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TRaverse City

8K views 34 replies 14 participants last post by  66stingray 
#1 ·
anyone in the Traverse city area? if so i would like to get together and wheel (or find some new "non-private land" areas to wheel.:2thumbsup:
 
#5 ·
I Received a lift gate from a cherokee (unknown age), in another local parts trade.

it says "command-trac" on the passenger side, and "2.5 Liter fuel injection" it is two-tone red and black. it is in pretty good shape (did not find rust , but didn't look to hard.) Glass is good. Minor scrathes on outside.

Would like to trade the rear lift gate from the cherokee for the rear lift gate of a wrangler. (1997 - 2006).

I am willing to to trade the lift gate for other jeep wrangler parts to fit a 1997 - 2003 jeep wrangler TJ.

Photos to come if asked for them.
 
#6 ·
Im from TC but i go to GV in allendale

theres a few good spots to wheel in traverse city (well the outskirts)
but they arent that good

obviously dog party is fun
and in the long lake lake ann area there are some two tracks that arent too bad
 
#10 ·
I'm moving to Mackinaw City at the end of Oct and I'm hoping there's some places to wheel up there which isn't that far from TC.
 
#16 ·
olsont said:
Definitely go to dog party in copemish. That's coming up real soon
Skip dogparty1 and goto the rest. The past few years its just been a bumper to bumper drunk fest. Last year i was almost hit 2-3 times. Summer dogparty was a blast thou. If there was all off 100 rigs id be surprised. Just avoid picker valley. If you pass a group of buggys coming out of a trail that kinda my red flag to go a different direction. The trails there arnt marked very well (red, blue, orange, and a few others).

So far my experience of wheeling up that way has been tainted. Theres a black xj with cut fenders, 33" bfg mall terrains and a rustys lift up that way, the kids a joke. Wheeling on illegal property isnt my thing i guess.

Different strokes for different fokes i guess
 
#18 ·
olsont said:
So not many people at the other dog parties?
If bumper to bumper drunk fest is ur thing goto dogparty1. Dogparty2 isnt as bad. Summer dogparty this year was amazing. I think like 200 rigs showed up instead of almost 1000.

But me, i love going to the park on non-event weekends. Its actually a great place when not over run.
 
#19 ·
I don't know what you guys are talking about who say there's no good wheeling around TC. Sure there's nothing right in TC but a few miles toward kalkaska and Williamsburg there's tons of good hard wheeling. You just have to know where your going, I can jump on a two track off M72 and be on some good wheeling all day. It's mostly giant sandy hill climbs but there is some off camber and technical stuff too.

Try taking 72 up about half way between Kalkaska and Acme to the elk lake over look, there's a little trail off to the right of the parking lot, that trail will get you to some hard trails. You will be out there all day though if you don't turn around. There's tons of good trails out in Kalkaska to, if been wheeling around there my whole life so I know pretty much where all the good wheeling is at.

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#22 ·
bobjp said:
I'd like better directions as well. Are you sure it's legal? I've never found anything like you describe in Michigan.
Where at in MI do you live? You really need to just get out more and explore, there's hundreds of thousands of acres of state land, all legal. I can literally spend all day in the woods running trails in the TC and Kalkaska area and not see an other person. There is a bunch of trails that a stock jeep can handle and a ton which would need a locker and bigger tires...

Here's a video of some of the easier stuff around TC that I wheel. This was back when my jeep was not very built but I run a lot harder stuff now.
 
#23 ·
Where at in MI do you live? You really need to just get out more and explore, there's hundreds of thousands of acres of state land, all legal. I can literally spend all day in the woods running trails in the TC and Kalkaska area and not see an other person. There is a bunch of trails that a stock jeep can handle and a ton which would need a locker and bigger tires...

Here's a video of some of the easier stuff around TC that I wheel. This was back when my jeep was not very built but I run a lot harder stuff now.
Video Link:

You need to be careful of that "harder stuff" you are referring to. On state land, a two track that is not part of the marked ORV system is only legal for your licensed vehicle if it can be traveled in a conventional 2wd vehicle. Grandma's Buick does not have lockers, if you need them on state land you run the risk of a ticket. "Creating an erosive condition" is the charge, and it is a misdemeanor, not a traffic ticket.
 
#25 ·
bobjp said:
I've never explored the 2 state forests near Kalkaska so I'll have to check them out.

But it's like Phittie said, the harder stuff tends not to be legal. I've been all over the other state and national land in the LP and UP and never found anything legal that requires more than a stock Jeep in 2wd (with the exception of when there's snow).
None of that was in a state or national forest just state land. Yes, there's is stuff out there that is much harder on state land that is legal, I wheel it almost every weekend in the summer.

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#26 ·
phittie1100 said:
You need to be careful of that "harder stuff" you are referring to. On state land, a two track that is not part of the marked ORV system is only legal for your licensed vehicle if it can be traveled in a conventional 2wd vehicle. Grandma's Buick does not have lockers, if you need them on state land you run the risk of a ticket. "Creating an erosive condition" is the charge, and it is a misdemeanor, not a traffic ticket.
I've never had a problem with it and I've been I that area my whole life along with many others I know an I've passed many DNR trucks. There's so many trails that you can't make in a two wheel drive vehicle I guess I'll have to remove my Tcase and replace my front axle with a solid beam just so I don't do any thing illegal.

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#32 ·
I don't write the laws and I don't enforce them, I just help connect people with information. "I've never gotten in trouble doing it" is certainly not a legal defence, especially for some newb who is looking for reliable information before heading out the first time. The ORV handbook has good information, if you like reading MCL (yawn) those are available online too. There are also groups like GLFWDA with websites full of information WWW.GLFWDA.org
 
#27 ·
Here's some pics of a trail I run a lot. Think you can make that in 2wd I don think so, I couldn't even make it in 4wd with one locker aired down to 8psi.





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