Exploring Virginia's George Washington National Forest Offroad | Sugar Tree Trail | Jeep JK Overland

[@jeffreymohr6332]

Us hunters have enjoyed this land for decades. Some of us have hunted from the same campsites for 30 years and longer. The majority of the hunters know each other and maintain their campsites. We take pride in keeping them clean. Thank you for picking up the trash you saw along the route. Please note cell signal is beyond sparse. Game wardens do travel the roads. You must have a National Forest permit to camp. You will be ticketed if you dont. Be extremely cautious and keep your speeds slow. The euro motorcycles fly on this road . One layed his bike down in front of my truck when he came around a switch back and met me head on. Please respect this land and preserve it for future generations.

[@DefiantOffroad]

I try to clean up at least a little bit on every trail and/or campsite that I hit. Some places are almost spotless, and others can be almost overwhelming with the amount of trash. Regardless if you're a hunter, overlander, off-roader, hiker, etc. If every chips in just a little bit, it makes a huge difference!

[@DxDOverland]

Thanks, Will. It was a very relaxing drive; glad I "went along"!

[@DefiantOffroad]

Thanks, Mark!

[@tobyhottle9540]

Great video. This trail is part of the MABDR for adventure motorcycles. Mid Atlantic back country discovery route.

[@DefiantOffroad]

Yep! It's definitely a great place for a relaxing trip in the woods. Thank you for watching and commenting!

[@shortround1984-yp7sm]

I really enjoyed this video. Some people don't understand that it's not always about mudding or rock crawling. Sometimes you just want a relaxing ride through the forest, to get away and clear your head.

[@DefiantOffroad]

Exactly.

[@overlander948]

Back on the old stomping grounds I see! GWNF has to seem a little dull compared to Moab.

[@DefiantOffroad]

I don't know that I'd say "dull". Riding trails like this is more relaxing than a place Moab. Moab was definitely more adventure and no relaxing.

[@reidcardwell]

Great to see some stuff on the East Coast! Recently found and subscribed, I'm in North Carolina, so a lot of the trails you follow are pretty close to home. Thanks for the video!

[@DefiantOffroad]

Thank you for the kind words! I'm always looking for new places to go that don't already have 50 videos done of them, so if you have any good spots let me know!

[@davidp130]

Sugar tree rd is known locally as 17 mile road. A lot of fun on a dual sport or (plated) dirt bike. Nice.vid!

[@DefiantOffroad]

Good to know. Thanks for watching!!

[@garretlewis4103]

Your video came up as a KZbin recommendation. Living in VA the GWNF is in our back yard. Always looking for more places to go. Thanks for picking up the trash. People just don’t get it. They keep leaving trash and the road gets shut down.

[@DefiantOffroad]

Glad you found your way here! Trashing the trails is one of my pet peeves. I've probably picked up at least 50 lbs worth of trash in the last year and a half.

[@OverlandingTheEast-x3u]

This is a good relaxing ride...I've been here a few times. It's good for times when you just want to see some scenery and not get beat up.

[@DefiantOffroad]

Agreed. That's precisely why I chose it. I needed to get away but not get bounced around a lot.

[@thehighwayman2214]

fun time! that place had no shortage of spots to camp.

[@DefiantOffroad]

Yeah there were tons of spots. I've been told they all fill up fast during hunting season.

[@superpossum78]

Offroading on Christmas eve, when you really wanna be sure you're depending on yourself to get er done 😂. I'm in VA we have a ham and a free sofa if you need it this Xmas bud.

[@DefiantOffroad]

You know it! Thanks my friend!

[@michaelbroyer3918]

I liked and subscribed. I love this little but non technical overland journey on a long FS road. I plan to hit it up in my 4wd very soon for one of those chill car camping weekends! Thanks!

[@DefiantOffroad]

Definitely not a hard trail, but scenic! Thanks for subscribing!

[@michaelbroyer3918]

Did you follow the road north to south or vice versa? Looking at it on google maps now... Thanks

[@DefiantOffroad]

South to North!

[@leesonoutdoors]

Right in my backyard and if you are due west of Staunton probably highland co but SW is Bath lol but hey your out that's all that really matters can't recall of I have been on this one or not I think I have looks familiar especially all those build out roadside sites

[@DefiantOffroad]

It's a great trail to just sit back and take a relaxing ride on!

[@leesonoutdoors]

@@DefiantOffroad yeah pretty sure I've been on that one it's kinda right in my backyard I have torn the trails up in this area since I retired in 2020 I was actually out on FR 85 just this past Friday at fr the backside of Reddish Knob great area to unwind close to home

[@kidt3068]

I grew up in Woodstock, va. Good video!!

[@DefiantOffroad]

Awesome! Thanks for watching!

[@terrylovin7405]

We ran this trail last October as part of an “overland” route between Bald Mountain and Union Springs up to Flagpole Knob. It was quite a view with the leaves changing.

[@DefiantOffroad]

For being such an easy trail, it's surprisingly nice, isn't it?

[@terrylovin7405]

@@DefiantOffroad yeah, it was a nice drive. And like you mentioned, campsites scattered throughout the entire trail.

[@DefiantOffroad]

No shortage of campsites, that's for sure! If you haven't already, check out my most recent trail video from Pedlar River. That was another simple trail with some pretty good campsites.

[@nomoreblahblah]

Good video. Thank you for cleaning up after the litterbugs in the forest. They even litter at established campsites, I've cleaned up a few. Take care. I subscribed and clicked the like button

[@DefiantOffroad]

Thanks! Trashing the trails is definitely a pet peeve!

