Swamp trail ride in Central Florida

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CruiseOrlando

CruiseOrlando

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Anyone out there interested in a ride around some of the trails here in Central Florida? I've been checking out quite a few in my 94. Had a lot of fun - nothing serious, mostly small mud holes and unimproved roads, but it's about all we've got around here - no big rocks to go over :)

My rig is pretty much completely stock, but I don't dare venture down some of the "closed" roads without someone else to help in case I make a bad move - I'm no expert at this either.

I've been looking for areas to ride around in, and the 58K acres in the Withalcoochee State Forest are some nice areas of just taking it easy, maybe a little side fishing trip and having fun getting your rig muddy as heck. I've been searching off and on for about 6 months now, and figured I'd share my "find" with anyone else in the area that's looking for something to do some weekend. With the weather getting into the "prime" stage, the only issue is to make sure you're not out there during hunting season days. :)

Cheers,

Carter
 
Whoops, just realized I posted this in the wrong area... I can't seem to figure out how to move the post. Help would be appreciated ;)
 
I am in Tampa. I've also been exploring alone. The only club I've found around here is Suncoast Flatlanders - Suncoast Flatlanders but I haven't been on any rides with them yet. They're having out of state rides this month and i am not ready for all that yet build wise. Today I went to richloam wildlife management area which is part of the withlacoochee forrest. I found a couple fun spots but richloam is a swamp in most areas so i don't feel to comfortable going it alone even with lockers and mud tires. All it takes is one deep hole to kill a rig. I found that out with my 77 f150 I usta wheel so its official ih8mud. If i had some one to ride with we could pull each other out if in trouble so we don't have to sacrifice our rigs to the swamp. I also went to croom wma today and it was dry but pretty boring. And as far as the closed roads. If the forestry officers catch you its a big problem they can take your rig and they can even give you a ticket for "mudding" even if the mud is in the middle of an open forrest road with no go around. So you've got to go right through with as little wheel spin as possible. I've never had the problem but have read other peoples stories. There's also hardrock ohv park in ocala and the ocala national forrest has some good trails. Search hardrock ocala or off road on YouTube. It looks like a lot of fun. It's an old limestone mine. I'm planning to go over the thanksgiving holiday weekend. Hit me up dannyponton@gmail.com we will have to meet up one day.
 
Holy crap, that's right where I was this afternoon as well (!). I took a gamble on a couple of swampy parts of the trails I probably shouldn't have being alone, but yeah... I made it out okay. There seemed to be quite a few folks out there today (my first time in that particular area).

Point taken on the trail. I saw one guy coming out with his Toyota PU, but I noticed the closed sign, so I just went somewhere else.

I've got straps, but I don't have a wench (yet)... I'll send you a note and we'll see what works.
 
I don't have a wench either. But that's only good for beer. A winch is perfect but it's cheaper to go with people. Does anyone belong to river ranch?
 
River ranch? I'm not sure what that is.

I'm actually headed out there on Sunday. Hopefully I won't get stuck :)
 
River Ranch on of SR 60 is good. You've got to be a property owner or a guest to get in and you have to check in and show proof of ownership. There are days that guests are not allowed.

Suburban Estates in East of St. Cloud is good to. I little more swampy during wet season than River Ranch. You've got to be a property owner to get in there too, but you use a key to open a unmaned gate (except big holidays, it might be manned).

You can team up with 3 other people and buy a 1/2 acre lot in either place. You can camp. Lots of people and 4-wheelers, mudholes, and partying.

Other places...Seminole St. Forest off of SR 46, and various wildlife management areas scattered around.
 
Good to know, but one question... what exactly constitues a "holiday" in the swamp? :)
 
I think we're going to shoot for November 6th...

Lesson learned: don't go out there alone. This was from last Sunday when I got my **** stuck so bad I had to call a friend to come get me out. Not good.

Stuck.jpg
 
In Richloam. Last Sunday I had a nice drive all throughout the area - that last bit was when I made a wrong turn and didn't turn around soon enough, got stuck (wasn't following my own rules, serves me right).

There's sooo many trails down there - if Danny gets his rig fixed up he's game. Depending on how many and when, I figure maybe a 4-hour drive.

Last Sunday I packed up a sub from Publix and a few waters, ate lunch in a nice beautiful spot... then went back to driving down the trails. I noted a few spots I really WANTED to drive down, but didn't dare without someone else.

There's also this one spot - Meg's Hole... which is, well, interesting. A big pit I didn't dare venture into on my own. Maybe later... if it's not too deep, that is...

If you're interested, let me know and we can meet up and head in together.
 
That sounds good to me. I was planning on being back at my house by around 1-2PM last weekend, but that didn't happen!

This is the trip I took on Sunday (if you have Google Earth installed). It was about 85 miles, and it took around 5 hours (sans getting stuck, and a little time spent taking pictures and stuff).

https://docs.google.com/open?id=0B3IYQUBanN46YjliNzQyMzEtY2I5Ni00OTQyLTk4ZDUtYTAxYWNmYmJmZGEz

The question is - do you want to just take it easy, or get dirty and stuck? I say get stuck because we probably will if we go down any of the side trails, and have to pull each other out/along the way. I don't mind doing that so long as there's someone else there to help out!

I'd be up for meeting around 10AM, tooling around until 1 or 2? As for where, that will depend on how muddy you want to get - north of 50 isn't too bad (actually a nice easy ride) and south of 50 is a freakin' swamp.
 
Great.

I would suggest printing a copy of the map for Richloam to have with you, just in case:

http://myfwc.com/media/1387081/Richloam.pdf

I'm thinking a good place to meet would be off of Burwell Rd and Lacoochee Claysink Rd (this is one of the west-most entrances). We'll take Claysink in and go from there. If I remember right, there's enough room off to the side of the road there where we won't be blocking traffic by waiting there for anyone who wants to show up.

10AM, Sunday November 6th? I should have an 8000# come-along with me as well... I just ordered a 9000# wench as well, but I don't think I'll have it installed by this time :)

-Carter
 
im deffinatly game for getting stuck as well. the trucks in the shop now getting a proper diagnosis. im pretty sure 2 solenoids will fix it but i dont want to replace un-needed parts so i will know for sure by monday. i havent pushed the truck yet to see what its really capable of because ive been alone everytime ive taken it out so im looking forward to a good ride.:cheers:
 
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