ONF Up To Date Trail Maps...

[sand_man]

I was thinking about an expedition style camping weekend to OcalaNationalForrest and was searching for decent maps to plan possible routes.
While searching I stumbled upon this...
http://www.floridajeepers.net/viewto...8c624db311b48c
after reading a few articles, I saw that there was some lobbying going on a while back to get some obstacles and connecting trails put together!

does anyone know where there is some decent maps of ONF or heard any more about the 4x4 trails?

[fj6high]

Hey there Sand Man! After talkin with the Skorp62 he rekindled my interest O.N.F, He mentioned at the build he was going to check things out soon. If you P.M. Ron and see when he's going, I beleive he would like some company. I would like to take a ride if they have opened up some new trails, Also the Juniper Springs camp grounds off of 44 is the Bomb!

[PaulThePhotographer]

Click here: For nice web-site for lots of information and maps of Ocala National Forest

ANd

Click here for a PDF file of the OHV trails in Ocala national Forest.

I have been there a few times, with my Jeep bud (who used to go there a few years ago) and by myself. All the old good spots seem to be closed now. We spent one full day there trying to go to some of those places. He vowed never to go back there again. But, those washboard roads do shake the heck out of of his Jeep. lol

One time we went and used a bunch of locations from a Jeep forum and all of them were so old that some places they said was play areas are now literally filled with 3 or 4 foot tall trees. Car Wash!!!! And the places that were not overgrown were closed off.

I have NOT been on the trails in the PDF file above.

Let me know when you are going. I might be interested in trying the "4x4 trails." But I really do not have much expectation that they are my style of 4x4ing.

[skorp62]

I was bored a few weeks ago and went up Hwy 17 to Hwy 40, across to FR597, and down towards Altooma. FR597 is a very wide swath that apparently is also a service road for a gas pipeline, with trails on both sides and gasline warning markers in the middle. It had some extremely loose deep sand and a few puddles to splash through, but without a partner to recover me I wasn't willing to try anything more challenging. I would like to explore some of the side trails and determine if they are actually any kind of a challenge or not, but not going to try unknown trails all by myself.

I have also been in contact with Jason from FL4WDA.com and the ONF Rangers about volunteering to build some of the obstacles that they agreed upon in the Phase 2 plan (modified). If we determine that the main trails are not enough to interest us, then we have the opportunity to construct sand mounds, water pits, log crawls and other obstacles on turn-offs from the main trails. They just do not want n00bs getting stuck on the numbered trails all the time, so obstacles are to be off to one side and be properly identified as to difficulty.

If we do not communicate back to the ONF Rangers and try to work *with them* on the plans then we will get stuck with someone elses idea of a good trail design. The attached PDF shows the new 4x4 trails with purple, dashed lines.

[PaulThePhotographer]

Jim, When you need a trail riding buddy give me a shout!

-----

Wow, that last map is pretty sad if the only 4x4 trails are marked with dashed purple lines.. Those are almost like hi-ways.

Let me say, that map legend is very hard for me to understand. It lists two DIFFERENT trail markings for the same exact thing, "Road Open to Highway, blah blah blah."

Maybe the "Green Dashed and Black Lines" trails might be interesting to check out, the ones that say for "High Clearance Recommended" vehicles, looks like a possible decent trail.

I know some or all of the 4x4 clubs have been working on this for a loooooonnnnnnggggg time, years even. But it kind of gets to me that there were some very nice play areas in ONF and apparently NONE of the trails ended up incorporating any of these spots into the 4x4 trail system. AFAIK

IMHO

Later today I will overlay this map onto my Google Earth and see where the spots are and where I have been.

[skorp62]

According to the lady at the Ranger station that I talked to on the phone, currently ALL numbered roads are open to 4x4 traffic. The Phase 2 modifications will be closing a number of those roads once they get the trails marked that will be staying open. What they are trying to restrict is the "cross-country 4 wheeling" that they say is happening a lot now. (just what I was told, not my own opinion)

I really don't get the impression that this is all cast in concrete yet, so if we can recommend some other alternatives then perhaps we can get them approved. They DID have a few months where they were asking for public input and the Ocala Jeepers 4x4 club seems to have been the primary contributor of trail recommendations. If you have any friends with the Ocala Jeepers, perhaps they can give some feedback on good/mediocre trails.

I am thinking April 18, 19 & 20th to try and find all the trails shown, GPS map them and provide pics and evaluations. I know a lot of you guys are going to Citrus the week before, but I'll be unable to attend that soiree'. Thoughts?

[UberTruder]

skorp

If i dont have school that weekend, I would love to go with and help out. I've been wanting to get up to ocala for some time now. let me know if you end up deciding to going.

[skorp62]

UberTruder previously said:

skorp

If i dont have school that weekend, I would love to go with and help out. I've been wanting to get up to ocala for some time now. let me know if you end up deciding to going.

Be honest, you are just itching to try out that new OME setup!

[sand_man]

I would love to go, but I will be out of town from 3/27 - 05/05. I am interested in exploring the forrest, cause I think it could be a great mini expedition destination.

[doublejfj]

I could probably swing that trip to ONF... Keep us updated, I'll subscribe to this thread.