bkohler81

hey I'm looking for primitive camp sites that are fun to drive to - in 4wd. Nothing too crazy, maybe just a fire road or something like that. I'm taking my girlfriends little brother camping and wanted to have some fun in the truck on the way up

REKER

Bump, Id like to know of a few as well. Most are kept secrets though, for good reason to.

bkohler81

yeah dude, I went a couple years ago up in the Shenandoah's and it was fun. there was a couple guys drunk the first night and I watched them drive there Blazer off a 30 foot cliff. It was too dark and they thought they were entering a clearing, until the bottom dropped out on 'em. Nobody hurt, just a few egos bruised, haha - luckily the trail wasnt too washed out, they had to bring a wrecker up to winch the truck up.
I can't remember where those trails were or how to get to em though. I live in NOVA and it was only like a 3 hour drive. Camp sites, were cool all set along a stream that ran down the mountain and had some good fish.

CNUmotorsports

Within 3 hrs of virginia beach, you can find some of the best wheeling in VA. The George Washington nat'l forest has unlimited camping and many trail systems. I was up at Big Levels this past weekend, very fun trail that you can run all day long and still not see all of it.

bkohler81

if i wanted to go to GWNF like, this weekend, ride some trails with my STOCK xterra, find a place to set up camp, and just chill out - would I need to get some permits or pay any fees before I go? Or do I need to obtain some kind of information packet or something. I know these park rangers and stuff can be dicks if you dont do things the way they want you to. I've been yelled at a couple times for dumb shit.

and oh yeah, is my stock xterra good to go, how severe are the trails?

REKER

Yeah ive heard of a few places in GWNF, got any info on good trails/camp sites?

CNUmotorsports

Heres some of the info I could find pretty quick

I'll try to post more detailed trail information later on.

Your X-terra should be fine as long as you have 4WD.

The best area to go with a stock vehicle and still get an offroad experience is Shoe Creek. It has some rocky areas, water crossing, and a lot of great views.

Here are directions from Hampton Roads:

64 to cville, exit 118, rte 29 south, get into lovingston, stop at the liberty and fill up, keep going down, take a right on rte 56, stay on 56, turn onto rte 666, follow that until you see 827, follow 827 to the trail head

Heres a map of the general area:



Here's a link to the GWNF page with general information. I've never run into any problems camping. At Shoe Creek you'll see the fire pits or rock circles from where others have camped in the past close to the water.

http://www.fs.fed.us/r8/gwj/general_info/

CNUmotorsports

Here's a pic of what part of the trail will look like, just to give you a taste. Theres more rocks and heavier foliage in certain areas

CNUmotorsports

here's some more pics from a friends camera at Shoe Creek

REKER

Nice, thanks for the info/pics. I cant see the pics from work but will check them out when I get home. Im going to have to take my truck up there before it gets insanely cold.