Lots of experience says otherwise.
Is "Overlanding" a thing in your area yet?
- Thread starter AZjeff
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I just won't go down a dirt road unless I know for sure where it goes.
From a post from the facebook group "Abandoned in Virginia"
Seems I'm not the only one wary of accidentally trespassing on someone's land. Wonder why he chickened out?
That makes sense. Just aimlessly driving on dirt roads and not knowing who owns the property is non-nonsensical. And does not have much to do the the OP Topic.
AZjeff
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Having your tent on the roof made the lions work a little bit more so you felt safer.
BITD overlanding was a hobby for people with money and it was pretty invisible. Now anyone can kit up whatever they drive and dream of the African savanna... when they go camping 10 miles away every once in a while. Not really anything wrong with that. Since the average guy doesn't have a special overlanding vehicle you see his around town. Overlanding is still a bespoke hobby if you look at what the real deal equipment costs.
When we first moved to Az I didn't understand how the guys I worked with could go out and camp all over the place and did some research. In Arizona 85% of the land is public land and most of it is open access. In Pennsylvania where we're from over 85% of the land is privately owned and a lot of the public land isn't open to driving or camping. I think this explains the differences of opinion seen between Pablo and TiGeo above. In the part of rural Pa I grew up in if you were out driving around on the dirt roads and came to a gate you DID NOT open it and go through, someone owned that land and you were not welcome. In the west the idea is if a gate is open leave it open if it's closed then close it when you go through.
I get what you are saying (well FB, but) - anyway. The guy posted people with signed and fenced property are 100% crazy. Sure.
The point is that in Virginia, there is very little public land. Almost all of it is privately owned. Even some of the public lands (wildlife management areas) you need a permit from the state to even walk on, otherwise you're subject to arrest for trespassing.
I've had my share of those "oh no" moments doing just that and then quickly hustling a 40-point turn around in some dudes front yard bracing for gunshots ahahahah
Those are the ones who make it clear what's theirs. The ones who don't yet still have a problem with your presence are the ones to worry about.
So be it. My safey comes before your feelings.
Often this isn't aimless....maps aren't always correct.
Good point!
There have even been disputes about whether a road is in fact a public road or a private one. You'd think that would be pretty easy to figure out...
My wife and I used to camp on very rural govt land in the UP of Michigan and sleep in the back of our new '72 Vega Gt hatchback. Later did the same in Colorado and got by driving that thing on what were normally considered 'Jeep trails'-maybe a few scrapes. Later many great short and long trips all over the west. We were young and $ were tight. We didn't suffer.
Ok and if you drive on marked property illegally then that's on a person labelled 100% crazy?
It's not about feelings. Property rights trump overland fun.
No of course it's not OK to shoot an otherwise innocent person. But come on man. Someone who marks their property is not 100% crazy. That's just an over the top wacky statement.
Someone who mark their property is doing the right thing if that's what they want.
Someone who doesn't mark their property but acts as if they did is what you have to worry about.
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There are some nice places in Virginia - in the George Washington National Forest - or there used to be. Its a fair hike from most population centers - https://www.thenewx.org/threads/x-fest-2008-photos-videos-very-photo-heavy.11300/#post-139598
I hate it when they break down the banks as looks in this pic, and rip up the place. We're down to 1/3rd of the 'wild places' over the 'lived on places' (33% left) and that's being destroyed w/ppl who wanna stay ina "car'n" travel over it. I do not leave a trail or ruin the 'outback'. I use a light duty ('66 bronk) 4WD and stuff U might have round the house, no huge expenditures, fancy/weird specialty stuff. I go yr round, am the only 1 I see and just use the vehicle as a means to get where I couldnt otherwise get (time, distance, my age, number/weight of coolers'n other camp stuff). I lost my house in the boonies to the Great Recession & this is 1 way I recharge my batteries. I admitt I dont go 4 a month, more like 3, 4 days 25, 30 wks/yr.
