What do you consider a "trail?"

[theBROFESSOR]

So when we had our Arkansas Meet and Greet last month someone made the statement, "we ran some trails today..." A (no offense) "jeep guy" asked "what trails did you run?" The answer turned out to be a Forest Road (for example FR126). So the answer or comeback was "that's not a trail, that's a forest road."

So in getting the "lingo" correct in the future when attending events and what have you with "TRUE Overlanders" ... what do you call what? Where do you go when you "hit the trails?" When you schedule a "trail run" where do you go?

Personally I enjoy Forest Roads. They are my favorite. A lot of the time they either are, or turn into, non-maintained roads where you receive nice mudpits, "badges of honor" from tree branches or limbs, technical washouts and the occasional gigantic rock or two that require a slider...they lead to amazing places and are very easy to navigate. If that is not a trail then what is? An off-road park? What does an off-road park have to do with Overlanding? (Here we go with that definition that is for another thread sorry). Anyway, most of what we have around Arkansas would be Forest Roads or OHV trails where the vehicle cannot be over 50" wide. So I guess in Arkansas Overlanding Trails in a Full Size Vehicle is not possible? Or do you consider all or some Forest Roads trails?

According the online dictionary a "trail" is a "beaten path through rough country such as a forest or moor." But what is it to you? Just want to make sure I get my Lingo correct and don't embarrass myself with this. I have better ways of doing that. LOL

Help a BROther out!

 

[phxdsrtrat]

Honestly I would say that person doesn't have much experience with forest roads. Some of the roughest "trails" I have been on have been forest roads that haven't been maintained. I hope he isn't one of those guys that sees a pair of tracks where someone else has gone and decides that's a trail. Tearing up the surrounding terrain for the sake of "off roading" is not something I'm really fond of and I would likely inquiry what a trail really is in his opinion.

-Curtiss

 

[Kevin108]

Should've just humiliated him. "Thanks, Mr. Dictionary! Your definition was more accurate than mine!"

Or if its a recurring meet, it can be made into a punchline that makes him wish he'd never said anything. Call on him to define the type of route in any discussion.

 

[anotherJeep]

Personally I enjoy Forest Roads. They are my favorite. A lot of the time they either are, or turn into, non-maintained roads where you receive nice mudpits, "badges of honor" from tree branches or limbs, technical washouts and the occasional gigantic rock or two that require a slider...they lead to amazing places and are very easy to navigate.

Sounds like most overlanding spots in alabama to me. Not sure what that guy was talking about. And also would agree that these are some of the best trails to travel, as they were designed to lead somewhere but at the same time require a level of skill to navigate.

 

[Wawa Skittletits]

I love forest roads. I love them even more when they turn into unmaintained rutted adventures and that’s where I start throwing out the term ‘trail’. To me it starts being a ‘trail’ when 4wd/AWD makes the going easier.

 

[theBROFESSOR]

I love forest roads. I love them even more when they turn into unmaintained rutted adventures and that’s where I start throwing out the term ‘trail’. To me it starts being a ‘trail’ when 4wd/AWD makes the going easier.

I agree. Wholeheartedly. The FR’s may start out as a dirt super highway but often they turn to what my wife calls a “bucking horse” and most of the time we end up in 4WD. Sometimes it’s not that we need it. I just don’t want to tear up the road any further. But other times it’s absolutely necessary in order to not have to spend the rest of our lives there. Besides these roads lead somewhere a lot of the time. To an Overlook. To a river or Creek. To a campsite. Places for us to stop and rest, get out and explore. I don’t go out to try and tear up my ride. I dont Have an endless supply of cash. I go out to see this beautiful creation we have such little time to experience.

 

[theBROFESSOR]

Honestly I would say that person doesn't have much experience with forest roads. Some of the roughest "trails" I have been on have been forest roads that haven't been maintained. I hope he isn't one of those guys that sees a pair of tracks where someone else has gone and decides that's a trail. Tearing up the surrounding terrain for the sake of "off roading" is not something I'm really fond of and I would likely inquiry what a trail really is in his opinion.

