Roadtrip ideas to make a little use of 4x4?

[ExplorerTom]

I plan on doing the Alpine Loop next week in my Expedition.

 

[ExplorerTom]

And the fires are nearby, but still a ways away. Plus they did get a bunch of rain earlier this week.

 

[Adieu]

Dang you guys got me all fired up for Alpine Loop, but life seems intent on getting the way

Cat needs to go to vet Saturday
Street resurfacing means I have to move all my vehicles Monday
Family leaving town Thursday, so nobody around to ask to feed the cats

Hmm...well I suppose I *might* be able to leave Monday night, have the fam leave a bunch of food and water for the cats, and come back by like Saturday or Sunday at latest.

 

[BlueStangGT]

The Colorado high country is the bomb for doing what you’re talking about. Go to Leadville... there’s Mosquito Pass to the East that’ll put you in Alma, CO. There’s Hagerman Pass to the West above Turquoise Lake that ends up in Meredith, CO. After you make each trek you can take breathtakingly beautiful highways back to Leadville if you’re tired of rocking and rolling. The Leadville-Hagerman Pass-Meredith-Basalt-Aspen-Twin Lakes-Leadville loop pretty much touches every type of astounding high country vista you can imagine.

 

[101Expedition]

Head up to Oregon, Deschutes Wilderness area? Columbia River? Stop in Modoc NF on the way. Tons of trails but still in Ca. OBRDR is pretty tame from what I hear. Its on my list. I've put together many back road trips with Google maps. Try it..

 

[Adieu]

Damn I'd definitely rather be in Alpine, CO right now:






Alas gotta wait up for the fam to get back to town so I have somebody around to feed my cats.

 

[Z4Mguy]

You know you really want to find a beach with that beast. How about you burn some gas and come to the east coast and Outer Banks 1of NC. Drive that beast on the beach and find your solitude!

 

[Jb14]

Utah could be a good option, in fact, one of the best. I live in SoCal and lived in Saint George Utah for 5 years now back in SoCal. Saint George is Southern where the desert is but you can drive 20 minutes into Dameron Valley and be in the trees and Mountains or head into Cedar Breaks, even more, trees, and Mountains, plus Utah is not all regulated up like other places.

 

[DogDad]

Outer Banks of North Carolina....more sand available to drive on than most. It doesn’t get much further from California than that.

 

[crector080862]

Corpus Christi Texas the Gulf of Mexico it's beautiful down there great fishing if you like it plenty to do beautiful Texas women or men great food

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[ChrisOIFdoc]

Need me a change of pace and to get away from it all. Bit of an adventure to unwind.

What are some cool places to see, maybe make a little use of 4x4 but nothing too crazy? My skills are more than a little lacking, no mad trails for tricked out jeeps only.


ANY STATE, further from CA the better.

Preferably with greenery and water and shit, desert just does not appeal to me. Also, not real good with extreme heat.

Rivers and grass and trees are more my thing.

Vehicle:
3rd gen SSV 4x4, ranchos, stock SSV skid plates, can bust out the LT bfgs on steelies gathering dust in my garage

No brush guard, although I could get one for something worthwhile

Montana around Red Lodge and up Beartooth Pass into Shoshone and North Yellowstone. You'll find roads to play on around these areas and beautiful country.

 

[Plati]

Drove up 550 from Durango to Montrose today. Nice ride! Silverton & Ouray are cool small towns in the mountains. I had thought maybe the Alpine Loop but no way. I talked to a few people and my heavily laden unlifted EL is not up to the challenge! Instead I played golf in Montrose. I'm headed to Black Canyon NP in the am. I'm quite happy with southern Colorado and will be back again, maybe with a better 4WD vehicle? Also gotta get to Silverton for some Powder now that I seen those slopes.

 

[Black]

Anyone done the ALCAN Highway from Seattle to Anchorage??? 2,500 miles 1 way.
Sounds like a blast but make sure to bring a bunch of gear, food, extra gas, tire repair kits and maybe a couple spares.
Transporting guns seems to be a bit tricky through Canada but not impossible. Just some weird restrictions especially on handguns. I am still reading and researching to have a better grasp of what is and is not allowed. I would not want to travel with less than 2 per traveler in that wilderness. A pump 12 gauge loaded with slugs seems to be allowed can’t find whether an extended mag tube is allowed or not.
A .30-30 lever action also seems to be allowed may also be a solid excuse to get that .45-70 lever action I want but don’t feel like adding a new caliber to the stable.
My trusty G20 10mm is likely off limits. But have to do more reading.


I hope to do this in a few years. Had a baby last year so that ate up a ton of my work leave.
I’d need a month to do it since I am 2,000 miles from the starting point.
I am looking at a little over 9,000 miles round trip. Maybe closer to 10k depending upon how much driving we done to Explore Alaska.

