Anybody ever done an offroading / wild camping trip?

[Bizzle]

Afternoon Chaps,
I fancy a bit of expedition and adventure this year and have been trawling through the Multimap OS layer trying to find tracks and lanes into the wilderness. Like everybody else I love a bit of mud but for me ‘off road’ is about adventures into the unknown, exploring and finding new stuff. Negotiating gravel pits and wildly articulating my suspension to cover larger and larger obstacles just doesn’t float my boat (sorry!)

So, has anybody had any experience with this? Either in the Lake District, Snowdonia, Scottish highlands etc?

Plan is actually pretty simple. Try to plan a route to navigate that will take us out into the middle of nowhere, wild camp overnight enjoy the views and the experience then emerge back into the real world. I know that there are some fairly hefty restrictions on many routes and where you can/can’t camp, but i wondered if anybody had any experience of some interesting routes that might be fun? The driving doesn’t have to be challenging, but obviously no tarmac 

Suggestions and experiences welcome!

[CraigVmax]

I'm sure there are some places you can get to if you drive off the road from rhayader to maccynletth

[100SRV]

I organise trips of this nature for my local GLASS members, if you would like to know more PM me. Note that we don't go "off roading" but use public roads which often don't have a surface...

100SRV

[anonymous-user]

This is from a trip round the Lakes in 2009.....

We jumped ship from the massively over-crowded campsites that were full of white Transit vans from Manchester, and went wild for the weekend.
The trick is to tread as lightly and quietly as possible, don't make a big song and dance about what you're doing and be ready to move off at short notice should someone take offence. Small groups are also key. We had three vehicles, all of which looked pretty standard in plain colours, no massive knobbly tyres, no ugly roll cages and no stickers saying "If you can read this turn me over".
Best laning weekend in the UK ever.
Or get yourself to Morocco or somewhere similar.
A couple more:
View from the roof tent:

Sunday morning, about 6am:

This isn't far from Shap Pass:

"If anyone asks, we're a wind farm survey team..;).."

Edited by anonymous-user on Saturday 22 January 13:02

[100SRV]

Crossflow kid has the correct approach - keep it discreet and you won't upset folk...

[CanadianScot]

Crossflow Kid said:

This is from a trip round the Lakes in 2009.....
"If anyone asks, we're a wind farm survey team..;).."

Well you need to be at least 1 and a half times the height of the turbine away from the road, so that site would be unacceptable.

That looks great fun, got me looking at Defenders though.... Bloody expensive things

[naffa]

Did a similar thing in Mid Wales 2 or 3 years ago



Sadly the next day my mates Disco ended up like this
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UOsvjRgH02k

[Hooli]

Forget the Highlands, no such thing as Greenlanes up there.

[bigblock]

Hooli said:

Forget the Highlands, no such thing as Greenlanes up there.

Very dodgy taking your vehicle for an unauthorised off road trip in the Highlands.There are virtualy no designated rights of way for vehicles, which is quite ironic because if you are travelling by foot, bike or horse you can go almost anywhere as a result of the land reform act.

Although you might think you are in the middle of nowhere your vehicle is likely to be spotted by a gamekeeper or estate worker on the lookout for poachers who will then notify the local police. Hopefuly the police will not think you are poachers because then they can confiscate your vehicle and any other equipment that may be used for that purpose. The most likely charge will be driving on land other than a highway without lawful authority or reasonable excuse.

One of the best ways to access the thousands of miles of offroad trails in the Highlands is to contact the appropriate 4x4 club in the area and they will normaly tell you which local landowners will allow access to their land (usualy for a fee).

[BigJL]

Hi guys,

Sorry to drag this post back from a month ago, but Crossflow, do you have the route that you took mapped out on Google Maps, or the waypoints you took, etc? Or at least a starting/ending point! LOL

Really want to do a trip like this next month and finding it hard to know where to go.

Thanks in advance,

J

[eltax91]

BigJL said:

Hi guys,

Sorry to drag this post back from a month ago, but Crossflow, do you have the route that you took mapped out on Google Maps, or the waypoints you took, etc? Or at least a starting/ending point! LOL

Really want to do a trip like this next month and finding it hard to know where to go.

Thanks in advance,

J

Do you know what - me too! Far too scared to ask though, from my experience, people don't share routes is they (rightly) can get invaded by any idiot on the internet.

[anonymous-user]

BigJL said:

do you have the route that you took mapped out on Google Maps, or the waypoints you took, etc? Or at least a starting/ending point! LOL

Did you miss the bit where I said it's near Shap Pass?

[BigJL]

Yes! Thanks!