Mid west off road/overlanding trails

Hey all,

I'm a new member and I'm looking for some off road/overlanding trails in the mid west. I'm a rookie at this overlanding thing but not to off roading (Novice at best) and camping. I've never done a trip that combines both though and before I head out west to explore, I'd like to get my feet wet closer to home. I've got a stock 4th gen taco TRD offroad with the 6 speed manual. I'm planning on solo trips. I'm looking for easy to moderate trails, something I can do without modding my truck too much. Any advice or recommendations on trails and/or gear/accessories would be much appreciated. Thanks!

 

Care to narrow down a region you’re willing to travel to to wheel? The Midwest is a large and debated area ha. I’m from the middle states and always travel west to wheel and camp.

 

yeah, sorry. I live in southern Michigan so somewhere within a good days drive from there.

 

I’m also in Michigan. The KAT looks like a blast and is not far. I know lots of people add overlanding to the trips there.

https://www.overlandtrailguides.com/post/kentucky-adventure-trail

 

Looks like fun! Thanks for the website too.

 

I would say that KAT or the DBBB in Kentucky. I am in the same boat in terms of skills and plan on starting there.

 

Those both look promising and great places to start.

 

Photodoc,
what kind of gear/accessories/mods have you done or are planning on doing? I'm thinking, at a minimum, winch, better tires, and armor. I don't plan on doing anything extreme so I don't think I'll do/need a lift kit. Most of my trips will be solo.

 

You ever visit Silver Lakes Sand Dunes in Michigan??

A 4x4 novice can learn a lot driving on sand

 

I have not. I have some friends that have been and they say it can get very crowded. It is a definite possibility though.

 

So far just ditch lights, sliders, aluminum skids, hard tonneau are officially installed. I have a bumper, winch, radio, bed rack and 2Lo harness sitting there waiting to be installed. Probably not going to do much else after that. Eventually I will do larger tires (255/85/16) aka pizza cutters to get a little more clearance. I don't plan on going crazy off-roading but I want to protect it from tougher trails. I am more of a overland/weekend camping deep in than lets drive over that for the fun of it.

 

Right on! That pretty much what I'm thinking I'm going to do also. What kind/type of radio are you using? Thanks for the info.

 

https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads/wisconsin-tacomas-and-bad-financial-advice.21543/

https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads/wisconsin-area-events.621460/

The Wisconsin guys do a lot of off-road/overlanding trips.
I think for the midwest they would be the best source of info.

 

Midland MXT 275 so I can hide the box behind the dash for a cleaner look.