Michigan Tacomas

Not unless you count work . I did go fat biking in Cadillac though!

 

I’m looking forward to the polar vortex and airing down my snow tires. Just need to find some trails in SW Michigan if anyone has recommendations.

Has anyone ever had their off road permit removed from their vehicle? I dont think it was a DNR Ranger. I think It was the guy hunting on the land adjacent to where I was.

 

For South West Michigan, I'm only familiar with the Yankee Springs Recreation Area; which just has a few seasonal/state forest roads. Better bet is to head north towards Manistee/Huron National forest.

Have never heard of an ORV/Trail Sticker being removed? For the vast majority of areas, we don't even actually need them; we're fine as is, driving a licensed registered vehicle. They're more for areas like Silver Lake sand dunes, St Helen scramble area, and I think you're supposed to have one for the Bull Gap hill climb. I always get both just to be safe and make sure I'm covered. No idea why someone would remove one though... unless they thought they could perhaps swipe it and re-apply it to another vehicle or ORV? (They are required for non-road legal ORV's).

 

I had been to silver lake in September October where i purchased the stickers and then went up to my families property near mackinaw. I found it removed while I was parked on state land at a forest access road.

 

Yeah, that's an odd one. My best guess is that someone probably swiped it; guessing if they could peel it off clean enough, then stick it to something else using clear shipping tape or something.

 

The Pathway?

Mike

 

Yes, indeed. First time trying it in the winter. We usually just pass by and head to Vasa but wanted to give it a try!

 

What did you think? I’ve been meaning to check it out... I usually stop at the Big M on my way back from TC, but should detour to Cadillac one of these days. Hopefully we get more snow soon so the trails don’t turn into ice!

Mike

 

It was nice, but once you're outside the first loop from the trailhead it can be a little under trafficked and so it got a little loose in places and a little off camber, but dropping pressures helped too. That was about a week ago now.

 

Where was that at? I'll be in Geayling this weekend, if anyone is up for some wheeling.

 

The first picture I think was the Stephan Bridge Canoe/kayak landing; we were just looking for a place to turn around, but decided to stop for a moment and had a great view of the river and of course the picture opportunity, lol. We started out from Lewiston Grade Rd off of 93/i75 Business loop and headed east, and just sort of went all over out there. If looking for a good starting point, I'd head for Scenic Trail between Lewis Grade and Tank Trail.

The second was from the south side of the base on Observation Point Bravo (OPB) hill, that overlooks the south range/blast zone; waypoint 44.57899, -84.81663. There's another one, OPC, nearby as well, but I always forget to mark it. Also a ton of trails to explore down that way.


Wish I could come up, but don't think I can make it this weekend.

 

Hello! I just bought a 2021 OR edition taco in army green. My first Toyota. I really like it and have been customizing it a bit. Today the husband and I installed a front bumper and bed stiffeners from Victory 4x4 and we installed their rock sliders 2 weeks ago. Waiting for a molle rack from them for a hi lift jack. I also had custom side bed stickers made and replaced the stock ones. Waiting for the rear shocks for the Toytec lift to come in - they are on back order, unfortunately. I want to throw on 33" tires when the lift is complete. Which tires do you all like? We go to Moab and Colorado to wheel and camp with friends out there once or twice a year so I want to get it ready for a May trip. I would like to wheel in Michigan I don't know where to go. I know there are roads up north and an off road park somewhere. Where do you guys go? I'm in SE Michigan near the airport. Anyone go south to wheel, like the Blue Ridge Mountains? Anyway, nice to meet you all, hope to see you otr! Beth

 

Welcome from Midland.

 

And I bought and installed one of those drivers side grab handles before I read that massive thread about what turds they are. It didn't install perfectly.

 

Welcome from Auburn Hills!

