New to the forum, Im a big fan of camping and used to be a fan of off roading my old jeep. A couple months ago i got a Tacoma, and being its a nice reliable vehicle i started looking into places off the long island where i live to get out camping and exploring. Between that and looking into mods for my truck i eventually stumbled upon over landing and i love everything its about. But to keep this short ive been looking around and havent found many places in my state that i could go. I know the state offers primitive camping in its catskill and adirondack state parks, but nothing i can find about driving in them. If anyone could give me some advice/info/places to head out to in new york, Pennsylvania, Connecticut, or even southwest Massachusetts, it would e greatly appreciated. Thanks.
New York and Surrounding Trails??
- Thread starter Tacoma_Tom
- Start date
Cant say i know of anything decent on the island as i usually avoid it like the plague lol, but theres plenty of beautiful areas to go camping in NY but the state is a huge let-down when it comes to any offroading.
Ive personally been through dozens of areas in PA, Susquehanna/Alleghany/Moshannan/Sproul forests and all of them have tons of nice dirt roads/trails through miles and miles of awesome forests, plenty of places to drive/camp. Ive spent a solid portion of my life riding/driving PA trail/roads and central PA is absolutely packed with great driving.
VT and NH both have lots of forest roads, ive never been to anything specific in VT but NH is very offroad friendly and has lots of organized trail systems with camping areas, White Mountain forester comes to mind up by Mt.Washington which is an awesome drive btw.
CT im not a fan of, im usually driving through it. Its possible MA might have some driving available but again i havent gone anywhere specific.
Ive personally been through dozens of areas in PA, Susquehanna/Alleghany/Moshannan/Sproul forests and all of them have tons of nice dirt roads/trails through miles and miles of awesome forests, plenty of places to drive/camp. Ive spent a solid portion of my life riding/driving PA trail/roads and central PA is absolutely packed with great driving.
VT and NH both have lots of forest roads, ive never been to anything specific in VT but NH is very offroad friendly and has lots of organized trail systems with camping areas, White Mountain forester comes to mind up by Mt.Washington which is an awesome drive btw.
CT im not a fan of, im usually driving through it. Its possible MA might have some driving available but again i havent gone anywhere specific.
Yea the more i dug the more i realized off roading in NY was going to be a let down. Thanks for all the info. I looked at Alleghany and it seems to be pretty promising.
I'm also really interested in this. I am from NC and currently in NC, but a move to NYC may be in my future. Can a lover of the outdoors survive?
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
Where in NYC? An outdoors lover can survive in the state, it has plenty of great places. Sometimes its just a matter of how far youre willing to drive.
That's fair haha I'd want to live outside Manhattan anyway, so that makes it at least a little bit easier to get out and explore
Member III
NY is a tough one but I would recommend checking out Moose River Plains near Inlet, NY. 27+ miles of dirt roads and 150+ free campsites each of which have a fire pit and an outhouse. Also there is an off road park near Lowville called Stuck in the Muck. It shares property with the Adirondack International Speedway.
If you head to PA check out Purple Lizard Maps! They are awesome!
In NJ there is Wharton State Forest which includes tge Pine Barrens and part of the Trans New Jersey Trail.
If you have any other questions shoot me a message!
If you head to PA check out Purple Lizard Maps! They are awesome!
In NJ there is Wharton State Forest which includes tge Pine Barrens and part of the Trans New Jersey Trail.
If you have any other questions shoot me a message!
The best areas in NY for anything that we like doing is NE of the Syracuse area..My area here in sw NY is hard to anything "legally"..If you have an atv, its illegal to ride on state land roads. Even with registration and insurance. Years ago I started mountain biking and trail running just so I could enjoy these lands in some form..real frustrating. But then we hooked up early last fall with Sean and got to check out the Old Forge area..Night and day difference for being in the same state and 5 hrs away..I wish this southern region would open up like that.. Our state land roads aren't nearly long like that,in terms of mileage. and many of them are out and back, for maybe a 1-5 mile exploratory ride.. No camping without permit etc etc etc.. PA is where its at for us. Just haven't researched enough yet..
Allegheny is nice. Might be a little limited. You want to have fun in PA, go Purple Lizard, like Sean mentioned.
Allegheny is nice. Might be a little limited. You want to have fun in PA, go Purple Lizard, like Sean mentioned.
