Sampson-Richland Rd. Trail Watagua/Caldwell County

the trail crossed the creek in several places. the jeep in the pic is no more than 10 ft. from one of the crossings. there are 2 playgrounds there that have some fun hill climbs. i have been going there for several years and any given sat, you can see 15 rigs at these playgrounds. while they are on the trail im sure thats private land but in my years there i have never been asked to leave or know anybody else that has had any trouble. the areas to stay away from are the first of the trail and the end because ppl live in these areas. the 2 play areas are in the middle of the trail miles away from any houses.
 
If your looking for a nice easy ride for your Family, Uwharrie has several trails that are on the very easy side. Or you can go to Brown Mtn OHV if your wanting a more mountain type ride, The OHV at Brown is not much more than a rough dirt road, It has some nice views and the weather is generally cooler. If you go to Brown check out the wilson creek area.
 
Man I wish we could get to the good trails at Brown. There is some Tellico level nasty stuff there.
 
The problem is with Brown is that is a 4wheeler strong hold.

I have spoken to Debbie the forest service rec rep for Brown, Though it was very brief, The interest is opening additional trails to 4wd is not really there (FS that is). I believe if we could start a program like Eli has going at URE that the FS could be swayed to look at opening up additional trails to us. The adopt a trail program could be a huge thing for Brown Mnt.

I contacted Debbie last year about doing a Trail Clean up, and you can tell by her reaction that I was the first to ask that in a very long time. Currently the FS is doing all the maintenance and clean up at brown. I believe we (4wds) could help with some of that work load.

There are tons of trails there. Been meaning to get with someone on a Side by Side and see what could be wheelable if opened up in the future.

But this is all just a pipe dream in my head at the moment.
 
Cottrell Pl Entrance

I have ran the 321 through to Sampson road several times, but never tried the Buffalo Cove leg of the trail.

I used MapDroyd on my phone and managed to find the Cotrell Pl entrance, only to find an impassable locked gate only a few hundred yards from the pavement.

I briefly explored the roads in the area, and could find nothing else.
 
Dugger Firetower Road

A side note: my friends and I have noticed several long trails around a road called "Dugger Firetower Road". This is off of Sampson Road near the exit to the Richlands Trail. A small section of Dugger Firetower Road is accessable directly from Sampson Rd but a locked gate is a mile or so up the road.

Looking at maps, Dugger Firetower Road is long, and has lots of spur-off trails. I noticed that a large new development is being built near here, but I am unsure of the exact location/scope of this.

For maps, I like to use http://www.openstreetmap.org because it is user edited so it includes lots of trails and little known roads.

Does anyone have any information about the Dugger Firetower area?
 
I got my old xj stuck back near the mud hole in the far right corner of the second playground about 6 or 7 years ago....in the snow. No cell phone service.....We walked all the way to 321. Fun times
 
Holy thread resurrection (yeah I know)

I can't find anything about whether this is still public land, private, LEGAL to drive or what. PLENTY of 4x4 groups on FB planning trips, posting pics of trips past...etc but nothing on the legality of it all.

Whats the deal?
 
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paradisePWoffrd said:
There are some other threads here talking about this, but... The road itself is legal, anything off the side of the road is illegal without written permission.
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Thanks. I don't want to be a part of anything illegal or that puts us at risk of losing more LEGAL opportunities.
 
CasterTroy said:
Holy thread resurrection (yeah I know)

I can't find anything about whether this is public land, private, LEGAL to drive or what. PLENTY of 4x4 groups on FB planning trips, posting pics of trips past...etc but nothing on the legality of it all.

Whats the deal?
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The deal is still the same if you read the first page of the thread. Its an abandoned state road that has private property on both sides. If you stay on the main "road" (trail), you are legal. If you do any of the play areas to the side, you are trespassing. The creek crossings are fun, and its a nice ride in the mountains, but nothing scenic and nothing challenging.
 
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CasterTroy said:
That's what I was checking...if anything had changed





My main interest was playing in snow
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Just for future reference (since this comes up about once a year, haha), here's a screenshot of Richland Road on the Caldwell County GIS:
upload_2016-1-8_14-55-24.png


And here's Penley road on the Watuaga County GIS:
upload_2016-1-8_14-56-52.png
 
I went about a month ago, as stated in lots of previous threads, the road is legal. The land on each side of the road is privately owned and there will be plenty of no trespassing signs. Stay on the main trail, have fun. It is a very mild trail but is fun for a quick little ride.
 
Map with Trail

Plotted this trail with a GPS app on my iPhone a year or two ago. Came in off of 321 and then exited somewhere out on the Parkway. I do remember seeing 3 or 5 of those big steel gates around the trail though. Just stay on the trail. It looks like fancy residencies are beginning to develop a few miles from the entrance of the trail.
 
There is some dang good trout fishing along this road. Been along time since I been down that away, need to check it out next time I head toward blowing rock, boone.
 
i tried to go out there.....but, the bridge says it's private property....can you only "legally" access the road via the creek crossing? I just work down the road in Lenoir...so it's somewhere to go mess around at lunch
 
GSRswapandslow said:
i tried to go out there.....but, the bridge says it's private property....can you only "legally" access the road via the creek crossing? I just work down the road in Lenoir...so it's somewhere to go mess around at lunch
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That's correct. The creek is the road. Any stock 4x4 can make it, and most cars can too if you're ballsy enough.
 
If I remember correctly, there are no "no trespassing" signs if you cme in from the Sampson Road end. Just a thought. But the trail is most fun when coming in from Richlands Road.
 
so the takeaway I get from this thread is that Fuller has a new login (again) and is Yerby?
 
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