[@anothersiguy]

Had no idea stuff like this was only an hour or so away from me , thanks for documenting! Looks like something even the old family Kia could handle too haha. Great drone shots!

[@DefiantOffroad]

Hey, thanks! That trail is super basic. I don't recall any specific parts that any passenger vehicle couldn't handle.

[@earlcharger]

Sugar Tree is completely widened out to two lanes now. Took my KLR down there a few months ago. Guessing it's so they can log it. I was highly upset since it was the most southern destination fir that particular ride from Western Maryland.

[@DefiantOffroad]

Man that sucks!!

[@jeffreymohr6332]

It was widened because the original road was very narrow making it hard for fire equipment to access it in the event of an emergency

[@ronaldhoppus9015]

Nice vid and trail. Is that a Rino Rack? Thanks

[@DefiantOffroad]

Thanks! The rack is by Novsight

[@ronaldhoppus9015]

@@DefiantOffroad I was just to their website and don't see roof racks there. ?

[@DefiantOffroad]

It's a prototype model. I don't believe that they have any immediate plans to put it into production, which is a shame, because it's pretty good!

[@olli_k]

Nice video! Have you considered getting an anamorphic lens to do some of your videos? I use one and it has a look that is unique. Personally, I love using it for still photography too. I have not found any kind of plug in for Final Cut or DaVinci that can replicate the effect of using an anamorphioc lens.

[@DefiantOffroad]

I thought about it at one point, but I've begun to get away from using the mirrorless camera as my primary. I'm using a DJI Pocket 3 now as "Camera 1". It produces really good quality video, while being much quicker to get up and running for "point and shoot" situations.

[@griffindiguardo]

Most of those camp sites are occupied all hunting season long by trailers so big you can hardly believe they got hauled out there

[@DefiantOffroad]

Wow!

[@davidgates1122]

I am one of those hunters. I have modified my 26 foot travel trailer to hold up to doing this. Most of the trailers you see are not set up properly for this and sustain damage as a result.

[@TheRikkymunoz]

Hello brother, Any recommendations for a dispersed camping area in the Washington national forest? My family and I always go for a camping trip on Labor Day weekend to Switzer lake close to flagpole knob and we going to this spot next to the lake where we can can get our vehicles right next to the water but the rangers place this rocks so I guess they don’t want to have vehicles that close to the water. I’m looking for a place similar to that… Any suggestions??

[@DefiantOffroad]

There's several good campsites on FS-95.

[@davidmccormick8060]

Great video! Did you go north to south or south to north? I’d love to drive it, and looking at OnX you did Liberty Trail too, would it be possible to drive these 2 trails in one day?

[@DefiantOffroad]

I ran it south to north. I did both of those trails in one day, and that included filming. It would definitely take much less time if you weren't filming.

[@orlando1986100]

What is the name of the starting point of the route? Could someone tell me?

[@DefiantOffroad]

The GPS coordinates for the trailhead are in the video.

[@richardli8634]

by chance is this trail overland trailer capable?

[@DefiantOffroad]

Totally!

[@richardli8634]

@@DefiantOffroad thanks for letting me know my man! Adding this to my list of go to camping spots

[@DefiantOffroad]

No problemo! It's a super easy trail (basically just a gravel road) and plenty of room. There's tons of campsites and they're all right on the side of the trail.

[@richardli8634]

@@DefiantOffroad I have a jumpingjack trailer and haven't found anywhere to take it yet, most of my usual places are too wheely for it

[@DefiantOffroad]

@@richardli8634 you'll be fine at sugar tree! Check out my video from Pedlar River as well. I think you'd be good to go there as well, and there's also good campsites

[@fogrider4607]

I don’t find that trail in the nfs map app?

[@DefiantOffroad]

I use OnX, but if it helps, the coordinates for the trail location are near the beginning of the video.

[@xthree3xx_]

Are you aware if this is open to side by sides or is it just registered vehicles ?

[@DefiantOffroad]

Has to be street legal in VA.

[@briannordwall7631]

I enjoy your local Virginia videos but would be better without the constant promoting of Patreon 😢

[@DefiantOffroad]

I get no joy from doing it (I'd go so far as to say that I dislike it), but I spend a lot of money making these videos. KZbin isn't my full time job, and I'm not rolling in ad revenue and sponsor money. While no one has any obligation to offset that, as I do it of my own free will (and enjoy it), it's nice when viewers choose to help defray the cost. In my own defense, I don't believe that mentioning it 4 times in 21 minutes constitutes "constant" by any definition of the word. At 06:50 in the video, I actually edited out a reference to it, because I felt like I was mentioning it too much already. I do sincerely appreciate you not only watching the video, but sticking around long enough to form an opinion on the matter, and I hope that it doesn't run you off!

[@Brntout_]

@@DefiantOffroad I rather hear it from you about your patreon and that we actually get something out of it like the locations for the camp sites.. not like other KZbinrs who just riddle their videos with ads. I’m not a KZbinr don’t know if that’s how that works but that’s what it seems like to me. So a plug here and there I’m good with it awesome video!!!!

[@DefiantOffroad]

Thanks for watching and commenting!

[@GooC-xm2oi]

This is just a ad for Jeep lol

[@DefiantOffroad]

A damned fine Jeep.

[@endgameoffroad-sz6tc]

@@DefiantOffroad Preach!

[@FloridaNativeMike]

Haha! I’d take my minivan on that road, no problem.

[@overlander948]

@@FloridaNativeMike I wouldn't admit to driving a minivan. 😊

[@FloridaNativeMike]

@@overlander948 Haha! I am ashamed of nothing! If you have kids, they are amazing vehicles and mine goes to 100% (and then some) of the places most SUV drivers go!