Wow-- quite an adventure! I wish we had roads like that to get lost on near where I live!

I did have a similar thing happen to me a couple of hours north of here, though. I was in my grandma's Honda (between vehicles waiting for the JK to be released) and the TomTom all of a sudden had us driving down a graded dirt road. I figured it would be fine as long as it didn't get too rough.... and then we came to the first stream crossing.

Needless to say, I turned around and headed back the way I came.

 

On Microsoft Maps sattelite view it looks like the raod used to go straight across the river at the bend but now veers off to the left and follows the river before it crosses via a small bridge to the "main" road. Maybe the water was just up over this portion of the road?

 

Looking at the wrong Dry Branch road.. if you're talking about the one that suddenly heads south.. scan up north.. the next road just north is the one I took.

It has a big U-bend as it crosses the river.

There are no bridges.

Yeah, I just looked at the Dry Branch you're viewing.. it looks paved. When I go back I'll double check.

Look north of that road.. you'll see it

 

I found the road on google maps, looks like fun. There seem to a lot of those little local roads in that area. Happy exploring

 

Just an update.

I have now gone back to Dry Branch multiple times and taken a few friends.

My brother and nephew have even driven down there and gone fishing in Paint Lick.

We met another couple down there fishing and chatted for a while. He said he's been fishing there for a long time and never sees anyone.

Very friendly, though I think a little taken aback that someone else had discovered this secret place. I kind of felt bad. Haven't been back since.

I have also gone both directions on it. The second and third times through weren't nearly as fun as the unknown was no longer there. It also felt shorter than I remember it the first time, but I guess everything does after the first time you travel it.

Still its a nice little trail to explore and test your Jeep out if you're in the area. Now that I've seen other areas, I'd rate this as a 6 out of 10 with the water fording and some of the rougher sections of the trail requiring solid observation, along with a couple of mud pits you need to get through with a little accelleration or risk getting stuck.

I've gone alone (single vehicle) everytime, but I would not recommend it personally unless you're brazen. The water is the trickiest part as the depth changes with the rains here. I went down another time and it was about as high as the first day, and my brother and I turned around. (This was coming from the other direction, not the original way which is almost impossible to turn around on.)

Didn't want to risk it if we didnt have to.

 

even though there are no pics. it is a great story and somehting most people wish they could do and come out of without getting towed

 

some times stories without pics are great, you can lt your mind wonder how it all looks and you can feel the adrenaline yourself, i like it, great story my friend

 

cool story.

 

Went again today with a coworker who also owns a JK. This was his first time taking it off-road. I'm the blue JK, he's the green JK

Can you believe Garmin includes this road as a possible route?

The water was the lowest I've ever seen it today. Haven't had any serious rain in a while so we were able to drive upstream a ways and explore some more.

 

Wow! Great story. You don't have to be crazy to be a Jeeper but it sure helps. Thanks for some great reading!