Virginia Probably moving back to VA

[Bigmac]

Im up for orders again this summer, no idea where im going yet.

went from camp pendleton for 3 years to quantico for a year, back to 29 palms for 2 years and quantico again looks likely next.

The best thing about the west coast is all the BLM land. I have grown to love desert wheeling, anza borrego, johnson valley, moab utah, AZ. Also enjoyed the hell out of Ouray CO area. west coast areas are just so vast, you could never see it all.

When I was younger in VA I used to go "Muddin" but after losing alot of parts and eventually my first jeel to the mud and crud I've decided I like west coast wheeling alot better.

So im trying to get a list going of all of the places to take multi day trips with moderately difficult wheeling and rock crawling. expansive, challenging, minimal mud, and less than 2 days travel from northern VA.

 

[Sj's TJ]

There are actually several places to wheel in the rocks near us. Rausch Creek, AOAA and Doe Valley up in PA. All about 3 hours from the DC area. In VA you also have the Cove outside of Winchester and the Potts Mtn Jeep trail in southern VA. There are more that are a bit farther like Windrock in TN and some places in NC.

 

[Bigmac]

There are actually several places to wheel in the rocks near us. Rausch Creek, AOAA and Doe Valley up in PA. All about 3 hours from the DC area. In VA you also have the Cove outside of Winchester and the Potts Mtn Jeep trail in southern VA. There are more that are a bit farther like Windrock in TN and some places in NC.

That's reassuring, I liked Uwharrie alot (especially the bacon egg and cheese biscuits at the tradepost).
Have felt a little hesitant to try off road "parks" it's just a name but for some reason I feel like it boxes you in and Ill be waiting in line for everything like rides at 6flags, paying 8 dollars for a bottle of water, camping next to 100 of my not closest friends.

we've got a truck bed camper, and a car hauler to tow the jeep, I was thinking about putting the camper on a gooseneck to do the redneck toy hauler but once i do that I feel like suddenly the rig is too big to take anywhere on the east coast...

 

[Sj's TJ]

That's reassuring, I liked Uwharrie alot (especially the bacon egg and cheese biscuits at the tradepost).
Have felt a little hesitant to try off road "parks" it's just a name but for some reason I feel like it boxes you in and Ill be waiting in line for everything like rides at 6flags, paying 8 dollars for a bottle of water, camping next to 100 of my not closest friends.

we've got a truck bed camper, and a car hauler to tow the jeep, I was thinking about putting the camper on a gooseneck to do the redneck toy hauler but once i do that I feel like suddenly the rig is too big to take anywhere on the east coast...

Places like Rausch Creek and AOAA are so huge that it’s never been an issue for me. Just don’t go when they are having big events. Even then, I’ve never had to wait unless someone gets super stuck.

 

[Bigmac]

Places like Rausch Creek and AOAA are so huge that it’s never been an issue for me. Just don’t go when they are having big events. Even then, I’ve never had to wait unless someone gets super stuck.

aoaa looks like some good rock trails but alot of mud and water... :/ hydrolocked an engine once and it kindof turned me off from water plowing.

 

[Sj's TJ]

aoaa looks like some good rock trails but alot of mud and water... :/ hydrolocked an engine once and it kindof turned me off from water plowing.

The trails we ran were all along the mountain so there was virtually no mud. I personally hate mud myself. The occasional puddle is unavoidable, but I wouldn't call what we run as muddy. It's purely rock crawling for the most part.

 

[Irun]

The trails we ran were all along the mountain so there was virtually no mud. I personally hate mud myself. The occasional puddle is unavoidable, but I wouldn't call what we run as muddy. It's purely rock crawling for the most part.

For all the trails he mentioned, there are almost always bypasses for the mud/water. I usually just watch others, then wait to pull them out!

For clarification, I did say "usually"!

 

[Bigmac]

For all the trails he mentioned, there are almost always bypasses for the mud/water. I usually just watch others, then wait to pull them out!

For clarification, I did say "usually"!
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I have on occasion plowed some mud puddles with the new jeep just to hear my kids excitement, when i get out I immediately have some buyers remorse of the decision. It's fun for sure, but it is hard on parts.

I think the wife is going to love being back on the east coast with real trees and forests.

 

[FireJeep]

When you get here let us know, I would love to meet up and do some non-mud wheeling and camping.....or is that what they now call overlanding?.....

 

[Bigmac]

When you get here let us know, I would love to meet up and do some non-mud wheeling and camping.....or is that what they now call overlanding?.....

I think i went from "daily driver hope i don't break anything so i can get home" straight to "glamping with trailer queen"

this is the old rig,

was a couple hundred pounds over on each of the rear tires... wait till you see the new rig

 

[jodomcfrodo]

In the Northeast (or generally speaking just the east), you won't find much wheeling outside of parks. Having lived on both sides of the country, it is much harder to wheel on the east coast due to a lack of public lands. That being said, the parks have some great trails and are a lot of fun. Parking wheeling is different, but still fun.

 

[Stevemack]

As others have said, the east coast is pretty restrictive outside the “parks”.
Especially coming from the BLM/public land rich west coast, you may suffer some depression when it comes time to hit the trail here.

But fun can still be had. But the feeling will be different for sure. No more huge, open public trails that can go on for days. Instead, there’s smaller parcels, doable in a day or 2 to complete a whole park, but the wheeling is still quality stuff.

Not sure about the club scene, but a little further up the coast, that’s how we go wheeling. Clubs have access to private properties which have some incredible wheeling opportunities. I know of some clubs in the mid-Atlantic region a little north of where you’re going that wheel regularly.(assuming it’s Quantico or a smaller post up near DC)

SV4W - Shenandoah Valley 4 Wheelers
DEJA - Delaware Jeep Association
Castaway Crawlers (PA)

If you get a 96 and want to travel a little, the scene further up the coast and further into New England has some real good choices too.

Good luck, S/F.

 

[Kevin Q]

I've been to AOAA a few times. The opening weekend after the quarantine was a mess to get started. The sign in line was huge and the parking lot was packed. Once we got rolling it was perfectly fine. I'll be heading to RC on Black Friday for the first time.

 

[Bigmac]

Looking more and more likely like the quantico area... thought I may have had an opportunity to go to COLORADO but my timings off and it just wasn't in the cards.

 

[SCJeepTJ]

I lived in VA for several years before moving to SC 5 years ago. Still wheel with friends from up there every year. One spot I didn't see mentioned was Gore, VA (Big Dogs Offroad). It's not open year round, but they hold several events a year and the trails are fantastic (mild to buggy stuff). A little pricey but probably only 1.5 hours or so from you, if you end up in Quantico.