"Trails" in Illinois?

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trailspinTV

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Other than Shawnee National Forest and a couple of offroad parks, does anyone know of any trails in IL? Just moved here a couple of months ago, and have exhausted my search options trying to find information about where I can drive on dirt that's not private property. It would be awesome to get somewhere remote that's an hour or so away from my home in Peoria - even if it's just to test some gear or my build.
 
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Wanderlost

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We're north of you near Rockford, hello. Like you we've search everywhere in the state and have talked with many others in Illinois about places to wheel. There aren't any. The closest spots for us are in Northern Wisconsin's National Forests, about four hours drive.
If you do find someplace in Illinois please let us know. We'd like to join you.
 
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trailspinTV

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Wanderlost Overland said:
We're north of you near Rockford, hello. Like you we've search everywhere in the state and have talked with many others in Illinois about places to wheel. There aren't any. The closest spots for us are in Northern Wisconsin's National Forests, about four hours drive.
If you do find someplace in Illinois please let us know. We'd like to join you.
Click to expand...
I was close to heading out to meet up with you guys next weekend, but am going to be heading NY instead for some work. Mike (aka @poopie) is part of our group and said you're really cool and that we definitely need to link up so I'll be sure to do that as soon as I can!
 
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trailspinTV

trailspinTV

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Also, hearing that there are no trails at all makes me really f*ing sad. It's cool that Badlands is only 2 hours away but I'm not much of a "offroad park" kind of guy. I'd rather see some trails and camp remotely.
 
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Phil C

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Yeah definitely no trails up here in Northern Illinois, at least none that I have found. Like @Wanderlost Overland said, you pretty much have to drive at least 4 hours up to Wisconsin or Michigan or down to Southern Illinois or near Kentucky to find some good trails. I'm looking at going up to Michigan to explore some of their trails and also Turkey Bay at some point once the rig is built up.
 
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Brian W

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I'm in northern Illinois as well and am trying to identify some of the closest trails, whether in Wisconsin or elsewhere. Are there any tools or resources you can recommend for locating trails besides Google and Google Maps? Thanks!
 
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esihrer

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It's not technically Illinois, but in Indiana there is a place called Redbird SRA. It's about 3 1/2 hours from Peoria. They also have 4 Jeep Badges of Honor you can get there too. Camping is in Redbird SRA, but the off road park is about 15 minutes away. My wife and I went there last June. It was fun for us beginners, but it wasn't as big as I was expecting.
 
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AndyMKE

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Not much in IL. Not much in WI either. I think I may have to go south or west this summer with my boys to actually get at all remote. Northern WI is fun though, just not much as far as trails go.
 
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H3Coyote

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Hey y'all, I'm up here too, and I agree. Without heading north or south, there's not much around aside from the more "hardcore" stuff... Which, I personally enjoy. There's a spot closer to Chicago if I remember correctly, most people call "The Cliffs" it's a day trip kind of 4x4 spot that I loved seeing back when I younger...
I hope to get a chance to meet y'all this summer..!
 
Lead K9

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The Cliff's can be fun, but it is definitely not an overlanding spot. It is a lot of mud, which some don't like. But it is close to Chicago.

As mentioned above, the national forests in southern Illinois and the adjoining states are fun to explore. There is a nice little spot in central Michigan I especially like. But I've been sworn to secrecy regarding its location by the friend that introduced it to me. :)
 
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Lead K9

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Nice meeting you, H3!

We'll have to get some of our brothers and sisters in Kentucky and Michigan to show us around their necks of the woods, especially come fall when the colors are changing. I wouldn't mind doing a trip to the Badlands, though work has eaten up a lot of weekends lately.

I wouldn't mind seeing an H3 in action either given the crew I run with all have Jeeps of some flavor.
 
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H3Coyote

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Thanks for the invitation K9..!
Kentucky is awesome, but the Badlands would definitely be my first choice too..! I love it out there.
My first goal is to have this back on road trips buy the 4th of July locally...
So this fall sounds like working plan..!
 
P

Pigfarmer65

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I just became a member , and just started exploring. My son and I just located and drove the first 20% of the trans Wisconsin adventure trail which starts near Galena,Il. We had a blast even in January! There are a few videos and some info on Facebook and YouTube. We can't wait to hit it in the spring or another nice day. The trail is 600 miles long and goes to Lake Superior.
 
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H3Coyote

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Hey Pigfarmer,
I'm Dave, over by Rockford, I'm actually new here myself
(OH I HAVE TO DO MY MEMBERSHIP STILL... DOH..!). But Gelena is such a great place isn't it..?
What's your YouTube channel..? I'd like to check out that video, as a subscriber you'll see my name as "closed account".
You wouldn't happen to have an old Mercedes 606 diesel engine lying around anywhere would you..?
Nice to meet you..!
 
H3Coyote

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Nice to see another new member from the area Daro..!
Hopefully we can all get together some tme soon and go check out some trails and enjoy a few days off...
I plan on getting a hold of K9, and Pigfarmer to get something set up soon, but I may have to just throw a small block in the H3 to get it moving, and finish the diesel plan as time goes by, because it seems like there are going to be some good trips this year...
Again nice to meet you, and I hope to see you on the trails..!
 
D

Daro78

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April ? ... nice that will give me some time to prepare a car, some rock sliders and roof rack
In August i was in Colorado Ouray/Silverton drove stock 4runner on Red Cone ,Imogene Pass,Independence Pass
Going there back ..... maybe this year
.... maybe :relieved:
 
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