US East Northern VA / MD Monthly Meetups
- Thread starter MA_Trooper
- Start date
Pathfinder I
Enthusiast III
From what I see online, it's about 3 hours from NoVA/DC area.
That looks interesting, although a bit of a stretch at 6 hours, although sounds interesting!
Sorry, misread, George Washington National Forest. Flag pole trail area
Pathfinder I
Distance wise, it's probably similar to going to the mountains (maybe 20-30 minutes longer) as @WK2EcoD mentioned. I wouldn't have suggested it during the summer time as it's full of families and college students. With the beaches limiting the people that are allowed, it would have been near impossible to get in. I don't think it would be as bad now since school's started.
It's definitely a different type of trip though. Probably not as exciting as a trail ride, but definitely doable with street tires (just need to air down). It's more about setting up at the beach and just lounging around in comfort, enjoying the breeze and grilling some good food. In terms of camping, Assateague doesn't allow you to camp on the beach itself, but have separate campgrounds for that. I don't know about Outer Banks.
Enthusiast III
Yeah 6 hours is a hike but its a 3/4 day event. I am new to this forum, so looks like a lot wheeling and camping huh.
Not sure where you all are planning on camping, but if anyone is interested,
The place I'm camping is roughly a 25 min drive from the trailhead via a Forrest service road that connects to the trailhead access road for Flagpole Knob. Camping is $15 per car, per night. There is always lots of available space.
Welcome to the forum @John6! I haven't been on any trips with the OB members that lasted more than a couple of days (with the exception of one large hosted event; it's been mostly weekend trips. With that being said, I am open to longer trips with sufficient notice. It's an idea that some of the members in the MD/VA region have thrown around.
@geekyadam
Here are some suggestions for the September trip. I'll share my experiences and the maps I recorded.
Here are some suggestions for the September trip. I'll share my experiences and the maps I recorded.
- Green ridge state forest - this place has a lot of camp sites available and have easier trails to a little tougher trails that are rutted out. There are some overlooks and stream crossings and is dog friendly. It's about 1.5 to 2 hours from the DMV area (depending on where you are coming from). Trails that are rutted out were similar, in condition, to the trails that @Exped4x4 took us to in Clifton. Some of the streams that we crossed were rather deep and I would recommend getting a diff breather installed prior to attempting the crossings.
- Flagpole knob - this trail is also very stock friendly. However, there are a couple of areas that required our group to get out of rigs and stack some rocks and/or have spotters to allow stock vehicles (like mine) to safely pass without damaging our vehicles. The view at the top is amazing and is a fairly large area. I did not camp at Flagpole, but I believe the camp sites are free as long as it's open. @Exped4x4 camped out here and can provide some feedback on the camping. There are several water/mud holes. I used my lockers on this trip in some areas, but there were other stock vehicles that did not have lockers. We had 12 rigs in our convoy and it took us 7.5 hours to go up, have lunch and come down.
- Big levels - this trail is very stock friendly and clearly marks more challenging trails which converge with the main trail. Big levels is a big more rocky than the other two trails above so bring a seat cushion =). I got more pin stripes from this trail on my truck than from any other trail. It's definitely a tight trail, but still doable with a 1/2 ton (we had a Tundra with us on this trip). This trail also had some water/mud holes that are quite deep. I bottomed out on a couple of them and our trail lead also damaged his exhaust in one of the water holes. I would stay away from this trail immediately after a down pour with a stock rig. We had 8 rigs in our convoy and it took us close to 7 hours to go up, have lunch and make several stops along the way. This was an event that @TerryD organized and a few of the group members did camp out and can provide some additional feedback.
Few things I left out.
- Flagpole was about 2.5-3 hours to get to from Springfield, VA and is dog friendly.
- Big levels was 2.5 hours to get to from Springfield, VA and is also dog friendly.
- I recommend a diff breather for both flagpole and big levels.
Pathfinder I
Yes, definitely recommend the diff breather mod. I used this youtube video. Found it to be the most detailed explanation on how to perform the mod on the current generation Tacomas.
Pathfinder I
What is that trail like? Would stock Tacoma with stock street tires have issues?
Ugh can't wait to order my tires. Stupid house projects $$$!
I am down for a trip!!
Here is a video and map info for a trip I did last year through the GWNF.
https://caltopo.com/m/JSD3
It was a really good trip and the Subaru only had issues on the last day.
Here is a video and map info for a trip I did last year through the GWNF.
https://caltopo.com/m/JSD3
It was a really good trip and the Subaru only had issues on the last day.
Pathfinder I
