So you would like to learn more about the offroad trails available in North Carolina; well, you have come to the right place.  Where2Wheel can help you find Jeep trails, truck/SUV trails, fourwheeling trails, OHV trails, and all other offroad trails for 4WD vehicles.

North Carolina is a great place for 4x4 offroad trails; NC offers a great variety of terrain with sandy beaches in the east and green forested mountains in the west.  Fortunately for us offroading enthusiasts, in NC we have the privilege to wheel on both the beaches and in the mountains!

Starting in the East of North Carolina, there are two beaches that NC allows vehicles to drive on.  The first and most preferred is Carova Beach.  Carova is located in the most Northeast corner of North Carolina, and public beach access is granted to all 4x4 vehicles. The beach is beautiful with soft white sand and the ocean is a great during the summer months. The beach itself is 11 miles long, and there are countless more miles of trails behind (west of) the beach. Some of the trails can be challenging as they are often flooded with deep water. On the back trails (or occasionally on the beach) you can find wild horses that live in this area.  It's quite the site to see when a group wild of horses cross your path; the horses are used to humans being around, but make sure to keep your distance - it's the law no person gets closer than 50ft to the wild horses, and there is law enforcement around to ensure this rule is adhered to.  Also, if you are going to hit the beach it's important to remember that the speed limit on the beach is 15 mph and it is enforced.  Carova beach has enough sandy trails and sights to see that it is worth spending the day here Jeepin' on the beach!  The other beach that you can drive on in NC is Cape Lookout.  Cape Lookout is north of Wilmington near Morehead City, and this beach is a bit more secluded than Carova.  In fact, Cape Lookout is only accessible by ferry and all drivers must obtain a free ORV Education Certificate and corresponding decal before being able to hit this beach.  More details on Cape Lookout are available here, but my recommendation is to visit Carova Beach for a day of sand, sun, and 4WD.

Moving towards the center of North Carolina, we find an offroad jewel of the MidAtlatic - Uwharrie National Forest has become a place of 4x4 pilgrimage for MidAtlantic and East Coast offroaders.  I can't touch on all the trails available in Uwharrie so you will need to check out Where2Wheel and our Trails Map for that (it's free), but I can tell you that Uwharrie has trails for every vehicle type and every skill level.  Worth mentioning is the Badin Lake OHV Area; Badin Lake is open from April 1st to December 15th of every year, and it has 6 trailheads with 16 miles of trails.  The trails range from beginner & stock vehicle stuff to the "you better have full rock protection, lockers, and big rubber" to hit this trail.  If you are hitting Badin Lake for your first time, it is recommended that you start with Dutch John Trail or Falls Dam Trail (both can be found on the W2W map).  I can't emphasize this enough, if you live in North Carolina and you are an offroading enthusiast then you need to visit Uwharrie; it's a fantastic offroad resource that is unique to NC.

Last, but not least, on the Western side of NC you will find an abundance of 4x4 offroad trails to ride.  You can see them all on the W2W map; I assure you there are plenty of trails in Western NC and I will put a screenshot below to show you what you are missing out on by not checking out the W2W map.  Okay, so you would like me to talk about one specifically?  How about Jocassee Gorges in Lake Toxaway, NC.  Jocassee Gorges is a trail that is growing in popularity and is mid level in difficulty.  The trail is located in Gorges State Park and has some spots that can be challenging, but nothing that should discourage vehicles with a small lift and 31s or larger rubber.  Also, the trail has some great scenic photo opportunities where you can capture the natural beauty that surrounds this area of North Carolina.

*Shameless Plug to Help Support W2W: Don't forget your Recovery Gear! Wherever you are wheeling, you should always be prepared for getting stuck! I've handpicked these items for their great value and dependable quality.

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Thanks for reading about the offroad trails that NC has to offer.  Please sign up for and then explore Where2Wheel for yourself.  We have way more trails listed on our map than I have time to write about.  See you on W2W!

If you are looking for offroad trails in South Carolina, well look no further because Where2Wheel is here to help you find 4x4, Jeep, truck, and OHV offroad trails.

