Now where was that trail marker?

[Geronimo]

Anyone have any serious issues because of bad or unmarked trails?
I ended up going down a 5 of 5 rated trail at hidden Falls called "U Joint Buster" once committed there was no turning back.
Thankfully it was very very steep and I was going down.
I'm just wondering about some horror stories that I'm sure exist out there.

Knew I should have toted more fuel and water......

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[cOtter]

Where is that? State and general location?

 

[Industrialwrench]

Using apps like OnX and TrailsOffroad I don’t have any of those issues. I keep hard copy trail maps with me and I also know how to navigate. And crazy enough I don’t think I’m going to add gas storage to my 2dr. Seems to be fine for an entire weekend of wheeling without going through the tank.

 

[BDinTX]

Where is that? State and general location?

Hidden Falls is in Texas, near Marble Falls.
https://www.hiddenfallsadventurepark.com/

Before we got GAIA we were lost at Barnwell Mountain and going in circles (near Gilmer TX).

Literally hit a section of trail we recognized 3 times. Tried an offshoot that turned out to be for ATVs, eventually got turned around and found a mud bog at the “exit” with a warning sign because it was so deep. The “bypass” was barely passable in a 4 door. Found ourselves doing Austin powers style turns between trees (forwards BUMP, backwards BUMP, forwards BUMP…) some while straddling a ledge. It was interesting, felt like a pachinko ball.

So far my experience with off-road parks has been that trails are generally poorly marked or not marked at all.

 

[Shibadog]

Always, Always carry water and basic survival and self rescue gear when you’re farting around off road. The good news is you Don’t know what you’ll find, the bad news is you don’t know what you’ll find. Follow the old Scout motto “Be Prepared”. You will never be sorry you were, you Will be sorry if you’re not.

 

[Geronimo]

Where is that? State and general location?

That was taken in the Arabian desert by a group of jeep explorers who crossed big deserts for fun. They knew what they were doing and had prepared. I just thought that the picture shows some very intimidating landscape, and you better know what your doing.

I used to follow a guys posts that did this across Africa solo. It was quite the adventure.

 

[GATORB8]

One tough spot was in Bridger/Teton National Forest near Bondurant, WY, not necessarily because of marking, but because of private land cutoffs. Hwy 191 is basically the only main road, and it was lined with private ranch land. Plenty of ways out on OnX, except they dead ended into locked gates.

Reminder to get the Motor Vehicle Use Maps on FS property. It was the only way we found a way out without backtracking:

 

[AcesandEights]

But did you die?

That's the difference between going for a drive and having an adventure.

 

[Geronimo]

One tough spot was in Bridger/Teton National Forest near Bondurant, WY, not necessarily because of marking, but because of private land cutoffs. Hwy 191 is basically the only main road, and it was lined with private ranch land. Plenty of ways out on OnX, except they dead ended into locked gates.

Reminder to get the Motor Vehicle Use Maps on FS property. It was the only way we found a way out without backtracking:

I recently started using OnX and am actually getting a tablet to dedicate just for that purpose. I have experienced the locked gate scenario quit often in some of our West Texas overlanding trips on into New-Mexico.
We would go to the trouble of pulling up Nav. USTS maps, print them and tried to use "Offroad Navigator" in conjunction. There were several instances just as you described. Thankfully we encountered a rancher that saved us about 40 miles of back tracking. OnX looks promising, just a bit tough on phone.

 

[GATORB8]

I recently started using OnX and am actually getting a tablet to dedicate just for that purpose. I have experienced the locked gate scenario quit often in some of our West Texas overlanding trips on into New-Mexico.
We would go to the trouble of pulling up Nav. USTS maps, print them and tried to use "Offroad Navigator" in conjunction. There were several instances just as you described. Thankfully we encountered a rancher that saved us about 40 miles of back tracking. OnX looks promising, just a bit tough on phone.

OnX works with Carplay if you have it. A little glitchy, but not awful.

I've seen more places using Avenza, which is interesting. Instead of loading map data, they basically put in a PDF of the map matched up to GPS coordinates. The Bridger Teton Map was available on that.

 

[Geronimo]

I watched a long list of videos by a guy in Arkansas. Ozark Overland Adventures and his mapping system I believe was OnX. He was using it primarily to create /store a complete off road mapping guide of the Ozarks and other places. Worth while viewing.

Also I believe Trail Recon uses that system as well.

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