I’d probably drive with a buddy from KY to Seattle in 3 days. Have the wife, kids, and in laws fly and meet me in Seattle for a 2 days to rest and supply up a bit for the ALCAN and have them do a Cruise or Fly to meet in Anchorage. Spend a week or so in Alaska then head back.

 

[Adieu]

Anyone done the ALCAN Highway from Seattle to Anchorage??? 2,500 miles 1 way.
Sounds like a blast but make sure to bring a bunch of gear, food, extra gas, tire repair kits and maybe a couple spares.
Transporting guns seems to be a bit tricky through Canada but not impossible. Just some weird restrictions especially on handguns. I am still reading and researching to have a better grasp of what is and is not allowed. I would not want to travel with less than 2 per traveler in that wilderness. A pump 12 gauge loaded with slugs seems to be allowed can’t find whether an extended mag tube is allowed or not.
A .30-30 lever action also seems to be allowed may also be a solid excuse to get that .45-70 lever action I want but don’t feel like adding a new caliber to the stable.
My trusty G20 10mm is likely off limits. But have to do more reading.


I hope to do this in a few years. Had a baby last year so that ate up a ton of my work leave.
I’d need a month to do it since I am 2,000 miles from the starting point.
I am looking at a little over 9,000 miles round trip. Maybe closer to 10k depending upon how much driving we done to Explore Alaska.

I’d probably drive with a buddy from KY to Seattle in 3 days. Have the wife, kids, and in laws fly and meet me in Seattle for a 2 days to rest and supply up a bit for the ALCAN and have them do a Cruise or Fly to meet in Anchorage. Spend a week or so in Alaska then head back.

Are you trying to invade and conquer Canada??

Dual-wielding shotguns seems a bit overkill....they're just Canucks you know??

 

[Black]

People are my last concern.
The trip is mainly a vast wilderness where you are likely hundreds of miles from anyone at a given time.
A 12 gauge and .30-30 is rolling pretty light in my book.
Our black bear here are generally just curious because folks are around enough and they are smaller.

But brown bear and wolf packs that have far less human interaction I’d rather roll heavy than light.
Especially if I run the trip in the winter where you are dealing with more darkness.
Though we’ll likely do summer since we’d incorporate a family vacation at the same time.

 

[Menard LaDouche]

Seriously, I suggest Nevada. It is close by to you, and really desolate with great places to drive in real wilderness. Everyone thinks of it as desert, which it is at the lowly elevations of the valleys (4600'). The only reason you don't hear about Nevada is that no one comes here. Hit the areas with 10, 11 and 12,000 foot peaks. I think there are 65 of them. I do this in my Expedition (lifted and skid plate, like yours) and am lucky to see one other car per week when off of the paved roads. Carry gas, really. Camp at the hot springs. Worst cell phone reception in the USA, so have non-internet navigation services. You might be surprised, but don't tell anyone.

 

[Black]

I recently came across the Kentucky Adventure Trail (KAT) a 1,000 mile loop around Kentucky.
Can be done in about 5 days or is broken up into sections.

http://annessky.net/kat/

My buddies do it on dual sports. Hopefully I can get this rig built up slightly so I can be the packmule.

 

[Montana Wildcat]

Having just moved to Montana, I've been looking around for the same type of thing here. I ran across this write-up and hope to try it this summer.

https://www.bigskyfishing.com/scenic-drives/missouri-breaks.php

Apparently there are a TON of drives like this in MT. The Skalkako Highway near Phillpsburg is another good one I intend to try out.

https://www.dangerousroads.org/north-america/usa/349-skalkaho-highway-usa.html

 

[lvcjt702]

Mojave Preserve 1/20/19-1/21/19

Sunday afternoon my youngest and I decided to use the "Super Blood Wolf Moon" as an excuse to do some four wheeling. So we pulled out the Benchmarks and plotted a route.
We arrived in Searchlight Nv around 4:30pm and started looking for the old railroad bed (not pictured in this parks service map) that would take us to the Hart mine.

I didn't take any pictures as it was getting dark and we wanted to camp on the Mojave Road so time was of the essence to watch the eclipse.

Sundays route
Hart mine - New York Mtns Rd
New York Mtns Rd - Ivanpah Rd
Ivanpah Rd - Mojave Rd
Mojave Rd - Black Canyon Rd
Some crappy cell shots of the eclipse at totality.
Camp site and bouldering! Who could ask for anything more!
Entrance to Hole-in-the-Wall where we did the short Rings hike.
Ran down to Fenner for some fuel and burgers. The boy about chit himself when he saw the fuel prices. $5.2499999999999999 WTF!

From Fenner we backtracked on the 40 to Kelbaker Rd then started north again.
Granite Pass overlook
Kelso dunes

We made a couple of stops that I didnt bother to take pics at and then headed home.

Overall we ran about 350 miles in 24 hrs. Not a bad way to spend a weekend!

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[ExplorerTom]

Why is it covered in so much mud?