North Carolina List of Carolinian off-roaders

To all Carolinian Wheelers.

If this is the wrong thread say so

I’m a NY Wheeler. Wife and I plan to “go south” soon. (In 2-3 years ish). She seems to believe NC is gonna be the spot. So I’m looking for areas or places to visit. We would tow our Tin Can down and camp for a few days here or there and check out the areas. So I’m looking for ideas.
What we are looking for-
Good food options. For grocery and eating out. This is important. We enjoy fresh fruits and vegetables and in our travels it’s easy to find areas that this doesn’t exist.

Water. A lake a river something we can just enjoy but we don’t need to live ON it.
Mountains within close proximity for day trips.

My son will be stationed in Va Beach for the next 4+ years so no more than a days drive to there if possible. (That’s 7-8 hours)

Ideas?

Places to go?

Hit me.
 
Weasellee said:
I’m a NY Wheeler. Wife and I plan to “go south” soon.
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First off, damn yankees. That's the mandatory native Southern greeting for anyone from NY or NJ. ;)

Weasellee said:
Wife and I plan to “go south” soon. (In 2-3 years ish). She seems to believe NC is gonna be the spot.
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It sounds like you prefer the mountains over the beach. Are you looking rural, urban, or somewhere in between? How close to a significant city do you want to be?
 
BlueC said:
First off, damn yankees. That's the mandatory native Southern greeting for anyone from NY or NJ. ;)



It sounds like you prefer the mountains over the beach. Are you looking rural, urban, or somewhere in between? How close to a significant city do you want to be?
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In between rural and urban. More rural but accessible to “town”. Beach would be a weekend or longer trip. Mountains lakes and rivers we need regularly. Just the good ole outdoors.

But food. It’s important. We like to eat. The big city? I don’t need it for anything but a concert or two a year and anymore i prefer small events or outdoor concerts.

Gotta have a place to ride the bicycle, motorcycle and enjoy the Jeep. Wife doesn’t off-road with me so the trails need to be accessible for a weekend trip.

My ears and eyes are open
 
Weasellee said:
But food. It’s important. We like to eat.
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Good news, so does the South. ;) Guys around here will fry anything. :LOL: As long as you like pork BBQ or Tex-Mex food, we have you covered. BTW, here in NC there is a BBQ turf line. We have "Lexington-style" to the west of I95, and "Eastern-style" to the east, obviously.

Weasellee said:
In between rural and urban. More rural but accessible to “town”. Beach would be a weekend or longer trip. Mountains lakes and rivers we need regularly. Just the good ole outdoors.
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I live in pretty much the middle of NC. I enjoy the area because I can travel west 2-3 hours, and I'm in the mountains, or east 3-4 hours, and I'm on the beach, which have been taken over by tourist and runaway yankees.:( If you want to get up in the mountains, I suggest visiting the Asheville area, but it has taken a turn for the worse over the last 10 years, so I don't recommend moving there. Some other small cities to visit are Mt Airy, Wilkesboro, or the small towns of Boone/Blowing Rock, or the Cherokee area. There's not really any public OHV access in these areas, so know that. Uwharrie, which is south of Asheboro, is probably our largest public OHV area.

For SC and GA, I have spent time in Anderson and Gainesville, respectively. Those would fit your criteria too, and Gulches is nearby. @MountaineerTom lives east of Columbia, so maybe he will chime in for SC.

There are some nice areas in VA too, like Danville, Galax or the Fancy Gap area, but I'm not as familiar with them as NC.

Feel free to PM me with specific questions or anything.
 
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BlueC said:
Good news, so does the South. ;) Guys around here will fry anything. :LOL: As long as you like pork BBQ or Tex-Mex food, we have you covered. BTW, here in NC there is a BBQ turf line. We have "Lexington-style" to the west of I95, and "Eastern-style" to the east, obviously.



