Great Campsites & Relaxing Rides | Solo in the Virginia Appalachians | Big Piney/Coon Bridge

[@onepunch7632]

Looks like a fun Sunday drive. Gonna try to go up this weekend. Thanks for sharing!

[@DefiantOffroad]

This is a good relaxing one. The river views when you're on Big Pine are incredible, and there's also a few really good spots to camp along this one.

[@roberthermsen724]

I wanted to thank you for this video. I went up to this trail today and it was amazing. Definitely going back to do some camping

[@DefiantOffroad]

I'm glad it helped out. I have a newer video from the area, where we do some camping. There's some great campsites out there!

[@roberthermsen724]

@@DefiantOffroad yes I have seen that video and I seen that site you used today. Did you make it up to the air traffic control tower at the top. That was cool to find.

[@DefiantOffroad]

We didn't venture up to the tower. My task for that weekend was to map the Pedlar River trail for OnX and then just relax at camp!

[@ExploreX4]

Really enjoy your videos, I’ll be driving down from the Boston area next week and your videos have helped me plan on driving some trails in George Washington and Monongahela National Forests, thanks for giving a great overview of so many trails

[@DefiantOffroad]

Thank you so much for the kind words. Where all are you planning to go?

[@ExploreX4]

@@DefiantOffroad I’ll be driving first day to Shenandoah National Park and spending the night there, then I’m heading to Marlinton, WV area so I’m thinking of driving Big Piney or Sugar Tree on my way there, both if I have the time. Want to check out Road Across the Sky in Monongahela and I’ll spend some time checking out New River Gorge National Park. Hoping to squeeze in some mountain biking along the way too. Might check out Reddish Knob, and I go back and forth on if I want to try Flagpole Knob and Enchanted Creek, still new to off-road so don’t want to get my self in a bad situation.

[@DefiantOffroad]

Reddish knob and flagpole knob kind of go hand in hand. They are more or less one continuous trail. You'll be fine at flagpole. Just take dunkle hollow road down from flagpole instead of Union springs.

[@ExploreX4]

@@DefiantOffroad great, thanks so much!

[@DefiantOffroad]

@@ExploreX4 Marlinton it's about an hour from the Mower Tract. Check my video out from there. It's a super easy trail, but the views and campsites are unlike any other place that I've been on the East Coast.

[@PappysRRR]

Don't know if you came across it yet. That road goes past an old church. Hang a right, and you will see Station Creek Falls. A few of us would take what we called Jeep Birthday ride 1st of August when my Jeep was young. Ride from shoe creek to a few waterfalls in the area, then stop for lunch at one of those sights.

[@DefiantOffroad]

I miss the good ol' days of Shoe Creek! I'm going to be back in that area on the weekend of 9/28 for our Patreon subscriber meetup!

[@PappysRRR]

I do, too. Was my first trail. Watching one of your videos, a guy was at 320k on the original moter. Wow, my Jeep died at 273k, spending the last two years working on it. Perhaps I will make it back on the trails when I get the bugs worked out.

[@kevindavis3456]

Heading there next week I’d live a pin on camp

[@DefiantOffroad]

If you haven't gone yet, check this one out and let me know what you think: 37.79229, -79.12959

[@Jshanks19]

I absolutely ❤this area.

[@DefiantOffroad]

I'd never ventured onto these trails before. I hit Shoe Creek several times back in the day, but never ventured onto these. I'm glad that I did, I'm definitely coming back to camp!

[@jku4488-eh3kd]

Somebody finally got a winch!

[@DefiantOffroad]

I'll be the first to admit, it was way overdue.

[@maxdexpeditions]

Thats a nice camp spot. Camping beside a stream is one of our favorite. Beautiful national forest, will sure add this to our list if we go to that area.

[@DefiantOffroad]

A stream of some sort is almost a "must have" for me when it comes to campsites!

[@Slabforkhomestead]

Just stumbling onto your channel and enjoying it as a new subscriber. I plan on spending some time in the GWNF when I finish building my Kei truck camper. That would be after my broken foot is healed up by the end of summer. At least I have good KZbin content to watch until then.

