I am going to try to make it to the Mantazas meeting at Chili's on Wells Rd today at 5:30

 

Just gonna drop my name in the hat here. I'm up for some wheel time and camping.. I did one meet and greet with the folks out of deland. All were nice just a long drive on a work night..

 

Yea, Deland is a bit of a stretch for meeting during the week. Maybe a few of us can get together this coming weekend. Im up for a Saturday drive. We can meet and head over to Ocala or somewhere else. Is there anywhere to ride in Palm Coast?

 

Not much that I've found, I drove to Ocala today but being new to the area just ended up on service roads putzing around.. Had a great day though!!

 

I havent been to Ocala in a while, but until we can find somewhere else to explore, it may be our best bet for now. Actually, I am wanting to go over there, looking for some good camping areas.

 

Sounds good. I need to get a detailed topo map, online it says ranger office has them but none were open yesterday.. Keep in touch I'm willing to explore.

 

I found some info online about camping areas and directions to some of the springs and lakes in the Ocala area. Also, I bet there are some places open on Saturday that will have maps of the area.

 

Good afternoon,
Nice to see some fellow JK guys in the area. I'm over in Callahan. There are a few places up here to play. The best place I've found is over on the St. Mary's River near Saint George, GA (~40 minutes west of you). We try to head over there every other weekend or so. Let me know if any of you want to plan a trip. There is some mud, hills, sand, etc... Not a huge place but you can have a good time for a couple of hours anyway. There is also the 4-Creeks State Park off A1A between Yulee and Callahan and another entrance in Callahan on the south side of the water. There is more mud on the A1A side and more roads / trails on the south side. Fortunately my neighborhood backs up to the south entrance. There's really not a lot to do i the parks but ride around. Nothing a bone stock Jeep would have trouble with. I wasted a day of my life and went down to Matanzas and there was nothing there except a big pile of gravel, a few trails and some mud under the power lines. Way too far to drive for that. Hardrock is fun and about 2.5 hours from you. I like spending the day riding in the Ocala forrest but they have been on a campaign to close down anything that resembles fun so most of the sand pits are off limits now. I got a nice warning last time I took my girls down to play.
http://www.hardrockmx.com/
River Rock is 4 hours northwest but you typically need to go with a group.
http://www.riverrockorv.com/
and if you want to get dirty you drive up to Hortense (~ an hour north)
http://www.ecc-orp.com/
They have lots of mud holes and trails (450 acre park) but you'll need some decent rubber to have a good time. They do have a tractor on-site to pull you out and a washing station to clean up before you leave.
Anyway, I subscribed to the thread so if anyone wants to plan a play day in our area let me know. I'll bring a tow strap and my camera.

 

If you want to camp, Juniper Springs is awesome. They have bathrooms for the wife and kids and you can walk to springs from the campground. You can rent canoes if you want as well. Also, Big Scrub (one of the best offroad areas in the forest) is due south of the campground across 40. If you take 19 south to 40 and head east a couple of miles you'll see Juniper Springs. My kids love it there.

You can also camp up at Rodman Dam which is one of the first roads you'll hit when you enter the forest heading south on 19. It's on Lake Oklawaha and also has showers and bathrooms. The Alpha Pit is close by which was "The place" to play in the sand but due to conservation efforts you will be fined $450 if you go into the pit now.

There are a lot of trails from Rodman and you can actually go from Rodman Dam down past Lake Delancy, Juniper Springs and to Big Scrub without hitting asphalt. That's a good day trip. Nothing really hard but there are some fun trails the wind around. It takes a couple of hours to get to Rodman Dam. When I head down there for the day we typically eat breakfast in Palatka and by the time we head back home it's close to dinner time. I'd also be interested in a day trip if people are going. My brother is always looking for an excuse to take his TJ out as well.

Can you guys tell I'm bored at work today?

 

Okay, last post for now. A couple of years ago I made a fairly good map of the Ocala forest and where some of the good places are and what has been closed down. If anyone wants it you can PM me and I'll e-mail it to you. I lived in Gainesville for a long time and we spent every weekend out there in the Jeeps and on ATV's so I at one point I knew my way around. Anyway, let me know if you want a copy of it.