Moving to VA

[Some Random Guy]

I'm headed to VA in a few months from WA. I love day trips for offroading vs camping, does anyone have tips on what highways I need access to for getting to/from locations around Richmond? I'd rather get up at 3 AM and get home at midnight than stay anywhere overnight.
We're just cruising Zillow right now so we don't have specific areas picked out yet. Our offices will be on the South side of Richmond though. I have my fingers crossed for a big garage, or property I can add a pole-barn to.

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[WontonJLUR]

95 is pretty much the main artery to get anywhere.

Rausch Creek in PA is gonna be about 5hrs north of Richmond and is a fantastic place to go.

Uwharrie, NC is about 5hrs to the south and is good for a day trip. You can do the whole thing twice in a day so it's good for shakedown runs and a little bit of fun but it's pretty small.

Further drives (10-12 hrs) take you to Windrock, TN and Chocolocco, AL.

There's also AOAA and AOP that are within 6ish hours of VA, I think, but I haven't been to either of those.

Depending on how "serious" you are about wheeling and crawling, i'd say it's certainly worth the trip to some of the further away places and spend the night in an AirBnB or hotel.

Hit me up if you're ever interested, we do a good amount of wheeling out here when possible.

 

[Slaphitter]

From Richmond you’re only about a 1-hour drive west to the Blue Ridge Mountains. There is a lot of light/moderate off-roading there, around the border with WV.

 

[Zissou]

I used to live in Richmond, and live in Charlottesville now. RVA is great. If your office is in south of the city then that would make sense to live there, especially since housing is cheaper there. Midlothian for being closer to the city, Powhatan if you want the country. Right near the city Forest Hill is very cool but you won't have space to build a pole barn. I miss RVA cost of living having moved over to Charlottesville. But when you visit Cville and see these off road reco's you'll see why I love living here, (though I really miss RVA too)

Answering your question, here are some day-trippable off roading spots:

• Peter's Mill / Taskers Gap OHV; just north of Harrisonburg VA, about 2.5 hours from RVA
  • This is the only Jeep badge of honor trail in the state to my knowledge.
• Meadow Creek / Crabtree falls: on the blue ridge parkway south of Cville; about 2 hours from RVA
  • If you approach it from the top and work down the mountain it starts as a gravel road and turns to an OHV trail right after a parking lot for Crabtree falls. Crabtree falls is a popular hike from the bottom up - this is essentially the short cut starting at the top.
  • Highly recommend doing the hike too (will only take you 30-45 min), but for the love of god do not go over the safety wall at the top of the falls. I can't tell you how many people have died doing that; got a friend that's an EMS near there. That wall is there for a reason.
• Big Levels 4x4: very close to Crabtree falls, just up the parkway from it, so also 2 hours
  • I'd consider this to be a hard trail. I did it in a stock Toyota T100 and it beat the shit out of it. Expect lots of trail brush near the parkway.

Welcome to VA!!

 

[Some Random Guy]

I used to live in Richmond, and live in Charlottesville now. RVA is great. If your office is in south of the city then that would make sense to live there, especially since housing is cheaper there. Midlothian for being closer to the city, Powhatan if you want the country. Right near the city Forest Hill is very cool but you won't have space to build a pole barn. I miss RVA cost of living having moved over to Charlottesville. But when you visit Cville and see these off road reco's you'll see why I love living here, (though I really miss RVA too)

Answering your question, here are some day-trippable off roading spots:

• Peter's Mill / Taskers Gap OHV; just north of Harrisonburg VA, about 2.5 hours from RVA
  • This is the only Jeep badge of honor trail in the state to my knowledge.
• Meadow Creek / Crabtree falls: on the blue ridge parkway south of Cville; about 2 hours from RVA
  • If you approach it from the top and work down the mountain it starts as a gravel road and turns to an OHV trail right after a parking lot for Crabtree falls. Crabtree falls is a popular hike from the bottom up - this is essentially the short cut starting at the top.
  • Highly recommend doing the hike too (will only take you 30-45 min), but for the love of god do not go over the safety wall at the top of the falls. I can't tell you how many people have died doing that; got a friend that's an EMS near there. That wall is there for a reason.
• Big Levels 4x4: very close to Crabtree falls, just up the parkway from it, so also 2 hours
  • I'd consider this to be a hard trail. I did it in a stock Toyota T100 and it beat the shit out of it. Expect lots of trail brush near the parkway.

Welcome to VA!!

Exactly the local info I was hoping someone had! Thank you.
Our office will be in Bellwood, so we’re zeroing in on Williamson Farms or Varina. I used to be a hazmat search and rescue guy. Being near that many rail lines is making the hair on my neck stand up and scared me out of Chester and Bellwood for housing.

 

[Zissou]

Gotcha.

So heads up if you're working in Bellwood and thinking to live around Varina - your commute will involve the 895 toll road. It's kind of a BS toll road because it doesn't really go anywhere (Chesterfield to the airport). On the flip side there's rarely cars on it since no one really does that drive, and in Varina you can get a lot of house for your money with room to build a huge garage.

To avoid tolls in your commute I'd suggest Chesterfield, like south of the pocahontas state park. That would be a short commute. That area was all brand new when I lived there 8 years ago, mostly families living there.

As you orient yourself to RVA I suggest the judgemental map, all sterotypes about the different neighborhoods around the city. My friends and I found this hilarious and true. It's a few years old at this point but I think fairly accurate still. I used to live in Church Hill, or "Over Instagramed City Views" which is 100% accurate.
https://judgmentalmaps.com/image/120699828735

 

[Some Random Guy]

I ended up South of Chester (so off @Zissou ’s map). Midlo was crazy, houses off market within hours. We lost one when we offered $70k over list and someone matched us with all cash and waiving all inspections.
Thanks for everyone’s tips!

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