Hurricane Creek Rd. Tuesday, March 5, 2019.

I'll be leaving Miami for Laurens SC late Sunday night. I'll then be leaving Laurens SC at around 10:00am on Monday. I just realized that I will have all afternoon free before heading to Pigeon Forge where I will be staying & I don't have to be there at a certain time.

It will be IDEAL if Hurricane Creek Rd is accessible but @Daria recommendation is possible as well. Are there any creek crossings there Daria? Dirt Devil looks like fun but damn, 4 hours west of Pigeon Forge. Between travel & trail time I will be on the road for 12 hours total! But if there is no other option then Dirt Devil it is. I'm determined to do a couple of creek crossings.

 

@TAC1 I just read the actual thread. Chestnut Mountain Rd isn't terribly far from Pigeon Forge. It's in Gorges State Park outside of Sapphire, NC. Link to thread in sig. There are four creek crossings and an actual river crossing in total along the main stretch, but parts of that stretch aren't really easy, but also not really difficult. There are also several off-shoot trails. You could easily spend a day there site seeing and riding trails. Gulches is just outside of Laurens on your way out from Eddy's shop, but its an actual paid ORV park, and the only easy part is the parking lot. There is also Windrock on the other side of Knoxville, also a paid ORV park, but tons and tons of trails of all difficulties.

FWIW, this is the first "creek" crossing at Hurricane Creek after its been raining, and its been raining a lot.

 

I’ve seen videos of Gulches and Windrock. They may have been Eddys videos. Yeah, Gulches is not going to happen. Hahaha. And Windrock seems rather long. Chestnut Rd sounds promising if Hurricane can’t happen. Is that your truck going through the creek? Looks good! I’ll be heading to work in a minute so I’ll check the link in your sig and the Hurricane vid you posted when I get a chance later today. The main thing is that it’s somewhere I cant get stuck since it’s just me. I heard that Hurricane gets rough after the 1st creek so I planned to turn back after crossing the creek you showed. But 4 creeks at Chestnut sounds good. I’ll check some vids of chestnut as well. Hiw does it compare to Hurricane in twrmsyof difficulty? Of course weather is an influence.
Thank you again!

No problem. Thank you fro your time @Daria

 

Gulches is mean to me, lol. I think I have broken something almost every time I've been there, but it's only 30 mins from me, so I keep going back! Chestnut Mountain Rd is great. One of my favorite trail rides. I've been there a bunch of times solo, never gotten stuck. I'd say it is comparable to Hurricane Creek difficulty wise, but I like it a lot more. That was me when my truck was mostly stock going through that first crossing at Hurricane. Lifted you should be fine in regards to hydrolocking.

 

I was able to get on my work computer since we are slow for the moment. It's such an old system that we still have WORKING codes for carburetor adjustments & wheel cylinder rebuild kits

As for Gulches, for you it's definitely convenient distance-wise but DAMN. It sounds like the place is BRUTAL! HAHAHAHA. Thank you for all the info. When I get home later I will look up the coordinates & the link on your sig. . I googled Chestnut Rd earlier & saw a TW post from October 26, 2017. I see it's your post.

 

"There are four creek crossings and an actual river crossing in total along the main stretch".

"I've been there a bunch of times solo, never gotten stuck. I'd say it is comparable to Hurricane Creek difficulty wise, but I like it a lot more"

This sounds very good @EricL

I saw the thread you did on Chestnut & I see trucks crossing a bridge. Are there any water crossings there like in Hurricane or are they all over bridges?

Also, how long is the main trail & can I turn back if I have to or is it one way?

 

There is only one bridge that goes over the river. The creek crossings are all splash through. It depends in your speed, but figure two to three hours in and back if you go the whole way.

If you get to a place with gates blocking you and no obvious where to go, look back over your right shoulder for the switchback to Auger Hole Rd.

There are some places to do three or four point turnarounds, and a couple of places you can turn around pretty easy. Once you cross the metal bridge there are more creek crossings and you will finally come to a gate you cant pass. Turn around there and head back.