Jeep CJ7 – a true trailhead classic
Being the proud owner of Jeep Wrangler, I rapidly joined a 4WD club, and started hitting the trails. The situation may be different in other parts of the US, but at least in the South East, there are only two types of places where you can really use a Jeep for what it’s capable of. Dedicated OHV (Off Highway Vehicles) Parks, and a few US Forest Roads.
A forest road – as it should be
The US Forest Roads are primarily built and maintained for the benefit of the professional users of the forest (loggers, US Forest Service teams), and to a lesser extent of the public at large (fishermen, hunters, hikers, campers…) driving “normal” cars and trucks. They are not supposed to be an obstacle course, and if they present sometimes interesting challenges for the driver of a well prepared Jeep, it’s more by accident (generally as a result of uncontrolled and massive erosion) than by design.
A US Forest road transformed by erosion
OHV Parks, on the other hand, are areas dedicated to off-road activities. Some parks are built on public land and are managed by the US Forest Service, some are private-public partnerships, some are totally private. Most visitors now drive UTVs and Side by Side vehicles, with drivers of conventional 4×4 vehicles representing a smaller part of the contingent. In the South-East, the parks are located in hilly forest areas (sometimes sold back to local governments after coal mining or logging operations have ceased), and the trails are generally narrow, just large enough for a Jeep Wrangler (a full size pick-up truck would be too long and too large).
a Toyota Tacoma on the same forest road – having a good spotter is essential
Not all those 4×4 vehicles are Jeeps, but the Wrangler was the only game in town for so long that non-Jeeps are a rarity, and generally very old. Jeep models with coil spring suspensions (TJs, JKs and JLs, in short any Wrangler built after 1996) predominate, and they are not really “trail-head classics” yet. Most of them are “built” to a certain degree – generally the older, the more modified the rig is.
Jeep LJ Rubicon – considered the holy grail by the Jeep community
So, let’s look at real Trail Head Classics. First, the “other” Jeeps.
CJs – you don’t see many CJs on the trails anymore – only a few heavily modified rigs are still being wheeled. The rest are collectors now, selling for twenty to thirty thousand dollars. Pampered, and ready for a drive to the trendy bar nearby, but too nice to be battered on the trails.
YJs (the first Jeeps named “Wrangler”, the only ones with the rectangular headlights and the last ones with leaf spring suspensions) don’t get much love with the trendy bar crowd, and are more bangers than classics. The ones you see on the trails are heavily modified, often converted to coil springs for more articulation, and many reach the trailhead on a trailer – they would be too slow on the road in their current state of preparation.
Jeep YJ in action – with a copious lift
Like the YJs, Cherokees (the XJ generation) are one of the cheapest ways to get a very capable 4×4 truck, coming with coil spring suspensions and a transfer case, but their station wagon body is more exposed than the narrower tub of a Wrangler, and they are often missing doors and fenders, to the point of not being road-legal anymore.
Another classic – the Cherokee XJ
The second most represented car make is Toyota. 4Runners are capable and dependable trucks, they have the ground clearance and the articulation needed to pass the obstacles, but they tend to be a bit too large for the trails of the South-East, and often leave pieces of their bodywork on the biggest boulders. Tacomas, like the other pick-up trucks, are a bit too long, and their leaf spring rear suspension is not the best at articulation.
Toyota 4Runner in action
Old Land Cruisers (the J40 series sold from 1960 to 1986) are like the Jeep CJs – a few heavily modified J40s are still being wheeled, but most of them are pampered collectibles. Recent Land Cruisers are big and expensive luxury vehicles (in the US, at least) and I’ve not seen anybody wheeling them.
Toyota Land Cruiser FJ
You can’t mention Toyota without writing about Lexus.
Toyota or Lexus?
The GX and LX models are very similar to the Toyota 4Runner and Land Cruiser, and can share the same attributes (transfer case, coil spring suspension). If their driver is willing to modify them a bit, and does not care too much about preserving the body, there’s not much to stop a lifted GX or LX.
