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Uwharrie trail question

6K views 8 replies 7 participants last post by  superswire 
#1 ·
I gotta say folks, I'm looking forward to this April meetup greatly. As such I am scrambling to make sure my Trooper is ready for the trip, and have been making a good amount of progress. April 28 is also my 27th birthday, so this trip has perfect timing.

Anyway, I just got some new 31's on my Trooper but the height is stock. I am by no means a pro off-road, but I am also by no means a newbie. I have also never been to Uwharrie before, so I have been doing my due diligence pertaining to the trails. Some say avoid all trails that start with a D the first time out, others say that Dutch John and Dickey Bell are doable with time and spotter. After seeing pictures and videos of the ledges on the Daniel trail, I'm gonna agree that I shouldn't attempt those. However, I'll have a few days on the trails to cut my teeth, so I absolutely intend on tackling Dutch John and Dickey Bell.

Which leads me to the real question and point of this topic thread. Is there a way I can drive near the Daniel trail to watch people hit the ledges? If not, how far of a walk is it from the nearest place I can park and be out of the way of other drivers?
 
#2 ·
byrniemac said:
Which leads me to the real question and point of this topic thread. Is there a way I can drive near the Daniel trail to watch people hit the ledges? If not, how far of a walk is it from the nearest place I can park and be out of the way of other drivers?
I'm pretty sure there'll be an empty seat in someones truck to ride along on those trails... or, get an open air experience by riding in the bed of mine (driver not responsible for any accidents). :lol:
 
#4 ·
Van said:
byrniemac said:
Which leads me to the real question and point of this topic thread. Is there a way I can drive near the Daniel trail to watch people hit the ledges? If not, how far of a walk is it from the nearest place I can park and be out of the way of other drivers?
I'm pretty sure there'll be an empty seat in someones truck to ride along on those trails... or, get an open air experience by riding in the bed of mine (driver not responsible for any accidents). :lol:
Nothing like sitting shotgun in a 1st gen with it's retro interior styling.
 
#5 ·
If you want to watch people on the ledges of the front side of Daniel, you should be able to drive right up to the first ledge but I wouldnt park there or you might be in the way. You can park down the hill a little bit and walk up to watch, not that far. You could also take the back side of Daniel and just park up at the top and watch the people come up the front side. The back side of Daniel is not that bad and as long as you take your time, your set up should be able to make it without a problem. As for Dickey Bell, it will be a little harder than the back side of Daniel, especially at the rocky hill climb portion, however, with a spotter and some patience you probably can do it too. Dutch John is really only bad if its wet because of it being so steep at the entrenched hill climb part but if its dry that too shouldnt be that much of problem for your set up. The biggest thing about URE is that it changes from day to day due to weather and due to some of the people that wheel out there who are not very conscientious about TREAD Lightly principles and tear up the trails with their $500 dollar, bald tire, no title rigs. If you ever want to go to URE and ride with someone just to get a feel, let me know, I only live about 30 minutes from there and I go a lot, just not in my zu, lol.
 
#6 ·
From what you have said of your ability, and vehicle you should be fine. The only trail I would avoid is the bottom 2/3 of Daniel. The only mod that is really a needed to me is a good set of rocksliders. Mine were worth their weight in gold as far as I am concerned. You want a challenge correct? If you didn't you would drive a Volvo and never leave pavement. :lol:

Don't be afraid to test yourself a little. Listen to your spotter (choose them wisely, the old guys usually know what they are doing), and have fun.

Besides... You can't hit a home run if you don't swing the bat.
 
#7 ·
Great thoughts here. I appreciate it. I would love to ride shotty over the ledges, but my main reason for opting out is just as stated above. I need some sliders. While I don't particularly care about scratches and whatnot on the Trooper, it is at the paint shop right now and the first place I'll be going in it with the new paint in URE lol.

I definitely plan to test my competence and clutch control, but I'll spare the body work... For now :)
 
#8 ·
Going to the backside of Daniel is not hard. I took my bug that way. Everything went well until I tried to drive down Daniel and then back up. I just didn't have the clearance and had to be pulled up. I ended up breaking the nosecone on the transmission, so I lost throttle and clutch control for the ride back!
 
#9 ·
byrniemac said:
Great thoughts here. I appreciate it. I would love to ride shotty over the ledges, but my main reason for opting out is just as stated above. I need some sliders. While I don't particularly care about scratches and whatnot on the Trooper, it is at the paint shop right now and the first place I'll be going in it with the new paint in URE lol.

I definitely plan to test my competence and clutch control, but I'll spare the body work... For now :)
Haha, I had JUST detailed mine before taking it to uwharrie for the first time. Don't worry, there's alot of dust, most everything is well travelled so as long as you don't purposely swerve at trees and know you don't have a rock buggy and try and climb over huge rocker crushing boulders, you'll have fun. I babied mine without a scratch (well dug the hitch in a little) and a healthy dosage of clay dust everywhere, but after a bath, she's good as new :)
 
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