Enthusiast III
I’m not sure if you’re looking for trails on your own, but I did a group ride and they go on all spring, summer and fall at Hunter Mountain in the Catskills. The best trails I have been on, good group to ride with and it has never disappointed. Great areas to leave and camp at also ( I prefer the KOAs).
In PA you can check out AOAA park or Rausch Creek. I haven’t been to either yet, but all the Jeep shows I have been to have had reps from both parks there that offer a ton of trails and sounds like it should be a good time. I am hoping to hit them this year!
I live just outside the city so all these places may seem like a bit of a drive, but they’re totally worth it.
Some links to make life easier for you:
Hunter Mountain Event:
Off road club:
www.nyoffroaddriving.com
AOAA:
Rausch Creek:
rc4x4.org
Hope this helps!
In PA you can check out AOAA park or Rausch Creek. I haven’t been to either yet, but all the Jeep shows I have been to have had reps from both parks there that offer a ton of trails and sounds like it should be a good time. I am hoping to hit them this year!
I live just outside the city so all these places may seem like a bit of a drive, but they’re totally worth it.
Some links to make life easier for you:
Hunter Mountain Event:
Colors in the Catskills
www.huntermtn.com
Off road club:
Northeast Off-Road Driving School & Adventure Tours, Ellenville NY
Northeast Off-Road Adventures (NORA4X4) , Ellenville NY, off-road driving school and tours 4WD Jeep, Bronco, Tacoma, 4Runner, Defender, GWagon
www.nyoffroaddriving.com
AOAA:
Full Size Trails | AOAA Trails
The Anthracite Outdoor Adventure Area (AOAA) has 6,500 acres of full-size trails with diverse terrains for a variety of skill levels.
www.aoaatrails.com
Rausch Creek:
Jeeps-Trucks-SUV, Offroad | Rausch Creek Off-Road Park | Pine Grove, PA
Rausch Creek Off-Road Park offers 3,000 acres for Jeep, truck, and SUV owners to offroad.
Hope this helps!
Traveler I
Fellow islander and only stuff on this island is legal if your not caught but ive been doing raush want to try aoaa this year
Member III
I am headed to BHM Off Road today to tour the facilities with the owner. This is a new park that opened late last year in McDonough, NY.
www.bhmoffroadtestfacility.com
www.bhmoffroadtestfacility.com
Traveler I
It is more then a weekend kind of trip from the island but will get up there one day
Enthusiast II
Hi all, I've camped all my life, but I'm new to overlanding. I really want to explore and not interested in rock crawling.
I live in Western NY. Its beautiful here, but alas, there really is no place to overland here. (maybe a 10 mile seasonal road through Allegany State Park a few seasonal roads in the Adirondacks)
I'd love to find something within 4-6 hours of Buffalo (weekend trip) where I can drive on a moderate gravely road with scenery and pull off and camp at some point. Maybe Canada? Algonquin?
Allegheny National Forest PA has a bunch of gravel, seasonal roads...anyone try them?
I want to do a week long trip at some point but would like to get a few weekends under my belt (or tires) first. I have been researching, but nothing has stood out yet...
I live in Western NY. Its beautiful here, but alas, there really is no place to overland here. (maybe a 10 mile seasonal road through Allegany State Park a few seasonal roads in the Adirondacks)
I'd love to find something within 4-6 hours of Buffalo (weekend trip) where I can drive on a moderate gravely road with scenery and pull off and camp at some point. Maybe Canada? Algonquin?
Allegheny National Forest PA has a bunch of gravel, seasonal roads...anyone try them?
I want to do a week long trip at some point but would like to get a few weekends under my belt (or tires) first. I have been researching, but nothing has stood out yet...
Last edited:
The BDR is a bunch of dirt roads to drive down. There are some camp grounds along the route. There is a post about it.
Enthusiast II
BDR, you mean BackCountry Discovery routes website? Thanks so much. I just checked that out and there is a nice wopping 1317 mi route. Thats about a 4 hour haul to the beginning, I'm sure I can find some good scenic roads to get there, and the drive back takes me through the Adirondak mountains and past the 1000 islands which I hear is beautiful. Going to need to plan more than a weekend for this one!
Thank You!
Last edited:
Enthusiast II
I'm down in Jamestown, just south of you.. The "common" area to go is Bald Eagle state forest in PA..Or any other state forest in PA.. Check out Purple Lizard maps. They have great mapping and you can purchase different maps for different forest areas around the Mid Atlantic areas.
