Novice trails for Jeep beginner in STL area?
 

Hi guys. I took the kids to Lone Elk Park today and they had a blast going through the trail looking for wildlife with the top down. Today really brought to life the whole fantasy of what I wanted the Jeep for in the first place. However, a paved road through a park is not exactly the level of riding I want to do. Are there any popular fire-roads or mild trails in the St. Louis county area? I'd like to actually leave the pavement for a while in a safe and legal manner. Is Washita a good deal? Is that all there is close to St. Louis County?

welcome to jeepin!

if you keep an eye on the mwjt boards (midwestjeepthing.com) Marvin - who is the director of Trails - is trying to get a newbie run together in July - for people who are new to jeeping - not sure where it will be......but I am sure he will post up here when he has it planned.

As Grace said, welcome to the commuity. And the MWJT website is they best place to get started with Jeeping in the STL area.

Washita in Farmington is one of the closer places. But is has trails that can get very advanced. So as with any trip off road you should really make sure you are with someone incase you have any issues. Never offroad alone.

Hopefully Marvin will get something together soon. It is a much better experience to have others with the same goals.

According to the map of Washita's trails, I'm looking at nothing more than dirt roads and Mild trails. The more mild the better. I'm a complete beginner at this stuff and don't have any desire to break stuff on my first time out. It's just a plain old stock JK Unlimited X, so I don't have any illusions that I'm going to tackle Moderate or Difficult. I'd probably even be completely satisfied with gravel or dirt roads. I just mainly want to give the kids the feeling that we're going offroad and having some fun on hills and bumps. It won't take much to impress the 2 or 7 year old.

while I have nothing against Washita - I would not say it is very stocker friendly - if you do go there, I highly recommend going with someone else - even better with someone who has been there. their maps are a little deceptive and even their access roads have some tricky spots to them.

You could always come to SMORR and break in that stock Jeep like Red did last year! :rotflmao2:

All joking aside, Welcome to the world of Jeep. LOVE that color. :thumbsup:

Adam

beaquel I'm in much the same place you are only I have some off road experience from my YJ days. I've met Grace and Mavin in person several times. Having gone to MWJT meetings and have to say everyone I've met there has been amazingly welcoming, Marvin and Grace in particular.

I am in your neighborhood (Ballwin - Big Bend at Sulpher Springs) and have been debating on trying to put together a Meet'n'Greet at like Fritz's or some such.

I've been trying to keep on Mavin about putting together the n00b run as I'd like to test out my JK Unlimited. If ya ever wanna get together and talk shop let me know. I'm the guy with the black Rubicon Unlimited w/ Lightforce window lights driving around.

Skip - we're neighbors! I actually showed up at the May MWJT, but my daughter was not behaving, so I never even got to sit in on the meeting. Had to just turn around and leave. I actually work right down Page from Malone's, so it's kind of a pain to go to work, drive home, then drive right back a few hours after dinner. It looks like its worth it though. I'm going to try to make July's meeting and meet some more local guys.

If you want to go to a meeting, no need to drive home. A few people head there straight after work as its often the same situation as yourself,not wanting to go home for an hour. stop on in, Im sure there will be a few people around.

Hey guys Marvin from MWJT put together a beginner ride this coming Sunday the 28th at Washita. Go to MWJT web site and check it out. I'm a newbe and I will be going in my stock Sahara.