Preparing for my first trip to Uwharrie...

Tribefan

New Member
Joined
Aug 28, 2013
I moved to Charlotte from Cleveland, Ohio a few months ago and I've been itching to bring my Jeep to Uwharrie. I might be able to finally get there this weekend. I've only gone off-road twice in my Jeep. Once in some woods, and once on what used to be an ATV track that has since grown over. What I'm wondering is if there is anything specific anyone recommends that I bring with me, other than what I already have.

What I have:
2012 Jeep Wrangler Unlimited w/Auto, 3.21's, no lift, quick disconnects or lockers
Mods/gear: 285/70R17 Duratracs, Engo E9000 winch, 20' tow strap (no metal hooks), MV50 portable air compressor, shovel, hatchet, saw, first aid kit

What I'd like to do:
Enjoy riding the trails without damaging my Jeep. It's my daily driver.

I already know I should avoid Daniel. Anything else I should stay away from? What about weather? I've read conflicting things about going to URE after it's rained. Some say it's way to slick and tricky. Others seem to say it drains well and isn't too bad. I'm guessing a lot of those opinions have to do with their own vehicle configurations. A couple of my cousins will be riding with me, but I won't have a companion vehicle so I will do my best to avoid really muddy-looking areas if there are any.

Any guess as to how much time I should expect to spend there if I were to tackle all the trails my Jeep could handle? Also, if we wanted to bring lunch with us, is it easy to pull off and set up a couple chairs to eat and take a break? Or would we need to go back to the outpost?

Thanks in advance for any advice.
 
Im going on the 30th with my family , you can tag along then also if you want . from the last time i went after it rained it was pretty slick. if its dry , you shouldnt have any problems .
 
I might be in Ohio for that Thanksgiving weekend, but if I'm not, you might just see me there. Thanks for the invite.

As far as going after it's rained, is it still slick several days after, or just a day or so (assuming it's not a typhoon)?
 
This was a couple days after some rain . Guys I was following had a lot better tires than me , but was having lil hard time .
ImageUploadedByTapatalk1384785467.244398.jpg
 
Tribefan, you sound like your good to go man!

Just go slow and pick good lines. It would be of benefit to you to get with someone who has been before and follow though.
 
interesting. Was that on one of the more advanced trails?
 
Bogleparsons said:
Tribefan, you sound like your good to go man!

Just go slow and pick good lines. It would be of benefit to you to get with someone who has been before and follow though.
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Yeah, my cousin has a friend with a Jeep that out of commission right now, but he's trying to convince him to get it fixed in time to join us. I guess he's been there a couple times.
 
khwrx said:
Yeah that was heading to daniel , i have new tires now :D.
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Cool. So, the tires in the picture, were they old (worn) tires, or tires not suitable for the conditions?
 
The trails do stay a little slick for a day or two after a rain and would make the trails quite a bit more challenging for you, but don't let it deter you. Start on the easiest trail and go harder if you feel up to it. There are plenty of places on the trail to stop and rest or eat lunch.
 
It usually dries up pretty fast you shouldn't have any problems unless it rains the same day your there. Theres plenty of room to pull over and camp or eat or just to get out and walk around. If you know what your doing you can make it up both ledges on daniel with both axles open, but you probably don't want to do that because of the trench your in on the second ledge you can easily hop over and beat up the side of the body, it happened this past sat. Every other trail for you will be fine.
 
Thanks for the responses. I appreciate all the advice/feedback.
 
you are more than welcome to tag along with us the weekend of the 13th,14th,15th of december.Be a cowd of us going up. Follow me and you'll be fine.
 
My 2 cents:

For a new wheeler, avoid any of the trails that start with "D"

-Dickey Bell
-Dutch John
-Daniel

You'll probably find yourself way out of your element on those. Begin with the others. That said, I ran all of them my first true wheeling experience ever but I was in a very capable rig and was more than a little nervous...

I think you can run the other trails with very little issues and will have fun while doing it. The 101/201 class would also be a great idea.
 
Team up with someone on here. You will be much better off and more than likely make a great friend. Also get on TreadLightly.com and learn to wheel responsibly.

Oh, and be prepared for this to become an addiction and feel the urge to modify your jeep an start venturing out to other places haha.


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77GreenMachine said:
Team up with someone on here. You will be much better off and more than likely make a great friend. Also get on TreadLightly.com and learn to wheel responsibly.

Oh, and be prepared for this to become an addiction and feel the urge to modify your jeep an start venturing out to other places haha.
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X2
 
Really great stuff here. Thanks everyone!

I recently found out about the 101/201 classes. That is something I do plan on doing, so what I'll probably do is just hit the easy trails for now, so that I can get a trip in before the season is over. Then next year I'll be ready to tackle the tougher ones once I have attended the class and installed a lift and maybe some rock sliders and/or extra skids on the Jeep. I'm am fully aware that knowing what you're doing is often much more important than having the gear on your rig to protect it from your inexperience or bad choices.

Once I know which day we're going for sure, I'll see if anyone on here is planning on going that day and maybe we could team up with them.
 
Oh, and too late about the mod bug biting me. It but me last year right after buying my Jeep. I just don't have the funds to do more than one thing every here and there.
 
Ok, it looks like I'll be going on Saturday and will be going with someone my cousin knows so I'll have somewhat of a tour guide.

One question: I was thinking about packing a cooler to bring lunch. Thought it would be cool to cool some hot dogs or something on some kind of fire instead of just bringing sandwiches. Do they allow you to make any kind of small fires to cook on if you pull off the trail to rest/eat? Or are you only allowed to do that in the camping areas? If that the case, maybe I'll just bring a camp stove or something.
 
Good idea. I don't want to burn the place down on my first visit. Lol.

I just looked over the different trail descriptions on fa.usda.gov. I think I'll start by going on Wolf Den TR 89 since it's the only one they label as easy. Then I'll work my way through everything else that doesn't start with a "D". One thing I can't find is what should I put into my GPS to find my way there? Do I use the Ranger Station address?
 
Yep. All the folks at the Outpost are good people. Usually can meet other wheelers there also.

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