Want to go offroading near Columbia, South Carolina?

Where2Wheel will help you find offroad trails near you!  We exclusively cover Jeep trails, 4×4 trails, truck trails, and OHV trails.  Read along and we will point out offroad places near Columbia, SC.

In order to keep the offroad community up to date with the latest and most accurate wheeling information, we have created an offroad trails map that covers the entire USA.  The trails map on Where2Wheel is powered by the offroad community and is totally reliant on individual offroaders contributing their knowledge to keep the map up to date and accurate.  So if you do go wheeling on any of these trails, make sure to leave a review on W2W, or make any adjustments to the trail descriptions as needed since trail conditions can, and often do, change frequently.

Alright, we were talking about offroad trails near Columbia, South Carolina.  Again, last warning, we are talking about Jeep trails and 4×4 trails that are large/wide enough to fit a passenger vehicle – no ATVs or dirtbikes talked about here.  The first offroad trails near Columbia, SC that you will find is Gulches ORV Park about 80 miles (1 hour 20 minute drive) NW of Columbia, SC.  Gulches is a favorite of SC wheelers and is deemed the best ORV Park in GA or SC.  Gulches ORV Park is open every weekend of the year unless bad weather is in forecast; either way it is best to check their site here before you plan your trip,  Wheeling at Gulches will cost you $25 per vehicle plus $5 per passenger, and for the offroad trails at Gulches there are more than 40 directional trails at the park with only 5 two way trails.  That’s a plus for safety because if you are going up a hill climb you can be assured no one will be coming down at you when you are full throttle up a hill climb.  You can view all these trails on the Where2Wheel map by clicking here.

There aren’t too many other close offroad trails near Columbia, SC; however, if you are headed towards Charleston, there are a few trails down that way that W2W members have shared on the W2W trails map.  The four offroad trails near Charleston is a group of offroad trails located in the Francis Marion National Forest just a few miles north of Mt Pleasant.  These four Jeep trails NW of Charleston are: Grant Hill, Three Brothers, French Quarter Creek, and Forest Road 6309.  Also, if you are willing to drive a few hours, check out the Where2Wheel map because there are some offroad parks and various offroad trails out towards Augusta, GA.  You can view trail reviews and also browse the offroad trails map on Where2Wheel.com – W2W is free to access and use!

Since it is slim pickings for offroad trails near Columbia, SC, I would like to bring up Uwharrie in North Carolina.  The Uwharrie National Forest located 160 miles NE of Columbia and the drive takes about two hours and forty-five minutes one-way.  The Uwharrie National Forest is one of the best known off-highway vehicle trail systems on the Eastern half of the United States.  Uwharrie National Forest provides the only public off-highway vehicle (OHV) or motorized trail system in the Piedmont Region of North Carolina.  The Uwharrie OHV trail system ranges from 2WD dirt roads meandering through the forest to some of the most challenging steep and rocky climbs this side of Moab, Utah.  You will see a wide range of vehicles on these trails, ranging from heavily modified ‘rock crawlers’ to stock SUVs.  On Where2Wheel, we have 10 different Uwharrie trails listed (Falls Dam, Daniel Trail, Dickey Bell Jeep Trail, SawMill, Dutch John, Slab Pile, Rocky Mount Loop, Badin Lake OHV Area, Wolf Den, and Big Creek Training Grounds); click here to view the Where2Wheel Trails map, or just click each trail title above to view the trails one at a time.

So if you are going to Uwharrie, or thinking about going, here are a few things to know.  The offroad trails within Uwharrie are all inside of the Badin Lake OHV Trail Complex.  To access The Badin Lake OHV Trail Complex, you must purchase a day pass ($5) or annual pass ($30); info on where to buy a pass can be found on the PDF here.  The Badin Lake OHV Trail Complex is open from April 1 to December 15 every year, and during that time period the trails are open 24/7.  There are some rules to know about wheeling at Badin Lake, so read here before heading out.  If you have the opportunity to wheel Uwharrie, don’t miss out on this amazing trail systems since OHV areas like this are becoming fewer and fewer as government regulations on the use of public lands tighten over time.  If you would like a guided introduction to Uwharrie and/or some help improving your offroading skills, don’t forget to look up the guys at Big Creek Training Grounds to assist you with anything Uwharrie related. Lastly, if you decide to hit these trails on your own then we always recommend to pack with you some type of emergency communication device (like this Spt3 Satellite Messenger) and first aid kit in the event that you get lost or injured. 

Lastly, feel free to create an account on Where2Wheel; it’s free to use and you can find other offroaders in your area that you can hit the trails with.  If you do enjoy using W2W and want to support us, please either tell your offroading pals about the site or sign-up for a premium account, which takes ads off the map for just $2.99/month.

Thanks for reading about some of the offroad trails near Columbia, South Carolina.  For more offroad trail information you can visit Where2Wheel or check out our South Carolina blog about offroad spots in SC.

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