Why Off-Roading Is the Ultimate Outdoor Escape

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It’s Always There

I think for some, spending a day in the woods with your best friends is the best therapy you can get.

At least for me, that was our life for over a decade.  We rode all over the Southeast—Morris Mountain, Grey Rock, Golden Mountain, Aetna, Harlan, our hometown favorite Windrock, and even the long-forgotten Tellico OHV.  We even honeymooned in a crappy pop-up camper at one of the aforementioned parks because there weren’t fancy cabins yet. Things were slower then.  It felt like every weekend we had the trailer hooked up and were ready for the 2-4 hour trip because that’s all it took to hit the best parks on the East Coast.

Then life changed. My wife graduated, I started my own business, and the world started revolving faster around me. I even sold, and then years later bought back, a Jeep Cherokee I had built years before. Over time I realized that it wasn’t just me that had changed; the parks had too.

Windrock is only about a 30- to 40-minute drive from us. We can spend a couple of hours and hit the normal loop: paved road to 15, then to Little Mule, on to Little Schoolbus, ride out trail 3, and then back to the parking lot. On a good day all I needed was 3 hours, and my cup was full again. Of course that was 10 years ago.

I still have a special place in my heart for the full-size rigs, but it’s hard to argue with what a purpose-built Polaris XP, Kawasaki KRX, or my personal choice for a new rig, the Can-Am Maverick, can do out of the box. It’s obvious that the SXS market has given a breath of fresh air to the East Coast trails.

Regardless of what you’re piloting, I think it’s important to call some friends and make it a point to get away. It’s easier to get into the woods now that it’s ever been, and I think more people need that therapy.