A couple weekends ago I got together with some friends and did a little camping and off-roading through the George Washington National Forest. Our group had two 4th Gen 4Runners, one 5th Gen 4Runner and one Land Cruiser 100. Most of them headed down Friday night but I didn’t head down until Saturday morning. That ended up working out well because it poured rain Friday night!
Day One: Flagpole Knob
We started off on Flagpole Knob via Union Springs Road. Flagpole’s trail difficulty is what I would consider a green trail with a few dark green obstacles. Some have bypasses and some do not. Overall, it’s a very fun, easy going trail that can be enjoyed with your family or your friends without much worry of trail damage or broken parts.
Here’s a couple pictures through one of the sections that could prove “tricky” for those with stock trucks or have taken a bad line. It is a section that seems really simple, but for some reason, it has always given at least one person trouble. You can expect to get a tire off the ground and depending on the line, you may feel very tippy. (Check out the compression I can get on my Plastics Guy DuroBumps bump stops)
After Flagpole, we decided to head towards Big Levels via Reddish Knob. I had never driven up to Reddish Knob before, but was with people that had. As a warning, this is a very narrow single lane, two way traffic, [paved] road. PLEASE be careful when driving up or down. There are too many signs on the guard rails of all the people that weren’t careful enough.
Once we got to the top, the road transitioned back to dirt and we opened things up a little and had some fun. While “running” down the mountain I really got to put my new Plastics Guy DuroBumps bump stops to work. I will do a formal review later, but let me tell you – they are seriously amazing. The front soaked up all the bumps so well that my Bilstein 5100 front setup made my ICON rear setup feel rough and harsh.
Back on topic. At the bottom of the mountain, we scouted a few potential camping spots for future trips for Outbound Overland. The plan was to find a good campsite along the way from Flagpole to Big Levels. Turns out, there are a lot of really cool little areas tucked away off the main road on the river. they would definitely make for an enjoyable summer/spring spot.
After a short drive, we found ourselves at the trail head for Big Levels Jeep Trail. As we pulled up to the air down spot, there were several emergency vehicles blocking the trail. Fortunately, no one was injured, instead a brand new Jeep Cherokee swamped itself in a water crossing. Since the trail is so tight, they had to shut it down for the recovery. With the trail closed and daylight starting to fade, we decided to detour to our campsite and tackle the trail in the morning.
When we got to camp, it was really windy and starting to rain. Thankfully it cleared up shortly thereafter and we were all able to enjoy a great night relaxing by the fire. Despite the cold weather, there is just something so satisfying about being out in the wilderness “roughing it”.
