Southeast Overlanding?

Is late July too early to plan a rally point?
Thinking 17 - 20 or 26 - 29. Friday eve arrival / camp setup, Monday exit-whenever.
Windrock OHV.
There is a campsite area, or primitive camping is permitted. Looks like a few good areas that would handle at least 6 rigs up on the ridges - great views!

Not all day rides but hit some local POI's.
Found these within 30 minutes...
Brushy Mountain State Penitentiary - Self‑guided tour + distillery + food
International Friendship Bell (Oak Ridge) - Home of the Manhattan project
American Museum of Science & Energy

Any input or not interested?

Absolutely interested. Either of those weekends work for me. Can arrive Fri. eve and stay till Tuesday.
 
Is late July too early to plan a rally point?
Thinking 17 - 20 or 26 - 29. Friday eve arrival / camp setup, Monday exit-whenever.
Windrock OHV.
There is a campsite area, or primitive camping is permitted. Looks like a few good areas that would handle at least 6 rigs up on the ridges - great views!

Not all day rides but hit some local POI's.
Found these within 30 minutes...
Brushy Mountain State Penitentiary - Self‑guided tour + distillery + food
International Friendship Bell (Oak Ridge) - Home of the Manhattan project
American Museum of Science & Energy

Any input or not interested?
I'll be your huckleberry! As of right now, I might just wonder around for all those dates.!!!

@grubworm, @PaddyWhack, @mwilsonsr58, request that you chime in! Do either of these dates (July 17-20 or 26-29) work for you all? Depending on your availability and desire, we can run Windrock and then we can meet up and run the GAT. Options for which direction is determined by your home of record. We can run the Georgia Traverse route in either direction makes no difference to me!

Oh boy, now I'm excited!!
 
july is too hot for us. tried a few times and just too miserable...
we normally go November - March

when its too hot for the wife to even go shopping...you know its bad...:confused:
 
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I am in Reno and absolutely love the west for wheeling, I have lived in Georgia for a bit and am retiring to MS in a year (?), All I've seen is non wheeling like out here, and muddy slick rocks, not my thing, so I am praying some of you folks get some places discovered in the region so I do not have to tow my jeep out west to wheel!

Jim
 
I am in Reno and absolutely love the west for wheeling, I have lived in Georgia for a bit and am retiring to MS in a year (?), All I've seen is non wheeling like out here, and muddy slick rocks, not my thing, so I am praying some of you folks get some places discovered in the region so I do not have to tow my jeep out west to wheel!

Jim

Jim, congrats on the potential retirement! Might have to question your life choices about the MS move, but you have your reasons!!! . I lived in Meridian and not my cup of tea.

There is a ton of great trails in the Appalachian Mountain ranges. From GA, NC, TN, KY! The KAT has the harder trails. I have not done it but it is what I have gleamed from videos and reading! The Smoky Mtn 1000 was a thrill to weave in and out of the FSR’s. Its primary vehicle is a motorcycle so, we fit right in!!

You will just have to settle for 6k max elevation instead of 14k. My 2 trips last year, I experienced phenomenal trail conditions and vistas. Max Patch area was one of them! Clingmans Dome might have changed their name but the Smoky Mtn views at 6k feet is breathtaking. I can only imagine 14k….
 

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Here are some maps of the trails.
 

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im a big Burt Reynolds fan and a lot of his movies were filmed in Georgia...

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Might be cool to do something based off his movies...maybe have "The Deliverance Run" based off that movie. Or have the "Bandit Run" where 5-6 of us each get a case of Coors and see who can get it from one side of the state to the other the quickest using only county roads...
 
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im a big Burt Reynolds fan and a lot of his movies were filmed in Georgia...

View attachment 300126

Might be cool to do something based off his movies...maybe have "The Deliverance Run" based off that movie. Or have the "Bandit Run" where 5-6 of us each get a case of Coors and see who can get it from one side of the state to the other the quickest using only county roads...

If you make it Sam Adam's Lager I'm in. I wouldn't drive across the street for Coors. Lol.
 
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I am trying to change up the boring ride to North GA. I75 is a great point A-B ride and its 5-6 hours just to get to the top of FL. but man......yawn.....boring, The 2 GA Buc-ees stops are my only entertainment!

I have been toying with the idea of the southern sections of the SEBDR from Eglin AFB to the start of the GA Traverse (near Rome GA). Then continue on to Dalton, GA. Then another decision point of either heading north to Windrock or continue east on the traverse. From Eglin AFB to the start of the Traverse is a 7 hour/360m google drive. Most likely 1-2 days on a SEBDR hybrid mix of country/FSR roads. It looks like only 4 National Forest systems to get to Dalton, GA. I just haven't made up my mind..

In the N GA, TN, NC areas, there is so much overlap with the SEBDR, Traverse and SM1000. I need to make this interesting....Maybe I will just pull a Harvey Dent coin flip, choose chaos and wing it!
Tune in tomorrow…same Bat-time, same Bat-channel!
 

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Mr Wilson, what is the general area you will be in during 5 weeks? I have a planned trip of “Go West young man” which would be about 5-6 weeks but my truck repair robbed me so I have to rethink my costs…the pic is just a bunch of POI’s linked together. It’s daunting to plan a 6k miles trip starting in SWFLA.
I will be stopping in Santa Fe for a day , then on to Petrified Forest, Grand Canyon, Hoover Dam, Zion National Park, Canyon Lands NP, Moab area, and then to Colorado. Stops in Colorado are Telluride, Ouray, Lake City and then down to Mesa Verde NP and then back to Georgia. Will be back in Georgia about 2 weeks before heading to Overland Expo East.




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I might be able to make a night of the 17 -20 July dates. I am retiring in mid-August, and work is trying to get as much as the can out of me before I leave. Depending on what the group decides, I might meet up at camp for a night just to introduce myself.
Who is planning on going to Overland Expo East? We could plan a meetup there. I plan to head up a couple of days early, spend the first night at the City of Bristol campground (Sugar Hollow Campground). The next day, head to Roanoke to visit the Virginia Museum of Transportation. That night, I will probably be wimpy and stay in a hotel; there is a restaurant that I have been promising to take my wife to for a while. (Montano's). Thursday morning, head to Overland Expo. I have purchased premium camping so I could arrive on Thursday. I originally planned to drive the Blue Ridge Parkway back south until I discovered that all the campgrounds close the same weekend as Overland Expo.