We'll be in our Toyota FJ in May (we'll be towing the classic), and I hear that there are some good off-road trails down near the Dragon if you know where to look... Is anyone else going to be doen there in a 4WD vehicle? If so, we should set up a trail drive, jus tto do something a bit different. Any takers? If we can get a respectable contingent of cars/Jeeps/trucks/whatever assembled, I'll set up something formal and ask Mark to put it on the schedule... Anyone?

 

Not bringing Dawn? Say it isn't so!

 

Probably not as extreme as you're looking for....

There is a trail leading out of the National Park, about .5 mi gravel followed by 8.5 mi unimproved roadway (trail no gravel cement or any of that nonsense) Hills climbed streams crossed and it dumps you out at TN mi 4. I've got some great video of the MINI spanking some SUV 4WD trail butt, I'll see if I can cut it down and upload it to youtube. In the meantime it is marked on Google maps but you could never tell it's there with the sat veiw on.

 

I've done Parsons Branch Road and Rich Mountian road (both in the park) in a Subaru. Loved both.

 

Matt over near Tellico is a OHV area. Some pretty good stuff. Sure you want to beat on your new FJ Clubman that way?

You can access the area off the Chocaholic Skyway.

Click here >> http://www.tellico4x4.com/map1.htm

I suggest staying on the F1 & F2 trails.

 

Actually, I've never driven off-road, so I'm more looking for TRAILS (F1's on that map) as opposed to rock climbing. Everything I've read says that the FJ can handle some extreme off-road conditions, but *I* don't know how to properly drive in those conditions. Thanks for that map, Chuck!

 

Depending on weather conditions, you could probably start at State Line and go down road #1 and return road #2. That's where most the "tourists" and locals go for off-roading. Matt, I probably wouldn't risk going back road #2 in your brand new shiny clean FJ. I messed up a belt or something on my CR-V somewhere on road #2 last summer when I drove through a mudhole and got a lot water/dirt up in my engine bay; the CR-V still makes a odd whine noise at idle. Most of those trails are pretty heavily traveled. In some difficult spots they offer another narrow pass that bypasses the mudhole or ditches. Even though the #1-#2 round-trip is less than 10 miles, it feels more like 40.

AND, there is another really fun road off the Cherohala Skyway. This might be a better choice since it basically follows the skyway. I have always known it by Old Robinsville Road; it used to be the old wagon train trail. It starts near the TN/NC line of the Cherohala Skyway and winds all the way to Robinsville. It's probably about 20 miles long and not nearly as heavily traveled as the roads up in Green Cove/State line. I have taken this road several times in my awd Honda CR-V. I drove my friends from Ohio down this road last summer and they loved it! If there is a recent hard rain, you can have a couple of fun stream crossings. Even with little experience, you would probably feel comfortable driving this road.

If I wasn't arriving at MOTD so late (Thursday evening), I would be glad to join your "City Slicker 4x4 Excursion" in my CR-V.

 

Bring it! We'll do it later on the weekend!

 

I'm so glad you're willing to actually use your 4X4, it pains me to see all the off-road capable vehicles sold these days that never get more extreme action than a grass parking lot at a soccer field.

 

Matt, I'm not being a smart **** here >>
Buy a good shovel, a good nylon ****** strap & a come along.

Drive slow & let the gearing work for you.

Smart **** talk starts here >>
You may need to pull that sissy little CRV out of trouble.

 

Bwahahaha!

 

That's the sissiest thing I've ever read....

Find a nasty rutted out fire road (something that a big truck once went down...) and drive FAST on it... now THAT's fun...

 

OK - I'll replace my doofus double post with some pics...

Jeeping in Alaska...






Obviously not technical - just twisty fire roads... one-lane dirt motoring... with bumps... fast... our guide was a maniac, and I held his tail - nobody else could hang with us (or was crazy enough to try).

Ah, the fun of trashing somebody else's Jeep...

 

Guess you don't know much about off roading.

 

Nope. Absolutely nothing.

It was a joke.

But "dirt roading" and driving like it was a MINI is serious fun.

 

Sorry Paul, your joke flew right over my head.

 

More and more frequently, my jokes fly right over MY head... so NP, my friend.

shoulda added the "jk" - gotta get better at that...

 

::: Note to self.... do NOT let Paul drive my FJ... :::



...



j/k

 

I do wheel my Taco' and I have followed Paul in our MINIs on gravel and there is NO WAY I would go near him off road in anything! ;-)

 

 

Hehehe.... there goes MidnightDave destroying my good reputation again...
The great thing about MINIs (and FJs) is how controllable they are when sliding sideways, compared to, say, a barge going over a waterfall. Sideways rocks.

 

many moons ago up near Odenton, MD. "The Slot', also known as the Jeep breaker. only one guy made it to the top....a V8 swapped '92 and he broke some stuff doing it. Yeah, I took the chicken out and snapped pics from above in my purdy new Jeep

 

mm....fun with ice and mud (my cousin's Jeep...he runs Tellico a lot now as he's down near Cary, NC)

 

Hey Midnight Dave, I remember your picture from GA TTORA while I was in School. Good to see a fellow TTORA "taco" guy. I now live in Knoxville still have my truck, and the place I go the most is Windrock a little farther north in Oliver Springs. Don't have a mini yet but have been looking for the right one.

-Jeff (aka: toyotaboy92)