[@DefiantOffroad]

Thanks for finding your way here! The GWNF is a great place to explore. Plenty of trails and even more places to camp. Where are you located?

[@Slabforkhomestead]

@@DefiantOffroadI’m out of Lawsonville, NC a couple of hours away. I normally run through on the parkway each spring taking a little trip but now I want to explore the forest.

[@rwest5386]

As usual, another great video! And it's funny, just 15 minutes before this posted, I was looking at OnX Offroad and the weather forecast trying to decide where I wanted to lead a group of friends through, in the near future and this area and Broad Run Rd were my main focus. My brother and I did Broad Run in March and this area in September, last year. I anticipated every single thing you said or did except I was surprised you didn't do Lower Shoe creek but I'm pretty sure you did a video on that in the last 2 years. When we did Coon Bridge (FS 1167) it was almost sunset and we were going in the up hill (East to West) direction and it looked like no one had been on the part below the "Fun Stuff" in at least a year or two. I felt like the foliage was rubbing on both sides of the car, at the same time, most of the way, up to that point. As I did not have OnX when we did Big Piney, last year, can you give me the GPS points, for those two camp sites? We went down to both but had no way to mark them for future reference.

[@DefiantOffroad]

Thanks! The first one is at: 37.79214, -79.14235. The second one (the large one) is at: 37.78657, -79.15502. I haven't been to Shoe Creek since the closure. I used to go there a lot "back in the day". I almost slid off of the trail and into the creek in the snow one time in my old WJ!

[@shaunharvey7690]

Hey! I’d love to get some of these way points if possible! Thank you!

[@DefiantOffroad]

The first one is at: 37.79214, -79.14235. The second one (the large one) is at: 37.78657, -79.15502.

[@overlander948]

Seems like you kind of changed the formula up a bit with this one. It's good!

[@DefiantOffroad]

Yep! I was trying to have a day to myself to just relax and cruise some easy trails, and I wanted the video to reflect that. No drone, minimal background music, and more just talking about the trail.

[@overlander948]

@@DefiantOffroad It worked out well! The video is great!

[@therubiconcrossed2308]

Great video! Isn't this right by Shoe Creek?

[@DefiantOffroad]

Yes it is!

[@jasondieffenbach720]

is there a weight limit? 1500"s allowed?

[@DefiantOffroad]

I didn't see any signs indicating a weight limit. Big Piney is plenty wide enough for a larger vehicle, but I would avoid Hog Camp and Coon Bridge in a larger vehicle.

[@jasontaylor9871]

What part of va is this in?

[@DefiantOffroad]

About an hour north of Lynchburg. The GPS coordinates are near the beginning of the video. That'll give you the exact location. Thanks for watching!

[@MegaPlott]

Nothing like seeing a bunch of city slickers with really expensive toys riding around a gravel road that you can drive a normal vehicle on. The mountains use to be enjoyable til social media came out. Lord it’s a damn shame!!

[@DefiantOffroad]

I'd argue that the mountains are still enjoyable, for the people out there enjoying them. Over the years, I've racked up thousands of miles off pavement. As far south as central Florida, as far north as New Hampshire, and as far west as Nevada. From gravel and dirt roads to crawling up rocks at Moab. What I've seen in that time is that people get their enjoyment in different ways. Some for the challenge, some for the sights, some to just get away. No one's motivation for going off road is any more (or any less) valid than anyone else's.

[@onepunch7632]

What a pointless and rude comment. So gravel roads are just for country folk in average vehicles while Jeeps must stay on 3+ trails or harder? Great logic bub. 😂

[@jonathanzack414]

Unless it is marked private property, it really isn't for you to decide who can or cannot go on it. If you have anyone to complain about anyone on the trails, complain about the ones who litter, or the ones who don't respect the trails and the forest.

[@DefiantOffroad]

@@jonathanzack414 exactly

[@MegaPlott]

@@onepunch7632 I’m not saying that at all. Most jeep pricks are very disrespectful where I’m from. I have zero use for someone like that.