-Curtiss

I know there are a lot of guys who spend a lot of time in off-road parks. Specific places that were created for off-roading. And inside those places there are “trails.” That may be how he is conditioned or how he was brought up in the Jeep world or off-road world. I dont Want to criticize that. To each his own. Many guys enjoy that rock crawling, “let’s see how deep that hole his” kind of life. I dont I just wanted to see how others viewed things. Thank you for your input!

 

[VCeXpedition]

Sounds like the "jeep guy" needed to be sure that all within earshot knows that he doesn't consider FR's a "trail", and that the trails he takes are much harder and therefore he is much more of an "off-roader" than the Forest Road guy...

A trail is only semantics. A FR can be a trail. A gravel path can be a trail. Why argue those semantics when Overlanding means so many different things to different people. Here we define it as "Vehicle Dependent Travel". It's different than Off-roading, or 4-wheeling, or rock-crawing. I think a good overlanding trip has some of all of those elements in it, but it doesn't have to.

I try to stay arms length from people that have something to prove, I gravitate to people that are in it for the adventure.
An adventure to some might be taking their special-needs daughter to a city lake to feed ducks! Believe me, that's an adventure!
I've had a lot of other, more extreme adventures because MY definition is so wide. Some I limped home from. All good!

Dan.

 

[Kent R]

Hey!! not all jeep people are like that

 

[theBROFESSOR]

Sounds like the "jeep guy" needed to be sure that all within earshot knows that he doesn't consider FR's a "trail", and that the trails he takes are much harder and therefore he is much more of an "off-roader" than the Forest Road guy...

A trail is only semantics. A FR can be a trail. A gravel path can be a trail. Why argue those semantics when Overlanding means so many different things to different people. Here we define it as "Vehicle Dependent Travel". It's different than Off-roading, or 4-wheeling, or rock-crawing. I think a good overlanding trip has some of all of those elements in it, but it doesn't have to.

I try to stay arms length from people that have something to prove, I gravitate to people that are in it for the adventure.
An adventure to some might be taking their special-needs daughter to a city lake to feed ducks! Believe me, that's an adventure!
I've had a lot of other, more extreme adventures because MY definition is so wide. Some I limped home from. All good!

Dan.

Taking any children is always an adventure. How much more a special needs and I salute all who do that no matter how much trouble it is or could possibly be. And I am with you. I also gravitate toward those who love to get out and explore instead of those who spend most of their time swapping “my mudhole was deeper than yours” or the “hold my beer and watch this” stories. As new as the term Overlanding is, it seems to be more of an inclusive type of travel instead of an exclusion of certain types of terrain or travel.

 

[theBROFESSOR]

Hey!! not all jeep people are like that

Haha. Not pointing fingers brother or posting blame. I like Jeep guys...especially those who don’t break down much. Lol. Just wanting to get opinions from others as to what they believe, think or feel.

 

[OffroadTreks]

This is a trail.

This is also a trail.


FS Roads are just that, dirt roads. You're not on a trail. This is a FS Road.

This is a FS Road. Not a trail.

Argue away about how your car camping is overlanding and how you're on a trail, but the USGS and the NFS also make the distinction in their maps. Sorry if this hurts feelings.



The big distinction here is one is usually maintained and the other is not at certain times of the year.

In here Idaho there are lots and lots of FSR's. Most are maintained.

 

[theBROFESSOR]

This is a trail.

This is also a trail.


FS Roads are just that, dirt roads. You're not on a trail. This is a FS Road.

This is a FS Road. Not a trail.

Argue away about how your car camping is overlanding and how you're on a trail, but the USGS and the NFS also make the distinction in their maps. Sorry if this hurts feelings.

View attachment 44329

The big distinction here is one is usually maintained and the other is not at certain times of the year.

In here Idaho there are lots and lots of FSR's. Most are maintained.

You didn’t hurt my feelings. Answers are what I’m after no matter what they are. My forest service roads don’t all look like that. Some do. Those are nice. Some are maintained better than others. Very few could be donned by a “car” unless you consider a Subaru a car. In fact most full size vehicles couldn’t make it down some of them because they are too narrow. (Not gonna get into why all mapmakers think only “Jeeps” can go down trails. Lol)

In your state do you have to take FS Roads to get to your trails? We do. It’s pretty much inevitable that FS roads are not the end all or the goal of what we look for. But they are definitely what takes us to and from our “trails” or may even turn into that. We never know til we get there.

