Stuck in sand, mud, ditch, or off the shoulder? Our trucks carry the right winches, snatch blocks, and recovery gear to pull you out without making it worse.
Winch-out is the act of pulling you free. Off-road recovery is the bigger job: getting our truck to you in tough terrain plus the winch-out. Some jobs are just one, some are both. Tell dispatch what's going on.
Can you reach me if I'm stuck way off the highway?
Often yes. We need our truck to get within winch-cable range — about 100 feet with the basic setup, more with snatch blocks. Tell dispatch where you are and what you can see; we'll know if it's doable.
My car is fine — I just need to be unstuck. Do I have to pay for a tow?
No. Winch-only is its own service, priced lower than a full tow. If we get you free and you can drive, we leave it at that.
What about getting unstuck in snow on CA-58 / I-15?
That's a winter staple for us. We have chains, recovery boards, and the winch power to pull you back onto pavement.
If your vehicle is buried in sand, sunk in mud, hung up on rocks, or wedged into a ditch, a standard tow hookup won’t do it. You need a real winch operator who can rig the recovery without making the damage worse.
Every City Towing truck carries a hydraulic winch rated for full-size pickups and SUVs. For heavier or more technical recoveries (deep stuck, multi-point pulls, vehicle on its side), we dispatch our wrecker with snatch blocks, tree-saver straps, and a winch line long enough to reach pulls 100+ feet off the road.
What we extract, week after week
Stuck in sand — Johnson Valley, BLM washes, Soggy Dry Lake. Soft sand swallows two-wheel-drives in minutes.
Sunk in mud — after monsoon rain, Mojave River crossings and dry-lake beds turn into clay pits.
Off-camber rollovers and slides — Cajon Pass shoulders, CA-247 windy stretches, BLM access roads with washed-out edges.
Vehicles in ditches and drainage culverts — common on Helendale and Hinkley back roads at night.
Hung up on rocks — chassis-stuck in the granite gardens of Lucerne Valley and the trails north of Daggett.
How a winch-out call works
You call 760-256-5007. We ask three things: where are you (cross streets, GPS pin, or landmark), what kind of vehicle, and what it’s stuck in.
We dispatch the right truck. A standard winch-out goes with a flatbed; deeper recoveries get the wrecker with extra line and rigging.
On-site, we assess the rigging points and pull angle before touching anything. Bad rigging is how vehicles get damaged during recovery.
We winch you free, inspect for damage, and tow you to the road or to a destination of your choosing. Most extractions take 20–45 minutes once we’re on scene.
Coverage & response
We dispatch from Barstow and cover all of San Bernardino County’s high desert: I-15 from Cajon Pass to Baker, I-40 from Daggett to Ludlow, CA-58 west to Kramer Junction, CA-247 south to Lucerne Valley, and BLM corridors including Johnson Valley OHV, El Mirage, and Stoddard Wells.
Quick questions
How much does a winch-out cost? Call for a quote — pricing depends on distance, difficulty, and rigging required. We give you a firm number before we dispatch, not after.
Can you recover a vehicle on its side or roof? Yes. We have righting straps and the rigging experience to handle rollovers safely. We work with insurance adjusters on these jobs all the time.
What if I’m way off the pavement? Tell dispatch how far off-road and what surface. We’ll send the right truck. We won’t crawl 5 miles down a Jeep trail in a flatbed — we’ll send the wrecker with extra cable.