South Carolina isn't quite as abundant with offroad trails as it's brother to the North, but if you know where to look there are enough spots to kick it into 4WD in SC until you can find time to travel up to the offroad trails of North Carolina.

Alright, so you are set on hitting the 4x4 trails in South Carolina.  It looks like you are heading to Gulches ORV Park in Northwest SC (Laurens County).  Gulches is a family friendly park with trails for every skill level.  They have almost 50 trails at Gulches, so there is enough terrain to fill the whole weekend; the park is usually muddy with a decent amount of elevation changes throughout the forested trails.  Gulches is one of the more affordable ORV parks too with a day pass only costing $25.  They even have camping available.  For more info, check out Gulches' website.

I do realize that Gulches is a bit of a hike for those of you living near the coast, which is why I will mention that we do have some trails listed near Charleston on the Where2Wheel Trails Map.  It's free to get on W2W and take a look for yourself; matter of fact I will drop a screenshot of the W2W map at the bottom of this blog so that you can see if any of the trail pins on W2W are near your area of the map.  Remember, new offroad trails are being added to Where2Wheel all the time, so while this snapshot won't update, it is worth getting on W2W to see if anyone has added new offroad trails for South Carolina.

*Shameless Plug to Help Support W2W: Don't forget your Recovery Gear! Wherever you are wheeling, you should always be prepared for getting stuck! I've handpicked these items for their great value and dependable quality.

“As an Amazon Associate W2W can earn from qualifying purchases.” #ad

Lastly, if you are in SC and you are looking for offroad trails, I suggest that you check out our blog post on offroad trails in North Carolina.  NC has a ton of great trails and is right next door to SC!

Thanks for reading this short briefing on 4x4 offroad trails in SC.  See you on Where2Wheel where you can search for offroad trails and find wheeling buddies near you!

Offroad safety should be important to everyone and not an afterthought. Having a safe experience means stresses and problems will be down and fun will be up! There are a ton of tips out there, some to be learned the easy way, some the hard way. Get with experienced wheelers in your area to learn from them! Ask questions and don't be afraid to make mistakes. We all started out new..

10 Vehicle Recovery Safety and Tips

1. Never Wheel ALONE!

   

   1. Always have at least one partner vehicle-minimum.

   2. Have a recovery and medical plan before it happens!

   3. Ensure someone outside of your group knows where you are going and about what time you will be back.

   4. Have a communication method and a backup. Cell phones will not always have service.

   5. Use Where2Wheel's Recovery Needed! feature.

2. Always have a medical kit in your vehicle.

    

3. Use only snatch designed straps for snatching vehicles out of sticky situations.

   1. No metal/hook ends, only loops.

   2. Use only hardened recovery points, usually attached directly to the frame (If you have one *cough XJ *cough ????)

   3. Pay attention to vehicle weight and how deep the vehicle is + how aired down the vehicle is.

   4. Never hook up to steering or driving components, you will need to get out of the spot and then off the trail. Axles have ripped completely off of the vehicle!

Would you rather have Donald Trump or Hillary Clinton deciding the fate of your favorite off-roading trail on public lands?

I think most people would agree that neither person is a good choice to be trusted to make the right decision to keep public lands open and accessible. Now I know that the decision on access to public lands will probably never make it all the way to Hillary or Trump, but nonetheless, our leadership options most definitely speak to the political climate that we are faced with in the United States.

Sure we have amazing groups with amazing people doing amazing work to influence politicians to make decisions that are in support of the off-roading community. Organizations like Tread Lightly and BlueRibbon Coalition do a fantastic job of keeping our interests in front of decision makers and we greatly appreciate their work, but we can’t forget that there are well funded organizations (mostly environmentalists) on the opposite side of the issue lobbying to close access for vehicles to public lands. And with decision makers and a political climate like we talked about above, the fate of public lands and many of our favorite trails are a huge uncertainty.

Information on the next Where2Wheel Raffle Prize will be updated soon as we secure a new prize!

Previous prizes have been: 2 BubbaRopes, a Gator-Jaw Rope Shackle, and a $500 Gift Card to our favoritve off-road retailer RockRidge4WD.com!

Contact us with any suggestions and/or questions! support@where2wheel.com