Toyota and Lexus
The rest are curiosities – Land Rover Defenders (the old ones with the straight axles, not the fancy new ones with the air suspensions), Hummers H2, Suzuki Vitara, and rarities like the Steyer Puch Pinzgauer – grace the trails sometimes. Nobody tries to wheel really expensive SUVs (no Mercedes G, no Range Rover, no new-Defender).
Lunch break on a trail – a lone Pinzgauer in a crowd of Jeeps
As for cross-overs, we’ve all seen the occasional Jeep Compass at the trailhead – fortunately there’s always somebody kind enough to stop their drivers before they destroy their car on the first obstacle.
Mahindra next to another Land Cruiser
What about the Broncos? Like the Jeep CJs, the old 1st Gen Broncos are classics now, and the following generations are simply too big for the narrow forest trails of the South-East. The current generation Broncos (like most of the Jeep Wranglers) are predominantly used as mall crawlers, but the few you see on the trails are well spec’d, extremely capable, and can give a Wrangler Rubicon a run for its money.
Very few Defenders on the trails-this one is an exception.
Access to trails on public lands is the thorniest issue facing the 4×4 crowd – there’s a lot of competition for access (hikers, cyclists, bikers, horse riders, fishermen and hunters), and overuse by vehicles with aggressive knobby tires accelerates erosion. Add the pressure of people living in nearby communities – who don’t like the traffic to the trailheads, factor in budgetary constraints (maintaining trails is expensive), and the Forest Service has the perfect excuse to close an increasing number of trails to motorized traffic.
Private OHV parks are also under threat – with legislatures here and there voting bills requiring unrealistic liability insurance policies from the park operators, and driving them to closure.
Four wheel drive clubs are trying to make off-road driving more broadly accepted by promoting a responsible and respectful behavior on the public trails – but they tend to have a limited influence on the users of UTVs and side by side vehicles, who are not as gregarious as Jeep owners and tend not to join clubs.
A side by side – most people call them RZRs even when they’re not made by Polaris
The best hope of 4WD community lies with local governments in areas badly hit by the evolution of the world economy (closure of coal mines, for instance) – State and County officials are welcoming any initiative that would revitalize those areas, and see OHV parks as a way to bring tourists (and dollars) to their communities.
The scene with Tacoma was even challenging for T72 tank. As all terrain mobility, my put is opt for dirt motor bike. Of course you will not have all weather cabins with motor bikes.
BYW, I don’t see any Humvee and Hummer among those attending the event.
Where are these wonderful shots taken? When? Thanks
The shots were taken primarily in OHV parks in Tennessee (Windrock, Beaumont, Coalmont) and on US Forest roads around Suches, GA, at rides and events organized by two 4wd clubs, the Georgia Bounty Runners and the SFWDA. They both have web sites and welcome new members if you’re interested.
Great pictures here! And I’m glad to get a peek into the off-roading world, which is something I don’t have much experience with.
Interesting that you mention CJs – just last weekend my neighbors’ grandson visited them, and he drove a mid-’80s CJ-7. It was in good-but-not-great condition, and I thought it’s been a long time since I’ve seen one, and especially in that kind of condition. I have no idea where he found it.
The YJ might not get much respect among some people – which I’m sure is true – but when I drive my in-laws’ 1995 base Wrangler, I often get comments about it. Folks do seem to like those YJs, but clearly they’re not everyone’s idea of a dream Jeep.
Finally, I have relatives who just bought a new Wrangler this year, and right now they’re in the Pacific Northwest camping, and trying out some off-roading trails. What they’re doing is mild compared to these pictures, but still they’re having a great time. I have a feeling they’ll be doing more off-roading in the future.
Thanks again for the enjoyable pictures.
I do feel somewhat sorry for all the off-roaders in the East, as out here we have seemingly endless places to do that, especially in my part of the world. I now keep the Tracker in Port Orford, as the coastal mountains and forests are quite rugged, isolated and devoid of other people and cars, to an surprising extent.
