Tacomas in Minnesota?

Pulled the winch out and got it working again. Ended up just being a bad ground.

 

only if aaron pays him.

 

anyone know where I can get a CMC done?! getting tired of hearing the rubbing

 

I can do it i have a full fab shop

 

Long shot, but....


Anyone have a tilting mortising machine?

 

Hell yeah. Where and when!

 

For wood? Or steel.

 

Anyone planning a trip to CO or UT in August? Buddy and I are heading over there Aug 9th-18th. Currently stationed In Wichita KS, but moving back to Sioux City IA soon. Have family in Fairmont MN so I'll be back there all the time. Trying to meet up with some fellow Tacoma owners around the area!

 

Looking for recommendations on trails (forest service roads/fire roads) to explore that provide the ability to pull over and camp. The more remote the better. Thanks in advance.

 

Nope. Heading to WY, MT, or ID the same time.

Do you have planned routes yet?

It gets thick out here.... where are you heading?

 

Where about are you looking to go? Generally speaking we all go north to get outdoors. But you'll find northern Minnesota is generally wall to wall trees, which doesn't lend itself well for dispersed camping.

In my opinion Minnesota is pretty poor for offroading - trails where you can explore and pull over to camp. I mean, there are a ton of forest roads up there, but they're all pretty well maintained, and they either lead to a boat launch or some guys cabin. That's not to say there isn't a lot to do up there. Camping. Hiking. Fishing. Canoeing. The lake....

 

I'm open to any and all recommendations, I've heard that up North is the place to go generally speaking, but have no idea as to what to expect. I recently moved here from Utah and am having major exploration withdrawals haha. I was thinking of checking out Chequamegon Nicolet National Forest or Chippewa National Forest.

As for poor offroading here in Minnesota, that's the vibe I've been getting a lot, unfortunately. I'm all for camping, hiking, fishing, don't have a canoe, have paddle boards. The Taco is missing hitting the trails every weekend that's for damn sure.

That's what I'm hearing, unfortunately. I was thinking of checking out Chequamegon Nicolet National Forest or Chippewa National Forest. But am open to any other recommendations as I know nothing and have seen nothing up to this point.

 

Yeah, sorry man, in that regard, you made a bad move. All we do here is wish to go out west. A few of us are going out to the Bighorns in a week. This will probably be the 5th year in a row where I've gone to Blackhills/Badlands. That area is really fun. There's some interesting stuff to be found in the UP of Michigan. Wisconsin is worse than MN for trips. Don't ever go to Wisconsin. Ever.

Oh, and get ready to start watching your truck turn to rust.

 

There are some challenging trails in MN, especially in the iron range and up into the arrowhead. Step over the northern border and there is some epically fun stuff in the crown lands.

Don't expect what you had in Utah. You are going to get stuck in mud, spend hours with your chainsaw cutting downed trees, and your paint is going to end up looking like an irate ex took some keys to it. Not much climbing to epic views or amazing rock formations. It's trees, brush, bugs, and muck. Not saying I don't love it, I have some very favorite places I keep close to chest that are just as beautiful as one can get in this world, but it's not the hours of straight ooos and awwwsss I got crossing Utah in dirt last year.

Black hills are a conservative 7hr away, big horns and the great smokies not much further. UP is closer.

If you want adventuring, look up the Midwest Overland Society.

 

I figured it would be nothing compared to out west, but didn't think it'd be this bad! haha, I've been in denial.

Noted about Wisconsin, and I thought they salted the roads bad in Utah, I've already seen the difference one winter here has made on the underside of my truck.

I'll have to look into those areas some more, thanks for the info. And I'll check out Midwest Overland Society.

I hate mud, love chainsaw work, and the truck is already pinstriped might as well keep adding to it. Builds character right??

7 hrs and up is pushing it for a night or two for me. Ideally, I'd prefer to keep it in the 3-4 hr range - I've been spoiled though so we'll see.

 

3-4hr will get you to the superior shore. There are some decently difficult routes out of Gran Maris and the like. Tom Lake trail comes to mind.

When I mean mud, in the public lands it will be a deceptively deep puddle on the road. My buddy buried his D2 on 35s to the rockers on a puddle that was maybe 10' long. There are silly hicks with their mud bogs, but most of what you will hit is strange pits of goop.

Most of the forest service routes follow old rail grade from when the region was extensively logged. So it's flaaaat. There are a few good rover crossings and such up in the north woods, and my now infamous 2mi water crossing.

 

Thanks! I'll look into some of those routes. I've seen those deceptively deep puddles in videos, have yet to experience any for myself (not an issue in the west) I appreciate the heads up/reminder of those being a thing out this way. River crossings are always a good time, I need to hear more about this 2mi water crossing now haha

 

It's an old rail grade that crosses a beaver swamp. About 2mi long, and 2-3' deep during the wet seasons.

I'll dig up some coordinates for the location of it when I am not so lazy.

 

What corprin said. I spend most of my vacation time in Lake and Cook Counties hunting grouse in the fall. Last year stopped at the NFS station in Tofte and asked about updated Superior NF map and they said it should be out soon, in fact should be now. About time it has been 10 years.

I have topos, google earth, FS maps, gazetteers etc. but what shows a road may be overgrown and a moose track now. And some aren't on any maps. Growing season may be short but it is fast, real fast and mother nature takes over in a hurry. Friend of mine lives in Silver Bay for past 30 years and he still doesn't know all the trails in Lake and Cook County. The main trails are old rail grades in fact the main road East and West in Lake and Cook is called "The Grade". There are spurs off from it that were rail grades and built up above the bogs. But there are also a lot of logging roads that are made by a dozer too.

And as he mentioned the beaver can change the landscape in a hurry.



FS worker came by in a truck when I was taking this and said he had never even seen anyone on this road before so was surprised to see me. It is a big area. This road and the trails off this one road take him all day to cover.

Most of the bottom is Canadian Shelf so hard bottomed. Until you think it is then it isn't and at least a come along is something to keep in the truck. If your walking have to be careful of bog silt. I went after a grouse I shot last year and ended up buried to my waist in what looked like semi firm ground. Can make life interesting. Dog didn't want to cross it duh should have been my first clue.

I have gone in a trail and come out and had a downed tree blocking the road and had to cut it to get out more than once. There are places to pull over and camp especially where logging crews have setup a clearing for loading logs. It isn't ALL flat...



But flat enough that sometimes think it is my punishment for calling City Boys Flatlanders when I lived in the West. Old enough now that I don't want to beat the truck, dog and myself up when driving down these trails to get back in to a 10-14 year old Aspen cut to hunt ruff grouse. Looking at getting a SxS to use instead of the truck. Even once I retire in a few years if I hunted and explored every trail and road in Lake and Cook every day of the season it would take several years before I could hit them all. After 15 years I know many of them but plenty more to go.

When you do hit paved roads, and there are a few like the Gunflint trail, watch your speed at dusk and dawn. You do not want a Moose coming through your windshield and that is where the long legged bastages will end up if you hit them. Good luck and have fun. This time of year take plenty of bug spray and a head net is not out of place. I prefer as close to 100% DEET as I can get. At least the ticks aren't as thick there as the rest of the State though.

 

Like Jesse said summer is a great time to leave MN. Too hot, too humid, TOO many mosquitoes, too many ticks, too many people. But late fall, winter, and all spring are awesome. The fall is unexplainablly awesome. I also like the grouse/squirrels season. My favorite is Nemadji state forest. We have had fun wheeling there in three seasons. In summer the lakes are the way to go. Find a little one up near boundary water with a kayak or canoe, fish, hike, mountain bike. I also love MN not leaving soon.