aguyindallas

I have a 5 day stretch in July that I am off of work. I am looking for a place to go to do some camping and trailing in the JK. Nothing too crazy because I am not trailering the Jeep there. Not afraid of a drive, just looking to have some fun outdoors. Anybody have a trip that I can tag onto or is anybody else interested? Would be just myself and my almost 13 year old daughter.

resharp001

Are you looking more for an offroad park, or just out and about in the wilderness?

Barnwell Mountain out in Gilmer is a great off road park with various things to do for all builds. East Tx trees, longer trails through shade.....camping spots carved out in tree'd areas. It's a great weekend destination for wheelin'. Not too far away is Tyler State Park. That is a great place to camp as well. Great hiking trails, small lake that is great for canoeing, and good for just general relaxation. Caddo lake way out to the east is a nice park too....more of a bayou feel. Nice camping spot with hiking as well, but not a whole lot around as far as entertainment. Can do old timey paddle boad ride out on the lake which is fun.

If you're looking more for fire road type stuff, Beaver's Bend up in Broken Bow, OK is a good option. You can camp at the state park, fish in the river, kayak down the river......there's some hiking, and a lot of fire roads to explore in the jeep.

If it wasn't dead of summer I'd tell you that Big Bend is a must do trip. Check back in fall or winter if yo'd like some tips on that place.

Arkansas has great options as well. We just got back from Hot Springs Off Road Park. That place is great. They have fantastic state parks as well. I can't speak highly enough about Petit Jean SP. The Northwest corner of AR has Devil's Den SP and going to be various fire type roads to explore up there as well.

If I'm off the mark in what I've interpreted what you're looking for, steer me in the right direction and I can throw out different options. It's starting to heat up pretty good. To the south, McKinney Falls SP and Pedernales Falls SP in the Hill Country are really nice. Hidden Falls Adventure Park is down there too. In fact, there is an event down there in July....Crawl the Falls.

aguyindallas

Wow, lots of good options here, thank you. As far as intentions...really is to just get out and about. It's looking like none of my Jeep friends are able to make it so it would be a single rig adventure. Not looking for any tough wheeling, but some fire roads and decent climbs would be fine, along with a spot to camp out along the way. We just want to get outside!

resharp001

Even going as a single Jeep, I’d recommend visiting Hot Springs Off Road Park if you can work it in on a Thurs-Sun when they are open. I would say that although there are a ton of fire/forest roads in Arkansas and Oklahoma, they are what they are. I don’t think you’re going to find any steep climbs or whatnot. I would suggest shooting out to hot springs which is ~5hr drive. Spend a night and explore the Hot Springs area in general. Take half a day or so and visit the off road park. There are a lot of trails you can do out there as a single without being in any danger. A lot of nice trails through the trees that snake back and forth. Those trails can offer steep climbs and are very scenic without making you climb obstacles. I’m linking two maps from back when it was Superlift Park. These maps are color coded (unlike the actual park map) and you can easily see the amount of green and blue trails that you could run as a single. Not to mention you’d get a good look at the park in general and could return with buddies at a later date.

https://mw2.google.com/mw-panoramio/...m/27514919.jpg

https://mw2.google.com/mw-panoramio/...m/27514915.jpg

If you wanted, from there you could shoot up and spend time at Petit Jean SP. They have a cool waterfall/hike, some cave dwelling paintings, cool rock formations. If you didn’t want to go there, you could hit west Arkansas and see the Mena area, Queen Wilhemina SP, Cosatot River SP, and all the fire roads in that general vicinity. Depending on time left, from there over to Broken Bow, OK to see Beaver’s Bend SP and all the fire roads around there.

So much to do, so little time! You’re making me want to get back and out I was just at Hot Springs this weekend!!! I know a lot of that is repeating what I already said, but that is what I would do.

You might check out the Arkansas staging area and ask for specific back roads of interest in those areas.

tr0n

I am curious about Big Bend and I am planning trip this fall.

resharp001

The best time to visit is mid-October to mid-March. I'd highly suggest that you avoid holidays if possible. I'm happy to answer any questions about Big Bend National Park or that general area in regards to seeing things along the way if I'm able to. If you give me an idea of how long you have there, what kinds of things you're looking to do (hike, relax, etc.) how many people you're going with, age, etc....I'd be happy to suggest things as well. It's a really big park and lots to see, but most stuff requires a little work (ie, not pull up to parking lot, look, then get on your way).

resharp001

I actually made a new thread today with some notes.

https://www.jk-forum.com/forums/jk-t...0/#post4304205