Last weekend, CC’s dman came up to PO and spent a long weekend with me, and we took the Tracker on a nice loop drive up the Elk River and then connected to the Sixes River via some pretty minor forest roads. I was prepared to turn around at any time due to down trees from our rough winter storms, but some narrow cuts had been made in them, and this one big cedar had a chunk taken out to clear bigger cars.
I think we spent a couple of hours on that road, which became unpaved just minutes from US Hwy 101, but we didn’t see a single other vehicle. On Memorial Day weekend.
My friend Alan in PO has two 1953 Jeeps; one original and one he recently bought with a Buick V6 and many other upgrades. He takes them on “flatfender” group rides all over the West, including a three week trip to Alaska a few years back. The early CJs aren’t all just pampered collector cars, at least not out here.
Thanks for an informative post; a good background for newbies or non-off-roaders who are curious, and an interesting perspective for this West Coast dweller. Out here in addition to National Forests, we have Bureau of Land Management (BLM) which even has some legal wide open (no roads or trails) motor vehicle use areas. And both USFS and BLM have some highly technical two-track which is not strictly in an OHV area. In fact, we have at least one State Park and one National Park in California which have very challenging two track – but only for street licensed vehicles. So no UTV or side-by-sides. In fact the famous Rubicon Trail which mostly goes through National Forest is actually a county road. And it’s not easy!
Finally, we have mostly State run OHV parks in California, funded by a gasoline tax surcharge which all road users pay. Plus there is an entry fee but that’s no different than non-OHV State Parks.
And in the West Jeeps also prevail, though easier FS or BLM roads have lots of Toyotas and domestic pickups, and Subarus and crossovers are becoming more popular. Plus at least one lifted Scion xB 😀.
I’m more familiar with the wide open spaces that characterize the West Texas mountains (Yes, Texas has mountains). The Jeep LJ is ideal for such conditions. Drivable at highway speeds. Enough capability for all but the most challenging off-road conditions. I never thought much about how much more restrictive off-road travel would be in the more heavily populated Eastern states.
From our JK to yours 🐤
I’m completely ignorant to the hobby of off-road driving. From an outsider’s perspective, the hobby seems split into two disparate camps.
One is conquering the challenge of man and vehicle vs. increasingly difficult trails. I understand the positive emotional response to beating a challenge, but as this post points out, completing a trail may also destroy the trail further. It seems counterproductive to me.
The other group seems to enjoy using off-road vehicles for the purpose of visiting remote locations that few others will get to see. From what I can tell, this group has a specific ethic of doing their best NOT to destroy the trails they drive on. This strikes me as far more thoughtful and sensible.
Can some of you folks who participate in the off-road driving hobby tell me if I’ve gotten this right, please?
I would say you’re basically right. Obviously there’s some crossover, but mostly that is the case. And count me firmly in camp #2.
There’s a reason why so many off-road parks are on private land; the guardians of public land have to close down many areas that were being damaged.
Very well put, Evan. I started with a foot in both camps and now only do the second. However it is good to know what your vehicle (and you) can do because one unexpected washout or rock slide can turn #2 into #1 very quickly. And no one likes turning around 😀
Count me as one of those folks that know little about off road activities. I was aware of OHV parks, because many guys rode their dirt bikes there. I’ve seen lots of gnarly rock crawlers being towed across mountain highways. They must be going somewhere. The forest road system sounds interesting, especially since it should be easily traversed in a standard truck or SUV. I’m not a hunter, fisherman or camper, but I might enjoy a loop on those types of roads. Back when I was younger, I’d seek out unpaved gravel county roads as an alternative to ride my motorcycle on. I’m skeptical of those SUV commercials that show them crashing through streams, and over hill and dale. I always wonder if that’s legal, and if those vehicles can really do that.
There was an episode of Jay Leno’s Garage that showed a 4×4 trip from the Mississippi River, west bound ending at the Pacific Ocean. The trip was said to have been made completely on unpaved roads. That looked like a fun trip.
I like these sort of things with my Stock ’96 XJ but when the snow is out in the winter. We hit the state forest roads in the mountains that are shared use with snowmobiles so they are sometimes groomed, but never plowed or salted!
https://flic.kr/s/aHsmU3GKg8