to off-roaders that they needed to “ride smart, ride safe. The San Bernardino County Sheriff’s Department and the OHV Team would like to remind off-road enthusiasts to be familiar with legal riding areas, off-roading laws and requirements and, most importantly, to enjoy our public lands safely and responsibly. OHVs are not allowed on any public roadways and should never be operated on roads for the safety of everyone.”