Offroading in New Jersey?

[Marcus Aurelius]

I own a stock 2001 Ford Explorer XLT and would like to take it offroad to see if I'd like it and if so, do occasionally. I'm not sure whether or not I will lift it, but only time will tell.

My question is are there any trails meant for offroading aroung the Toms River area of New Jersey or places around town to offroad that are legal? I'm a new driver and do not want to get in trouble yet.

-Marc

 

[cash082]

same situation you are in..except im in Manasquan. I found a great trail by Six Flags..(get off at six flags exit of 195...then keep going down that rd(monmouth rd) till you get to Hawkin Rd- I found a real good trail and went mudding in a bog there. Was really fun. But I had to back up down the whole trail cause I didn't wanna get that deep in the mud..so I backed up down the whole trail..and then ate some KFC and looked at the signs at entrance of the trail..found it was a EPA area and fish etc..but it sure was fun. I heard Wharton state forest has great trails for offroading..I'm waiting to see someone on this board want to go offroading there..that sounds like fun. Anyway. A Great way to find out about offroading spots is use the CB! get a cb for your explorer. thats how I found out about that spot I went down last night. My handle is "Hotswap" I'm usuallay on CB 19 at nights.

 

[Marcus Aurelius]

Thanks for the info. I might try it sometime if it's not too muddy, don't want to get my truck stuck. I do have a family friend nearby, so I might check it out when I visit him.

I am waiting for a reply from a friend who offroads in his jeep cherokee and then I post those locations. I'll check into a CB radio, wasn't really thinking of it because I really only wanted to do occasional offroading either at stock height or maybe a small lift down the road.

-Marc

 

[924dr4x4]

hey guys..me and a group are actually going out to wharton state park august 30th,its a sunday,meeting at 10:00 am..if you wanna come let me know..there will be a full size blazer,maybe a dodge ram,a cherokee,maybe a zr2 s10 and a few others,we go out once a month

 

[Marcus Aurelius]

I might be able to go, I'm not sure if I have anything scheduled that date. Where exactly is Wharton state forest? Also, what will the trail entail? Is it mud, dirt, sand, rocks, water, etc. because I only have a stock explorer. I don't want to push my truck too much and I am very new and don't know anything about offroading.

-Marc

 

[924dr4x4]

its at 744 rt 206 in shamong nj 08088,its mainly mud,water,no rocks,i go out there with my stock 92 explorer,and now im driving a stock 93 cherokee till my explorer is done,they are very capable stock,and there will be plenty of us there to guide you through stuff cause we've all been there tons of times,go onto youtube and type 1991blzr in the search,it will bring up videos from when we went offroading in wharton,and yes it is legal there

 

[Marcus Aurelius]

Dosen't look too bad. Most of it water about a foot deep, except where that blue/green explorer got stuck. What should I bring if I go? Basically go over the offroading checklist in this section?

-Marc

 

[924dr4x4]

we have everything we need,so you wouldnt need to bring anything,just make sure you have a tow strap,they always come in handy,we can use the factory tow points to pull ya if you get stuck,unless you already have some recovery hooks

 

[Marcus Aurelius]

I'll go out and get one, I think I may want to try this out. My dad and I will drive up soon for me to get a better feel for the trail.

-Marc

 

[924dr4x4]

whatever you do just dont go out there alone,if you get stuck,you could be there for a while,and if you get a recovery strap get one that is 10,000 break strenght,cause the explorer's are around 5300lbs

 

[Marcus Aurelius]

5300 lbs minus about 1000 lbs.

 

[924dr4x4]

my explorer is 5,280 lbs total from what is says on the door

 

[Marcus Aurelius]

And it's a first generation? Mine is a second and weighs a little over 4000.

-Marc

 

[Marcus Aurelius]

Alright, I'm going to be clear here, I can't offroad with my truck. I care about it too much to do that. The truck is in too good of shape, just look at it on my registry. I think I would like to keep it original. Just a few cosmetic changes. I would have to have a different vehicle to go offroading with, something I wouldn't really care if it gets messed up, like a Jeep. Good Luck on your offroading meet on the 30th.

-Marc

 

[alexk]

I havent really paid too much attention but there is some kind of trail off of bowman rd (I think) in Jackson. If you go down Don Conner towards east veterans its that street. I know people go fishing there but Im not sure about the trails because I have never been. There used to be some nice trails behind my house but the took down the woods and built houses.

You can do some smaller off roading without messing up your truck. In Lakewood there is this homeless camp that is back in the woods. I dropped off some old clothes and food there after it had rained once and I only drove maybe a half mile through some mud and it was pretty fun. If you can find some easier trails it might be better for you, you just might have to wash it after. Im actually looking foward to taking my ex on the beach in OBX soon.

 

[explorerguy89]

anyone want to go to wharton on saturday?

 

[explorerguy89]

whos up for a wharton run today =D!!!! its guna be 70 and beautiful day for the trails so any takers???

 

[bstarz65]

Wanna go?

Looking for someone to go to warton with. I'm new to off roadin but would love to try it out. let me know if anyone is willing to go , also I would have to bring my 2 daughters with me ages are 1 & 2 will it be safe for them?

 

[bstarz65]

not today, maybee next weekend

 

[explorerguy89]

just to maybe catch more attention a small group is going to wharton state forest on sunday at noon if anyone wants to join all are welcome we are meeting at the ranger station on 206