Looking for trails

[GriffinBurd]

First off let me introduce myself, I'm Ben and a student over at Clemson. I met Chuck in a Bi-Lo parking lot a short bit ago and after getting signed up at UC I've found my way over here. I'm looking forward to meeting some of y'all around town and at some meet-ups. I'm driving a smurf blue 1979 40, if you're colorblind you can probably recognize it from the little oil puddle that comes with it (will eventually be getting that taken care of).

I'm really looking for some good logging trails or old forest roads. I've just gotten my girl up and running after about 6 years after some serious abuse and think she should be retired from the serious stuff. I still want to find some good trials though that will occasionally need to be thrown into 4L every once in a while. Does anyone have any suggestions or even a map? I was recently over near Blue Hole waterfall up past Walhalla and it looked like it had some potential.

I looked going back a good number of pages and didn't see anything, if I'm mistaken point me in the right direction.

 

[BMThiker]

Welcome to the club. I'm sure there are plenty of FS roads around. You might check out the area around Sandy Ford (on the state line).
Check out the Andrew/Pickens area and download that FS map here:
http://www.fs.usda.gov/Internet/FSE_DOCUMENTS/stelprd3794709.pdf

You can buy that and other maps online or at ranger stations, if the multipage format is not for you:
http://www.fs.usda.gov/main/scnfs/maps-pubs

 

[the gimpey one]

Horse pasture aka jocassee gorges would fit the bill for nice rides in the woods. If you have no clue what I am talking about send me a message.

 

[CruisinTiger]

Glad you found the site Ben, was good talking with ya the other night.

 

[GriffinBurd]

Thanks for all the tips, didn't mean to have the delay in replying, just figured out that I didn't have email alerts turned on. Gimpey, I have no clue what you're talking about but I'm going to look it up, BMThiker those are just the kind of maps I'm looking for.

I took it to Blue Hole Falls the other day which is up near Mountain Rest and down some improved gravel roads with a short .25 mile section that you need to get all four tires moving on. Heard some grinding as I went up and over the larger bumps, almost like the skid plate was scraping, but after checking the GoPro it wasn't hitting anything. No issues though in 4wd cruiser at 30 mph on the gravel roads though. Anyone have any thoughts?

 

[ClemsonCruiser]

Ben, glad you found the club. I met Chuck at the same Bi-Lo about 11 years ago when he spotted my blue 40, LOL. Unfortunately a lot has changed in the area in regards to offroad opportunities compared to when I was in school a decade ago. Used to be lots of places with in 30 mins of campus, but nowadays you are going to have to travel a little further and the selection is a lot smaller. Anyways I listed a few of the closest places below that would meet your criteria. Good Luck!



-Horse Pasture trails can be found here, (https://www.google.com/maps/dir/Cle...f11bdcc047!2m2!1d-82.8373654!2d34.6834382!1m0) This is area prob. your best bet.

-Also the Muster Ground trails open for hunting season in September. It is located on the back side of Lake Jocassee you enter through the Bad Creek Reservoir off highway 130.

-Gorges State Park has some nice gravel roads too.

-The closest 4wd trail worth anything to you, in my opinion is Ivestor Gap Road. Open August 15-January 2 (http://www.fs.usda.gov/recarea/nfsnc/recreation/bicycling/recarea/?recid=48284&actid=24) we have a club run there every October. It is a nice 3.5 mile trail easy going but a little rocky. There are some great campsites at the end with killer long range views. Great spot to drive out and set up a base camp and explore the area, as there are endless hiking trails in the area.Here are some pics

View from end of the trail!

 

[GriffinBurd]

I'll be looking to join y'all in October but I doubt I'll be able to wait that long. I'm guessing I'll try that out pretty soon after Ivestor Gap Road opens, though I've never dealt with rock before, mostly swamp and water. I think I'm going to try Horse Pasture next week sometime. I'll throw up a mention on here once I work out a time in case anyone wants to join!

 

[BMThiker]

You should join us in August. Not FS roads, but guaranteed to be a good time. See this thread.

 

[GriffinBurd]

Looks like a fun time, the problem is it looks like it's the first weekend after classes start up so I'm likely to be pretty slammed getting everything straight.

There's also the little concern that I honestly don't know if I could put that many miles on my cruiser in one shot, tops out around 55 and leaks about a quart of oil every 50 miles.

 

[ClemsonCruiser]

Looks like a fun time, the problem is it looks like it's the first weekend after classes start up so I'm likely to be pretty slammed getting everything straight.

There's also the little concern that I honestly don't know if I could put that many miles on my cruiser in one shot, tops out around 55 and leaks about a quart of oil every 50 miles.

Sounds like you need to go visit Trollholes Cruisers in Greenville. He'll get that rear main leak you have fixed quickly. You don't want to be wheeling any where with a bunch of oil seeping out on to the ground

What are you majoring in at Clemson?

 

[GriffinBurd]

Not a bad idea, although just getting it back up and running pinched a good bit of my pennies. I'll shoot him a message though and see when he thinks he could get it in there. It looks like it's the main rear gasket, doesn't leak at all if engine is off, only when it's up and under pressure.

I've got another year or so left on my masters in environmental engineering.....I guess I'm learning to clean up the mess I'm making out there.

 

[ClemsonCruiser]

Yeah my money is on the rear main seal, right behind the flywheel, very common. Trollhole is a good guy, he ran the club for quite a few years and he knows his cruisers.

Good for you getting your masters. Took me 7 years to get my 4 year degree...... but I really loved Clemson didn't want to leave

 

[GriffinBurd]

Took me a few years to figure out I needed to come back. After seeing what it's like up here in the Fall it didn't take a lot of convincing to get me up here, leaving will be another matter.

 

[Trollhole]

Betting the grinding noise is the fan hitting the shroud. Check your motor mounts for cracks.

 

[GriffinBurd]

I'm looking at checking out Horse Pasture Trail this week but it's showing chance for storms every afternoon (nothing new there). Do I need to be concerned about the trail conditions up there if I do get caught in a downpour or is it all pretty solid?

 

[the gimpey one]

Gravel road. Should be fine.