North Carolina near Highlands

[WAOLIFE]

Hi all -

We are headed to NC next month and was curious to know if anyone recommends staying near the National Forest by Highlands?

Would that be a good area to explore with our rented Rubicon?

Or would Silva be better?

Thanks in advance

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[Obispo325]

What company did you rent the Rubicon from?

 

[JayJay]

The area around Highlands is beautiful. There are lots of gravel forest service roads to ride in both North Carolina and north Georgia. Not much in the way of challenging trails though.

 

[JohnMacLean]

Hi all -

We are headed to NC next month and was curious to know if anyone recommends staying near the National Forest by Highlands?

Would that be a good area to explore with our rented Rubicon?

Or would Silva be better?

Thanks in advance

You might be here already, but...

I live just down the hill from Highlands, in Franklin. While I don't have my Rubicon ordered (yet), there are plenty of dirt roads to explore nearby. Don't know if you're looking for intense off-roading though? There's actually a very short, but deeply rutted road that's right in Highlands and it ends at Sunset Rock, which as the name implies, has a great view of the town and the sunset. It's quite popular in nice weather. Other areas I've been to like Albert Mountain Fire Tower and Wesser Bald Fire Tower have some basic dirt roads that sometimes washout from all the rain we've been getting lately, and epic views from the towers. You can see those views on my website: https://www.johnmaclean.com/LANDSCAPES/NC-Scenics/1/thumbs

 

[WAOLIFE]

You might be here already, but...

I live just down the hill from Highlands, in Franklin. While I don't have my Rubicon ordered (yet), there are plenty of dirt roads to explore nearby. Don't know if you're looking for intense off-roading though? There's actually a very short, but deeply rutted road that's right in Highlands and it ends at Sunset Rock, which as the name implies, has a great view of the town and the sunset. It's quite popular in nice weather. Other areas I've been to like Albert Mountain Fire Tower and Wesser Bald Fire Tower have some basic dirt roads that sometimes washout from all the rain we've been getting lately, and epic views from the towers. You can see those views on my website: https://www.johnmaclean.com/LANDSCAPES/NC-Scenics/1/thumbs

Nice! Thanks for the info
We don’t get there for 2 more weeks.

 

[JohnMacLean]

Nice! Thanks for the info
We don’t get there for 2 more weeks.

Cool. Where in SoCal are you? I lived all over the Los Angeles South Bay beach cities twice for a total of 18 years starting back in 1982. I sure miss it there!

 

[WAOLIFE]

Cool. Where in SoCal are you? I lived all over the Los Angeles South Bay beach cities twice for a total of 18 years starting back in 1982. I sure miss it there!

We live next to San Juan Capistrano

 

[ThirtyOne]

Might get help here:

Exploring North Carolina

 

[dirtydawgsrubi]

If you are looking for challenging trails you can check out Beasley Knob OHV trails. It’s a BOH trail and can be difficult depending on the weather. It’s an hour to 90 minutes from Silva if I remember right but been a while since we were up that direction. We had an absolute great time after a solid rain, but I’m still finding mud in places I didn’t know it could reach. Also found out that the crossmember installed in the middle is in a horrible place and it really sucks to have to winch yourself down a trail because you kept getting hung up on it. That’s where I found out the skid setup is lacking and went home and bought a set of skids. The trail down the middle was the worst and many people were winching up as it was extremely muddy. If it’s dry it’s not as bad and the surrounding trails were easier and lots of fun. It’s closed through the middle of March so watch the timing.

If you are looking for a little less then you can check out the Cherokee National Forest. Lots of dirt and gravel roads with a couple more difficult ones that a stock Rubi won’t have any issues with. Beautiful area too.

Hope you have a great time and if you need more info let me know as we live right around the area and my wife and I love exploring the places less traveled.

 

[Tiger1]

Hi all -

We are headed to NC next month and was curious to know if anyone recommends staying near the National Forest by Highlands?

Would that be a good area to explore with our rented Rubicon?

Or would Silva be better?

Thanks in advance

It's a little farther out from Highlands but I've heard good things about Buzzards Roost. Might be a good day trip. I've never been but hope to this summer. Check out view at 3:45 mark:

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