wharton?

mountainpoo

NAXJA Forum User
Location
HILLSDALE
for anybody here who has been to wharton state park in nj, how will a couple of stock cherokees do there? i have been watching videos on youtube and alot of it looks pretty intense.
 
Lots of sand, mud, and pines.

Stockers can do a bit there (I have), but be real careful of the mud holes - sometimes they're deeper than you expect, and harder to extract from than you might anticipate.

Be sure you have tow points front and rear, and make sure you only get one truck stuck at a time. :conceited

"Whateva" comes up from Delaware from time to time to run there - bet he'd have a few tips for you.

Rob
 
went there once, my reccomendation poke all the bigger looking holes with a stick then proceed after youve depth checked them, we did that on the run i was on and 0 of 3 rigs got stuck it was a good day, we just got lost make sure you get a good gps or map and keep tabs on where you are theres lots of trails in there and it all looks the same
 
I live 2 miles from Wharton.
Most people riding them woods are deer hunters in two wheel drive pickups.
They don't post pics on you-tube.

What this means is, if you drive SMART, you can take anything out there.
See a puddle, slow down creep into it till it seems passable or back up if it gets deep.
Get stuck?, pull out your come-along and chain or strap and pull yourself BACK out the way you came in.

If you blasted in at 40 MPH, you won't get out with a come-a-long and you weren't driving SMART.

Bring a buddy along in another rig,
NEVER put all your rigs in the same hole at the same time.

Now, there are a few spots that can be a lot of fun with fat tires and snorkels,
Notice in this pic, there is no forward motion because I got a snorkle but forgot the fat tires :-(

677waterrun-med.jpg


Oh, one more thing, I'm posting on NAXJA because..
677My_rig_too.JPG
 
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Definitely take it slow in the puddles. Even on the main trails, some of them have sneaky ruts that'll stop a stock vehicle. If you're by yourself... good luck! Buy a strong comealong with the longest cable you can find. I know most of the puddles for the trails I ride, and get through a lot of the bad stuff by myself, but I've got a winch incase I do find a deep spot. I also have a set of $30 hip waders from Dick Sporting Goods so I can walk out to test the iffy stuff. Or hook up the strap to somebody stuck.

Oh yeah, if you go fast, you'll usually end up slashing enough water into the intake to stall/kill the motor. Or soak the distributor. Trust me. :)

Please use a good GPS or a topographic map. The map I have has most of the trails on it, plus the train tracks, so you'll be able to get yourself out. I just went high tech and use a tablet computer with a bluetooth gps that overlays my current position and history over a google map, satellite photo, or USGS topo map. oh yeah!
 
I spent a ton of time in Greenwood forest a few summers ago, charting GPS tracks and finding cool stuff.

Sand quarry:
n24800499_31191896_5892.jpg


Forked River Mountain:
n24800499_31191898_6411.jpg


Forked River itself: ( :( )
n24800499_31191899_6650.jpg


Stuff'll get ya even if you're being careful. My whole front axle was toast after that from trying to get out...spinning everything in the cedar water & sediment really took its toll. Needed new ball joints, new hubs, new u-joints...ended up just swapping in a whole new axle from the local junkyard.

I prefer Greenwood to Wharton just because there's a little more elevation change and there's less water to get stuck in.
 
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