New Trails

[Buzzard13]

How do you find new trails?
With out being part of a club or group, how do you know where to wheel?
Are forest service roads counted as trails?

Basically around February or March, possibly sooner, I was going to head down to Tuscon AZ but I want to take as little pavement as possible. How do I start planing a route that no one knows about with out driving across private land?

Is being part of a group or club or even talking on a forum required to learn about where trails are?

 

[Mad Garden Gnome]

Trails.com
USFS Maps (In DeLorme Gazetteer or digitally in a map service like Gaia)
Open google search. Someone may have already done it and you can note their route.

 

[Buzzard13]

I love USGS maps. they have old Forest Service roads on them. Don't know how that would work in the desert though. I'll have to play around with that site some more it looks helpful; Thanks!

 

[expeditionnorth]

not sure of any of you have ever used https://www.where2wheel.com/

 

[Buzzard13]

Yeah both suggestions require payment for their services. Overlanding, off roading, shouldn't cost except for the gas. I'll study the USGS Topo maps I can download them for free. Thanks guys.

 

[1Louder]

Tons of free content out there. Where will you be coming from? Look at the Backcountry Discovery Routes, MVUM maps for National Forests that offer them. Buy books from Delorme or similar source or just scour the Internet for free content. If you are going to be in the backcountry you should have paper maps anyway so investing in map books is not a bad idea. Yes, I would consider forest roads trails.

Apps like Gaia are not free but are also well worth the investment. You can draw routes from within the app. Create waypoints for future reference and import tracks you want to follow that you have sourced from the Internet.

 

[4runner2015]

Good suggestions. I'll check them out as well. I'm in the same boat; looking for good trails in my area.

 

[1Louder]

Trails Offroad is building a large database of trails with detailed information. Those that are close together or are linked are shown on the same map. Although it would be up to you to ensure adjacent trails link together.

 

[4runner2015]

I'll check it out

 

[4runner2015]

I checked it out. Looks promising. They just need to add Canada.

 

[Buzzard13]

Thanks guys. I'll be coming from Spokane Wa. Thinking about passing through Salty Lake City to visit Fat Bobs then turn towards Las Vegas. I've heard of MVUM maps, I'll have to research them more though.

 

[1Louder]

I checked it out. Looks promising. They just need to add Canada.

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[1Louder]

Thanks guys. I'll be coming from Spokane Wa. Thinking about passing through Salty Lake City to visit Fat Bobs then turn towards Las Vegas. I've heard of MVUM maps, I'll have to research them more though.

If you own an iPad download Free PDF/Avenza. Then you can search for the maps from their store and download them. The MVUM maps are free. You can also check each National Forest page for maps. Time consuming but you can be sure you have the current version.

 

[mmnorthdirections]

These are excellent guide books, many sources are available.
http://www.barnesandnoble.com/s/"Charles A. Wells"?Ntk=P_key_Contributor_List&Ntx=mode matchall

 

[Ed B]

This site has quite a few of the MVUM maps.

http://www.fs.fed.us/recreation/programs/ohv/ohv_maps.shtml

 

[Lifestyle Overland]

For MVUMs I use the Offroad Atlas App. I think it only costs a buck but it will give you all the forest service roads in the National Forests on a single map layout which is downloadable for offline use. It also offers quick links for downloading the official PDF versions of the MVUMs. Best buck I've spent in a long time.

 

[Egan]

I use trails.com quite a bit. You can use it for free however you need to pay to unlock everything. You choose a region and then filter by the type of trail/activity you are looking for. You can get a brief description without paying, which is what I do then fill in the blanks with google searches.