How far do you drive per day? Miles(Km) or Hours?

[Cummins_Powered]

New to this overlanding business. I am used to four wheeling and rock crawling, i.e. 2mph for a few hours with a shortish drive to a trailhead. Sometimes camping midway through some harder/longer trails.

My question is, when doing a multiday trip with multiple campsites, how far do you drive per day? Or how far have you found to be an ideal distance to travel per day (on paved roads or on dirt)? Is there a trade-off you make between going long distances but still being able to relax at your destination? I am on the West Coast (Northern CA) if that makes any difference.

My goal is to plan some longer trips, up to a week potentially, but I dont want to plan driving 6 hours a day and just hate life (6 is just an arbitrary number i came up with).

Thanks guys and gals!

 

[Robert OB 33/48]

It all depends on the goal.
Are the tracks tough, well the distance will be shorter.
But if we take Overlanding in the mild form, you do actually paved/dirt roads (as we did in Morocco) like around 200km per day. And with light tracks around 25 km per day.
If we do light tracks in the Netherlands, we do far less. As the traffic of walkers, bicycles, horses and more is more densed. So speed is slower.
I prefer doing an average of around 150km per day here in Europe. With around 65% dirt roads and tracks.
Rock climbing and such we hardly have in our part of Europe.

 

[Quicksilver]

Terrain dictates. It depends on the type of trip you're taking, and as Robert said above, what your goals are.

If you're doing something like Backcountry Discovery Routes, you'll likely be spending more hours behind the wheel, though probably not as much distance. You'll still want to plan ahead and have an idea of where you want to stop each day, but you'll also need to be somewhat flexible to accommodate the condition of the trail. Which, from your post, sounds more like the type of thing you already know about.

For the trip we took last year, we had several spots that we wanted to see and spend significant time at. Most of that trip was highway and maintained dirt roads. I had done map recon ahead of time, and had primary and back-up camp spots located. So each days goal was simply to get to the next place and set up camp with enough time to enjoy the area. I think the longest time we spent driving that week (aside from the return trip) was about 4 to 4 1/2 hours.

My advice would be to start with some research on the area that you want to drive to/through. Looks for spots that hold some kind of interest for you. Examples could be geologic formations, places of historical interest, or places/things you want to photograph. I've found that researching one place often reveals mentions of other places nearby that I hadn't heard of before. Plot everything out on a map (I use Google Earth, and drop pins at all my locations), and plan a route based on that, taking into account the amount of driving time per day that you feel comfortable with, and let it evolve from there. This is how I typically how I start planning a trip, and it works well for me.

 

[Cummins_Powered]

Thanks to both of you, this is good info. Planning a trip this weekend up to Mendocino NF (assuming they open it up after the heavy rains in time) where i have a number of options as to campsites at varying distances. I think this will give me a good feel as to what to expect and what i am comfortable doing in terms of drive times.

Keep those responses coming! Thanks!

 

[Montaska]

Of course, available destinations will determine driving time but I have personally found that 4-5 hours worth of driving lets me cover ground but also not feel "jet lagged" when I get to my destination. That being said, I'm sure people who have more experience than I (and my experience is limited) can go farther without getting that feeling.

 

[Robert OB 33/48]

I think it has nothing to do with experience, but with the goal.
And what you have to do to reach that goal. And the circumstances like weather, season and more.
Like, when we were in Morocco, light was down around ten in the evening. So, start driving around ten in the morning, and have a good time during the day, we covered in some occasions around 250km. And still set up camp in the sun, with plenty of time to make food and such.
But, the goal was the scenery during the day, and going to the south into the dunes. So, that made the difference.
There is also the fact of how long does it take you to set up camp, do you have kids, a dog, whatever it takes to make a camp build taking longer.
So, actually, what one day will work out fine, wont the next day.
As I see a guy like Ronny Dahl in Australia, how often he arrives in the dark at camp, I guess, experience has absolutely nothing to do with it.
Just take it easy and go with the flow. Make it yourself easy to set up camp, even in the dark.

 

[[DO]Ron]

All depends on where to go and what kind of holiday.

As Robert says, if we stay in the netherlands or just do some tracks it isn't far at all. But a few years ago (before I even owned a 4x4) we went on a trip to Rome and on the first day we did our overnight stop at Milan, thats a 1000km trip. And on the second day we did the remaining (about 600?) KM of the trip.

So it all depends on where to go and what kind of rush you are in to get there :P. But about 1000 km (on paved roads ofcourse) is kinda the maximum I would want to drive in a single day.

 

[Smileyshaun]

It will also depends on the vehicle you drive, I could pound out alot more miles in my grand Cherokee then I can in most any other vehicle I've owned . And alot depends on you and what you find comfortable I have no problem driving for 8-10 hours on a long summer day off the beaten path some people are worn down after 5 . Best thing you can do is just go out and put some miles under your butt and see what works for you .

 

[Joey83]

Depends on the trip, but I'm comfortable with drive 8-10 hours in a day and 6-800km (400-500 miles) as long as I have snacks/drinks and lots of good music.

 

[Cummins_Powered]

Appreciate all the comments and thoughts, thanks all.

More input is always welcome! Ya'll rock.

 

[Madbodhi]

To reach the area we'll be exploring interstate driving we'll do 10 hrs. Only stops are for gas and snacks. Just try and eat the miles up. The wife does all pavement driving and 10 hrs is about the limit without being fatigued the following day. Once we arrive in the target area then anything beyond maintained gravel I take over. We normally spend 4-5 hrs exploring trails and seeing the sights before a lunch break then another 1-2 hrs looking for the perfect dispersed camping spot. We have 2 kids so setting up camp well before nightfall so they can tear around the countryside burning up energy before settling in is important.

 

[Anak]

To reach the area we'll be exploring interstate driving we'll do 10 hrs. Only stops are for gas and snacks. Just try and eat the miles up. The wife does all pavement driving and 10 hrs is about the limit without being fatigued the following day. Once we arrive in the target area then anything beyond maintained gravel I take over. We normally spend 4-5 hrs exploring trails and seeing the sights before a lunch break then another 1-2 hrs looking for the perfect dispersed camping spot. We have 2 kids so setting up camp well before nightfall so they can tear around the countryside burning up energy before settling in is important.

Yep.

We can cover plenty of distance on pavement in order to reach our destination. Then it is time to slow down and explore. Giving The Varmints free time in camp is what will make the most memories for them. They don't get nearly as much from the view out the window as they do from getting dirty and finding forts and waging their own little wars on each other. Of course, everyone knows Juniper berries are bullets and pine cones are hand grenades, right? (Roll eyes.) But that uncivilized fun is the foundation for the appreciation of nature they will have later in life.

Back on topic, once we are in our area for exploring we probably do less than 40 miles/day. Terrain dictates much of this. And it doesn't make that much sense to try to cover large distances once off the beaten path. It is time to shift into a lower gear (literally and figuratively) and savor the environment. Just remember to duck for the hand grenades.