For tires, I was a big fan of the Wildpeak ATW3 on my previous Tacoma, but seems like a lot of people are reporting balancing issues with them lately. I just recently put a new set of Toyo AT3's on my 4Runner, and so far they've been great. Barely took any weight to balance, rolls smooth on road, and handled the snow off road like a champ a few weekends back. I'm just coming off a set of Ridge Grapplers, that were also a great tire, except, they didn't do so well in rain, or in wet/slushy snow.

As far as places to Off Road in Michigan... once you head a couple hours north, there's almost endless forest roads and ORV routes. Some of my usual starting points are St Helen/West Branch, Mio, Grayling, Cadillac/Mesick, etc... There's also of course the Upper Peninsula and Drummond Island as well. If you use a nav app like Gaia, a good portion of the roads and routes appear in the MVUM maps; or you can also find them from the Michigan DNR website.

For off road parks... There's Bundy near Jackson, a recently opened park in Holly, the Mounds in Flint, and Rocks and Valleys just north of Claire. I'm not a big fan of Bundy or Holly... just because they are largely open gravel pit areas (and Holly is still sort of work in progress); Mounds is a whole lot of deep, swallow your vehicle whole, kind of mud... there are some cool trails around the outskirts of the mounds, but a lot of them get really tight and overgrown. I do enjoy Rocks and Valleys; back when I had a Jeep I was there fairly often. Also, can't forget about Silver Lake Sand Dunes in Mears, that's worth at least one trip to see.

We usually do at least one big out of state trip per year; 2020 trip was a bust thanks to, well, 2020... but year before that we went to South Dakota through Badlands and all throughout the Black Hills. That was a great trip. Haven't really started planning for this year yet.

 

Hi Beth, there is plans for an off road park in Oakland county in SE Michigan - if you google it you will find it on MLive or Detroit news article. Since I now live on the left coast of Michigan I havent followed the progress.

I am a big fan of silver lake state park. I would recommend checking out the Michigan DNR website for ORV areas. I dont like to keep secrets but I have my favorites in Northern Michigan- but I’ll warn that many have branches that come into the trails and are awfully tight squeezes

 

Anyone go south to wheel, like the Blue Ridge Mountains? Anyway, nice to meet you all, hope to see you otr! Beth


Good morning and welcome to TW Beth. Nice start to the truck. Prepare your wallet for more!

I am a MI transplant to the northern Virginia area. There is a thriving Taco community here and we are central in the Blue Ridge Moutains. I am the Shenandoah Valley area. There are a lot of trails in the area with the national and state forests, fire roads, etc. And there always seems to be someone willing to go out. The primary thread here is Northern Virginia Roll Call (NoVA).

There are some off road parks in the area as well. Chaos is in WV with rumors of one here in VA as well. Rausch Creek is just north in PA. The drive from SE MI is about 8 hours arcoss the turnpikes, or about 9 if you drop down to 68 (Americas Highway) at Pittsburg. I also recommend getting off the beaten path. It's beautiful county down here.

Jump on the NoVA thread if you to see the commuity here. PM me if you want some more info or want to come this way.

 

Thanks for the suggestions. I was in Jackson today so I might check out that park next time I go. I used to live in Lake Orion and went through Auburn Hills all the time. The tires I have right now have kevlar on the sides but I would like bigger tires when I get the lift. Husband says I should wear the ones I have out first but I think it just looks weird to have a lift but not the bigger tires. Thanks for your feedback. We are looking forward to Moab and Colorado in May. Hope things go as planned in 2021

 

Hi and thanks for the suggestions. We call that desert pin-striping - scratches from branches. I will have to check out that new park, let me know if you remember the name of it or find a link to it. Silver Lake is a nice state park but I have never gone off roading there.

 

Thanks! Nice to meet you. I have been to the BRM's many times but for motorcycle trips and I noticed a lot of lifted trucks so I figure off roading was a thing there. Plus mountains! I am looking to make friends in the off roading communities. We have friends in Colorado but only get out that way once or twice a year. It would be nice to off road closer to home. We are headed to Charleston, SC at the end of April. We might combine a family wedding with some off roading while we are down there. I will def check out your thread, thanks again.