Thank you for your input. Exactly what I was asking for.

 

[OffroadTreks]

Yup. I just go by the standard defs used by the BLM, NFS and basically the rest of the department of interior. We have some tight FS roads too. Some that aren't friendly. But here when we had several forests last year and mudslides the they put up indicators of which roads and systems were down.

Usually, trails don't get the same priority as the rest and might not even be mentioned. Now that can vary place to place based on how heavily trafficked something is and the resources of the district managing it.

Out west I've noticed the distinction if very noticeable.

I'm from Virginia and have done a lot in the Blue Ridge area and around the GWNF and JNF's and into the Daniel Boone and yes, a lot of the FS roads out there look like no one has driven or maintained them for some time. We'd hit those all the time.

 

[Kent R]

As long as its not pavement I'm all good. Who cares what the definition is just get out and off the paved road.

 

[OffroadTreks]

As long as its not pavement I'm all good. Who cares what the definition is just get out and off the paved road.

Yes, and even a Kia Soul can be an overlander because it doesn't matter what you drive. What would the point of this thread be then? Why have definitions at all?

Becuase they are useful to know what we're talking about and describing. Proper context matters.

It's dandy people get out and adventure.

 

[JeffG98034]

So when we had our Arkansas Meet and Greet last month someone made the statement, "we ran some trails today..." A (no offense) "jeep guy" asked "what trails did you run?" The answer turned out to be a Forest Road (for example FR126). So the answer or comeback was "that's not a trail, that's a forest road."

So in getting the "lingo" correct in the future when attending events and what have you with "TRUE Overlanders" ... what do you call what? Where do you go when you "hit the trails?" When you schedule a "trail run" where do you go?

Personally I enjoy Forest Roads. They are my favorite. A lot of the time they either are, or turn into, non-maintained roads where you receive nice mudpits, "badges of honor" from tree branches or limbs, technical washouts and the occasional gigantic rock or two that require a slider...they lead to amazing places and are very easy to navigate. If that is not a trail then what is? An off-road park? What does an off-road park have to do with Overlanding? (Here we go with that definition that is for another thread sorry). Anyway, most of what we have around Arkansas would be Forest Roads or OHV trails where the vehicle cannot be over 50" wide. So I guess in Arkansas Overlanding Trails in a Full Size Vehicle is not possible? Or do you consider all or some Forest Roads trails?

According the online dictionary a "trail" is a "beaten path through rough country such as a forest or moor." But what is it to you? Just want to make sure I get my Lingo correct and don't embarrass myself with this. I have better ways of doing that. LOL

Help a BROther out!

I found that forest roads here in Washington can be just gnarly, I have lost fenders on my Jeep broke off all kinds of parts ( not ever stranded ) but stuck in mud holes up to your waist, trail, forest road it all good....

 

[phxdsrtrat]

I guess you can teach an old dog new tricks. I pulled up an actual Forest Service map for an area I am very familiar with. Sure enough, there are forest roads and trails marked on the map. Seeing as I have actually run quite a few of the forest roads and trails on this map I can readily say that, here in AZ anyway, trails are more narrow than forest roads. The trails are definitely rougher than most forest roads also. But there are also definitely some forest roads rougher than many trails. Trails are also few and far between on the map I looked at and some had other designations like motorcycle only, vehicles less than 50" in width and non motorized.

It's always good to learn new things!

-Curtiss

 

[trikebubble]

IMHO, if it's plowed or graded it's a road (ie: forest service road) if not.....it's a trail. I enjoy both equally.

 

[theBROFESSOR]

IMHO, if it's plowed or graded it's a road (ie: forest service road) if not.....it's a trail. I enjoy both equally.

I work with students in 5th-7th grades so I consider myself pretty hip with the current lingo. But I must admit, I had to google what IMHO meant. LOL. Thank you for your reply. What I am gathering here from most of the members is that semantics is not really emphasized, but actually getting out and exploring is. I like that.