Wisconsin 4Runners - Cheese Heads Unite!

What he said! Take your time and back out of anything you’re not sure about. Your previous off road experience should help you out. If you’re worried snagging the running boards, you could remove them “temporarily”.

If you see puddles on the main path on the ring road, they are all hard bottom. Some of the deeper/longer puddles of the interior trails may be hiding the occasional boulder, so take the bypass or back up if you’re not sure. There are also the occasional “can opener” rocks that you need to avoid on some trials, especially when turning.

If you decide to go on the interior trails, pick your lines and drive it like you own it . That should keep you from getting damaged or stuck. Oh, and get out and walk, sometimes things dont look as bad as you first think.

Also, stop to look at the waterfall! Great lunch spot!

During the week, it’s usually pretty dead and you might not see many others on the trail…great time to go. But don’t get stuck in ways that require a winch lol. There might not be anyone around to give you a hand.

BTW, Bring a fire extinguisher. Tigerton requires one. They never do safety checks that I’ve seen, but it’s still a good idea.

My 16yo old son and I went a few weeks ago, and he drove most of the ring road. It’s a good time. We actually rented a campsite on the dead-end along the river. Absolutely gorgeous spot to set up your chairs, wade out in the river. and have lunch/relax all by yourselves.

have fun and share pictures!!

 

The folks at Discount Tire seemed puzzled that I didn’t want to keep them!

The Baja Bosses seem to have decent manners so far. Road noise isn’t terrible, and it’s hard to tell how much of any extra vibration is due to the road because it’s so hard to find a smooth road to get up to speed on.

I know they won’t be like my old super swampers were, but thankfully they aren’t like my old super swampers.

Also: BASS!

 

I was so worried about them hitting the limit that I called up…and yeah, the guy said we might totally be by ourselves!

 

It’s really pretty neat to have the place to yourself. Although, even when it’s busy, I’ve yet to experience a ton of traffic.

 

Hit up some of the gravel roads today up in Kettle Moraine’s Northern Unit.

Good place to play around with the various tech bits before I actually need them.

 

Cheers, yall!

 

See!! I told you hair club for men works! Looks completely natural on you!

 

Works even better with tequila.

 

Out of curiosity, who has run the Seven Hour Plane Crash Trail?

Thinking it looks fun, but the only fly in the ointment is that I’m really not sure if my wife and I are physically up to camping (chronic pain issues, might be able to manage a night, meanwhile my son is a Boy Scout) so I guess the question is how long it takes, and whether you can chunk it up into legs that put you near hotels.

 

I have not. It looks like fun. I think I will probably do it eventually. But, I want to have a week to do it so that I can explore the UP a little bit while I'm up there.

From what I have heard, there might be a water crossing that is a bit sketchy at some point. Also, I thought I had read that some versions of the route included ATV trails, so be careful that you do not end up on those.

 

Late, late start…

But we’re off to Tigerton in a few mins.

 

What a day…we were there for probably about 4.5 hours inclusive of airing up at the end.

I was super impressed at how well my 4Runner performed. Have some fun videos to upload - just need to edit them a bit.

Managed to avoid scraping the running boards. Really need to get slider steps.

 

Fantastic! Glad you had fun. It’s a scenic little place isn’t it?

 

Someday!?

 

Yes it is!

One thing I am wondering about is that onX Offroad lists “Secondary Trail” right off Perimeter on the SE side of the property, and it isn’t blocked off, but it doesn’t appear on the official map.

Is the official map totally correct?

 

Pick a day, make it happen!

 

Looks right at home!

I'm not really sure. But..

We went through there on Saturday morning when we were there. Got through ok with a stock Tacoma in the group.

 

I believe it. We stuck to things labelled as level 3, and although there were a few moments where I ended up a bit more off-camber than I'd like, there was never a situation where I had to hit the A-Trac button.

Had a few times where I stuffed a rear tire and was thinking about how nice it'll be when I go for some Bilsteins.

 

Ok, now I remember what you might have been talking about @bassist . Not sure if you’re talking about the same one I’m thinking, but there’s a couple of places that have “frontage” trails that parallel the ring road…at least for a little while. There was definitely some fun to be had on some of those. Some that really flexed out the supsension, but was easily passable stock with good lines, other parts were more technical, one proper mud bog (where my wheel slipped off a rock which gave my stock skidpate and control arm a proper smash), and even one side trail that went all the way along the fence which was fairly tight and scratchy. There might be other parallel trail off shoots here and there.

Here is our resident honey badger going through the mud bog we found off of one of those trails.


I think that as long as it’s not motorcycle single track, it’s fair game to travel on.

 

So I did the “tight and scratchy” one near the fence.

Per the video footage, my running board had a whopping 1cm of clearance at one point. Also managed to max out rear suspension travel too.

 

The "secondary trail" we did Saturday morning is circled in red here. It was a little bit tight in a few spots, but we had no issues, even with a trail limo in the mix.




I really want to get back there again soon. I think there are a few spots I haven't seen yet.

 

Yes, that’s a fun spot.

Running boards are not advised there, unless you take it really easy at the high point and have an 11 year old spotting you.

Absent the running boards, would have been much easier.

 

Okay, so tomorrow mid-morning we leave to drive up to the 7 hour plane crash trail.

Waypoint just over the border, but if we get there early enough, we might take trails further north, then double back on tarmac...and then in the morning pick up where we left off.

 

Okay, so this did not go well.

Expect a writeup soon, but we are safe and sound at our hotel, and that is the important thing.

 

Okay, so here’s what you need to know about the trip: I am capable of moronic decisions. This is one of them.

Once you get off the gravel roads, there are rocky bits - no big deal. Mud puddles get to be increasingly difficult with downed trees blocking portions.

Eventually you get to water that would be up to the headlights at least on a stock height vehicle.

We turned around instead of attempting them.

Then we got stuck on the way out, by ourselves…which I know is a stupid rookie mistake.

The only reason we made it out last night is that well after darkness fell, another vehicle came through and yanked us out.

 

Oh, no!

Did you get any pictures of the situation? Was it mud? Or, did you get hung up on rocks?

Did you have any recovery gear?

 

It was a mixture of mud and rocks.

We had a come along…which wouldn’t unspool or clip to any of the other recovery gear we had.

We had recovery boards…which didn’t do anything.

If we had a winch, it would have helped.

No photos while stuck. Took video of the first water crossing, which was fine.

Photo of 4Runner incoming after I finish my waffles.

 

Enjoy your breakfast!

A come along can be very handy. You might need some straps and shackles to get it hooked up.

 

Yup, had those, but it not unspooling ruined all of that.