east coast dirt roads and byways......

[shortxjdoug]

.....anybody know any good ones? i can find trails criscrossing the west coast but we have no idea where to start looking here at home. anybody know a good set of trails to use our newly built crawler/ dd expedition jeep?

 

[XJLI]

the east coast blows.

get yourself a gazetteer for the state you want and start shopping the dotted lines (4x4/unmaintained roads). make sure you have plenty of gas money and expect to be let down by locked gates.

 

[Lowrange2]

Same here. SC has some dirt roads in the mountains but they have gates everywhere.

 

[Cnickgo]

Look at the Wilson Creek area of Pisgah National Forest in NC. I can make most of a day on gravel roads from Blowing Rock, around the Wilson Creek/ Edgemont, down to the Brown Mountain area. One attraction is the ghost town of Mortimer. Probably can connect to some more in the Linville Gorge area, I have not been through there yet. IIRC there is some way to connect into TN, I remember reading some trip report from a dual purpose motorcycle guy about a path on a railroad bed or something. It takes some digging because us Appalachian folk like to keep things quiet.

Oh, on that note, I wouldn't recommend stopping in the Edgemont or the populated Mortimer areas. Keep rolling on through.

Here are some pictures from that area:
http://naxja.org/forum/showpost.php?p=244150797&postcount=2
http://naxja.org/forum/showpost.php?p=244150803&postcount=3

I also used to make a day out of Moses Creek in Cullowhee NC, which is game land, although the main trail there has been blocked due to overuse and erosion problems. Two main paths there now would take about 3 hours, one of which ends in a great camping spot. Not really a trip for driving as much as the end destination for setting up camp.

George Washington National Forest in VA, off Rte 33 outside of Harrisonburg has the same deal. Fire/access roads. Something else to look into.

Talk to Stump about the N. GA area. I know ExPo makes some trips around there as well.

Definitely not "expedition" worthy as compared to the Wrong Coast, no way to make a multi-day trip, but there are some offroad options that aren't a park where you are focusing on obstacles.

 

[UNCC_99XJ]

A couple more from the Blowing Rock/Grandfather Mountain area:

And a couple more from the Cullowhee area. We stayed on this road for a couple of hours as it covered a couple of the mountains:

The view you get at the campsite:

A buddy of mine ran some down near Asheville this past winter...Hurricane Road if i'm not mistaken is the name of the area he started at, and wound up in Tennessee for a bit. He got views such as this (all photo's are ripped from his FB without any sort of permission what so ever )

Nick and I will most definitely be doing more excursions this winter Doug. Not sure how easy it is for you to get over to Western NC, but perhaps we could coordinate a weekend trip or something.

 

[shortxjdoug]

definantly let us know those look like some fun day trips..... western nc is a short hop for us depending on where were going

 

[UNCC_99XJ]

Will do!

The Cullowhee run we did last October (as you can probably tell by the leaves still on the trees and turning color), and the Boone trip was in January.

 

[Cottontail]

Man, I'd like to run to Western NC to see that kind of scenery too! I've never done any snow runs either.

Nice pics fellas.

 

[PacificEd]

Sounds like a SEC ride guys!

What is the deal with the ghost town of Mortimer and why do you not want to stop? Any pictures of that area?

 

[billyjp2]

the east coast blows.

get yourself a gazetteer for the state you want and start shopping the dotted lines (4x4/unmaintained roads). make sure you have plenty of gas money and expect to be let down by locked gates.

speak for yourself, western mass, new hampshire, vermont and maine are full of old unmaintained public roads.

 

[XJLI]

speak for yourself, western mass, new hampshire, vermont and maine are full of old unmaintained public roads.

yea, but do you have a map for each and every one? does it tell you the trail difficulty? what about crossing private property? and how often are they updated? paved over? made into some county or town park that you cant drive through anymore?

not saying there arent trails, i've done miles in upstate ny in my old jeep on dirt roads... and also in my old subaru. i remember one trail about an hour north of hunter that was AWESOME, a solid blue with low black obstacles... drove on it for about 10 minutes til i hit a locked gate with still 3/4s of the road to go

if you know people who have been wheeling in the area for a while, they'll know places too. some are willing to tell you, others wont share their 'sacred wheeling ground.'

 

[MoparManiac]

yea, but do you have a map for each and every one? does it tell you the trail difficulty? what about crossing private property? and how often are they updated? paved over? made into some county or town park that you cant drive through anymore?

not saying there arent trails, i've done miles in upstate ny in my old jeep on dirt roads... and also in my old subaru. i remember one trail about an hour north of hunter that was AWESOME, a solid blue with low black obstacles... drove on it for about 10 minutes til i hit a locked gate with still 3/4s of the road to go

if you know people who have been wheeling in the area for a while, they'll know places too. some are willing to tell you, others wont share their 'sacred wheeling ground.'

NEA is working on building maps for class six roads.

There are PLENTY up there that aren't closed and don't have locked gates.

There is even a club based out of Vermont that did an expedition for miles across the state on nothing but unmaintained roads.

 

[XJLI]

There is even a club based out of Vermont that did an expedition for miles across the state on nothing but unmaintained roads.

ya i wheeled with a guy who was a member with a D90... he was all 'join the club come to meetings, pay the fee get a shirt we wheel every few months.' everyone about in the NE is uptight when it comes to trails, that is the end of my thought process.

 

[MoparManiac]

ya i wheeled with a guy who was a member with a D90... he was all 'join the club come to meetings, pay the fee get a shirt we wheel every few months.' everyone about in the NE is uptight when it comes to trails, that is the end of my thought process.

That's because you live in NY.

You are so ignorant about the rest of the NE it's amazing.

 

[XJLI]

That's because you live in NY.

You are so ignorant about the rest of the NE it's amazing.

you are so ignorant about the rest of the united states its amazing :eyes: :anon:

 

[MoparManiac]

you are so ignorant about the rest of the united states its amazing :eyes: :anon:

I thought we were just talking about the NE?

I am because I haven't traveled much :laugh:

At least I can ADMIT IT!!!

 

[XJLI]

:moon:

one day when i have a driveable jeep i'll come see your 'mystical miles of unmaintained roads' :laugh2:

 

[MoparManiac]

:moon:

one day when i have a driveable jeep i'll come see your 'mystical miles of unmaintained roads' :laugh2:

Alright I'll see you never.

:thumbup:

 

[Cottontail]

Well, after that verbal exchange of pleasantries, back to the question that Doug posed, the responses that Nick and Tim posted, and Ed's comment about an SEC run....


Are there enough trails in the Boone area to support a couple days of riding, or is just a one and done place?

 

[katuah]

Just last night I read a thread on ExPo about a group that did what I thiiiink was a couple days in the area, but it wasn't continuous wild/off-pavmt - this ain't Utah. :-(

If you'll take a newbie along, I'm in. I went to App in the 80s but I haven't been up there in a wheelable Jeep in, uh, quite a few years. Would be fun to poke around.