I live in pretty much the middle of NC. I enjoy the area because I can travel west 2-3 hours, and I'm in the mountains, or east 3-4 hours, and I'm on the beach, which have been taken over by tourist and runaway yankees.:( If you want to get up in the mountains, I suggest visiting the Asheville area, but it has taken a turn for the worse over the last 10 years, so I don't recommend moving there. Some other small cities to visit are Mt Airy, Wilkesboro, or the small towns of Boone/Blowing Rock, or the Cherokee area. There's not really any public OHV access in these areas, so know that. Uwharrie, which is south of Asheboro, is probably our largest public OHV area.

For SC and GA, I have spent time in Anderson and Gainesville, respectively. Those would fit your criteria too, and Gulches is nearby. @MountaineerTom lives east of Columbia, so maybe he will chime in for SC.

There are some nice areas in VA too, like Danville, Galax or the Fancy Gap area, but I'm not as familiar with them as NC.

Feel free to PM me with specific questions or anything.
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Sweet. Much to read and research here. Thanks. I’ll b in touch 🇺🇸
 
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Charlotte is the big city, but also has two lakes (one north / south of city). great food options but be prepared for lots of traffic. Mountains 2 hrs away on the way towards Asheville.
 
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BlueC said:
Good news, so does the South. ;) Guys around here will fry anything. :LOL: As long as you like pork BBQ or Tex-Mex food, we have you covered. BTW, here in NC there is a BBQ turf line. We have "Lexington-style" to the west of I95, and "Eastern-style" to the east, obviously.



I live in pretty much the middle of NC. I enjoy the area because I can travel west 2-3 hours, and I'm in the mountains, or east 3-4 hours, and I'm on the beach, which have been taken over by tourist and runaway yankees.:( If you want to get up in the mountains, I suggest visiting the Asheville area, but it has taken a turn for the worse over the last 10 years, so I don't recommend moving there. Some other small cities to visit are Mt Airy, Wilkesboro, or the small towns of Boone/Blowing Rock, or the Cherokee area. There's not really any public OHV access in these areas, so know that. Uwharrie, which is south of Asheboro, is probably our largest public OHV area.

For SC and GA, I have spent time in Anderson and Gainesville, respectively. Those would fit your criteria too, and Gulches is nearby. @MountaineerTom lives east of Columbia, so maybe he will chime in for SC.

There are some nice areas in VA too, like Danville, Galax or the Fancy Gap area, but I'm not as familiar with them as NC.

Feel free to PM me with specific questions or anything.
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It seems like I’m about 2 to 2-1/2 hours form everywhere. Charlotte, Grenville/Spartansburg, Charleston, Myrtle Beach, Beaufort. Not much in the way of mountains in my area of SC, that’s more towards to Geeenvile/Spartanburg area. I’ve actually not spent much time up in that area, but when I have it was nice. Gulches was ok. Pretty small park. I felt like my Jeep wasn’t built up enough for most of the trails there. At least not without damage that I didn’t want. Was a fun trip, but I like Uwharrie much more.
 
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Weasellee said:
Sweet. Much to read and research here. Thanks. I’ll b in touch 🇺🇸
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I thought about two other small towns last night. I haven't been to either in many years, but they are both areas I intend to go back to this year or next. Brevard, NC and Helen, GA.
 
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MountaineerTom said:
Was a fun trip, but I like Uwharrie much more.
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I guess Uwharrie is our biggest, most accessible around here. Speaking of that, Will has been asking for weeks now when we can go back, and sometimes he'll ask "is Tom going to be there?" Apparently talking to you on the radio was something to him. :LOL:
 
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That’s awesome! It was fun talking on the radio with him. I figured he’d enjoy it. We’ll have to plan a trip soon.
 
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BlueC said:
Let me know when you're ready.
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Will do. We’re leaving next week in the Jeep for about a week on Ocracoke Island. Got some family coming down to visit shortly after that, so I will probably be after that.
 
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BlueC said:
Man, that still sounds fun. Maybe in the fall I can do a trip like that so I can fish.
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October is our favorite time to go there but Hurricanes and Tropical Storms have messed up our plans more than once. It’s perfect for fires out on the beach and sitting there with no one around.
 
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