If you reside in Virginia Beach or Hampton Roads then I hate to burst your bubble, but there are not any legal 4x4 trails close. Now if you dont mind putting a few miles in on the pavement to get to the dirt roads, then you are in luck. While the Virginia Beach and Hampton Roads ares does not have alot of offroading options, it luckily does have good offroading options, you just have to drive to it and most of these options will take up your whole weekend.

To the South and the closest legal option for offroad trails is the Outer Banks. Obviously most of this will consist of sand 4x4 trails, puddles and water crossings, beach offroad driving, and occasionally some nice mud holes and ruts. The absolute best time to go down this way for some offroading is after it has rained a good amount because then all the sand trails and holes are flooded and it makes for more fun and more of a challenge. While there are several places you can go in the OBX for beach driving, our favorite is Carova Beach.  This is about a 2 and a half hour drive, but every time we have visited it we have not been disappointed. You can learn more about this beach and the 4x4 trails at it on the W2W Trail Listing here. Whichever OBX beach you choose to hit, make sure to do a little research first and make sure there are no passes or fees required. 

Not too much farther down to the SW is one of the most popular offroad spots for Virginia Beach residents which is Uwharrie National Forest, which actually resides in North Carolina. While this one will run you closer to 5 hours to get to, it has alot more options for off pavement play. Alot of people will head down for the entire weekend and will camp while they are there and make a whole weekend of offroading. This is a great spot because there is variety: rocks, mud, inclines, water crossings, mudding, and an OHV park. If you are new to this forest then I would recommend checking out the 4x4 trails at Badin Lake OHV park first while you get familiar with the terrain and then branch out after you have visited it a few times because it is easy to get lost out there. Badin has 17 miles of dedicated offroad trails as well as primitive camping spots. To learn more before you head out visit the Badin Lake Trail Listing here and the Uwharrie National Forest Info Page.  Lastly I would also suggest packing some type of emergency communication device with you in the case that you do get lost like this SPOT Satellite Messenger option, always better to be safe than sorry!

If you have the time to give up the entire weekend for some offroading then another option that is also about 5 hours away in Southwest Virginia is Potts Mountain. Potts Mountain Jeep Trail is located in Jefferson National Forest and is approx 15 miles long of all types of obstacles ranging from rockcrawling, water/river crossings, mud holes, steep inclines and declines, as well as some rough terrain. This Jeep trail is definitely not for beginners and we have actually had friends get stuck on this trail. Side Note: if you can get out there while it has some snow on the trail, then you are in for a treat because it becomes a whole other ball game attempting to get up the mountain and back down when it is covered in snow and ice!

Last but not least and probably the most famous as well as the farthest away clocking in at 6 hours is Rausch Creek Offroad Park. This park consists of almost 3,000 acres of easy, intermediate, and difficult trails - featuring rocks, bowls, hills, club friendly trails, and free, on-site camping. This is definitely a bucket list spot for the East Coast, but make sure before you head all the way out there that you have a plan to wheel with someone because there is a 2-vehicle minimum to access these 4x4 trails.

Hope this quick snippet of offroading options in Virginia Beach and Hampton Roads helps you get off the pavement and dont forget to check out where2wheel.com/trails for access to offroad trails across the nation.

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