Trip to Savannah, Georgia

[lacefro]

My buddy recently purchased a 2013 FJ Cruiser. He is super excited about it!! We are driving down to pick it up next week. The plan is to hit some trails and camp on the way down and back up. Looking for some suggestions. Any ideas?

 

[JohnVee]

Look up Georgia Traverse trail and see if runs near there.

 

[Explorer4Hire]

They are fun

 

[afgman786]

Look up Georgia Traverse trail and see if runs near there.

It doesn't. But it'd be fun.
Getting to Savanah from here there isn't much fun on the way unless you loop around

 

[JohnVee]

@izzyandsue wrote a book called Overlanding in the Southeastern US. I’m not sure where my copy is, but it’s full of info that might help you out. When do you depart NOVA, Rob?

 

[lacefro]

Look up Georgia Traverse trail and see if runs near there.

That was the first thing I looked up when we decided to do this trip. Unfortunately, it doesn't run the direction I need it to. Thanks @JohnVee

 

[lacefro]

They are fun

Thanks, @Explorer4Hire !! Yeah, he is super excited about it. He plans to flat tow it behind his RV and wheel it whenever the opportunity arises. I'm hoping to talk him into joining the club!

 

[lacefro]

@izzyandsue wrote a book called Overlanding in the Southeastern US. I’m not sure where my copy is, but it’s full of info that might help you out. When do you depart NOVA, Rob?

Hey, @JohnVee we are planning to leave around noon on the 26th of May.

 

[lacefro]

It doesn't. But it'd be fun.
Getting to Savanah from here there isn't much fun on the way unless you loop around

It sounds fun. I was hoping we could make it work but it doesn't look like we will be able to. You have family in Georgia, ever done the Georgia Traverse @afgman786?

 

[afgman786]

It sounds fun. I was hoping we could make it work but it doesn't look like we will be able to. You have family in Georgia, ever done the Georgia Traverse @afgman786?

Haven't don't the traverse yet but played around on FS roads in north GA. Everything I know is 3 or so hrs west of where you're going

 

[izzyandsue]

Not much to do around Savannah, but near Charleston you have Francis Marion National Forest. Its all coastal flats, and plenty of bogs off the road. Nice drives on the dirt roads, if you decided to veer off road, bring good recovery equipment, some of the bogs can be deep with that sucking mud.
But, you could park the RV and go exploring the trails.

 

[lacefro]

Not much to do around Savannah, but near Charleston you have Francis Marion National Forest. Its all coastal flats, and plenty of bogs off the road. Nice drives on the dirt roads, if you decided to veer off road, bring good recovery equipment, some of the bogs can be deep with that sucking mud.
But, you could park the RV and go exploring the trails.

Hey, @izzyandsue thank you for the helpful tips. I've got a winch, traction boards, and a shovel, hopefully, that will be enough if we happen to veer off the road. I've responded to your pm. We are driving my 5th Gen 4Runner down and picking up the FJ Cruiser and driving both vehicles back. That's the plan anyway.

 

[lacefro]

We made it down to Savannah, Georgia and back without any mishaps. We got to explore Francis Marion National Forest, thanks to @izzyandsue 's GPS coordinates. That was a lot of fun. My buddy and I found an awesome campsite that we had all to ourselves. We cooked celebratory steaks, potatoes, and veggies over an open fire told stories from our military days, and laughed and joked until late into the night. I have not had that much fun in a long time. The next morning thanks to @afgman786 's guidance we headed to Uwharrie National Forest and got to test out his Fj Cruiser. That thing is very capable, cannot wait to see what it can do at the Cove. We hit the following trails, Wolf Den, Slab Pile, Rocky Mountain Loop, and Sawmill. Shortly after airing down and hitting the trail it started to pour and turned the trails into an ice rink. Not wanting to damage either vehicle we called it early. My buddy was ecstatic!! He wants to join the club and go wheeling with us. It still amazes me what these vehicles are capable of off-road and still legal to drive on the road. It speaks volumes about the quality of a Toyota. Special thanks to @izzyandsue and @afgman786 for their guidance before and during my trip. It was extremely helpful!!

 

[izzyandsue]

Awesome! Glad you guys had the chance to do it. Looks like some liquid sunshine got on your way, those trails get pretty slick. I am packing my 43 now for Uwharrie later today, we have the Relic Run this weekend.

 

[lacefro]

Yes, they do. At times we were just holding on hoping not to slid into a tree. Thankfully the trails are not super narrow like they are at the Cove. I hope you have a good time at Relic Run. I definitely want to go back to Uwharrie and explore some more.

 

[JohnVee]

@lacefro You lucked out if you were on the trails there WHILE it was raining and didn't bash your junk up. Look out for info on Carolina Relic Run 2022 in the next few months. It'll probably be back to its normal April time next year. And, post up in ONSC, or call me, if you want to come down before then. We can get some friendlies to hang for a day or two.

Wasn't it great to have such a different terrain to drive on?

 

[lacefro]

@lacefro You lucked out if you were on the trails there WHILE it was raining and didn't bash your junk up. Look out for info on Carolina Relic Run 2022 in the next few months. It'll probably be back to its normal April time next year. And, post up in ONSC, or call me, if you want to come down before then. We can get some friendlies to hang for a day or two.

Wasn't it great to have such a different terrain to drive on?

Hey, @JohnVee I thought about texting you to see if you wanted to join us but I figured it was too close to Relic Run and I didn't want you to feel obligated and screw up your plans. We considered ourselves lucky to have escaped without any body damage. We both wanted to keep going, but I knew if we had a get out of jail free card and we didn't take advantage of it, it would come back to bite us in the long run. It was fun wheeling on something other than rocks. It was a good introduction for my buddy. We both want to go back to see what else Uwharrie has to offer. Maybe we can set something up in the near future?

 

[JohnVee]

Yeah. We’ll talk about that.