Road Trip Opinions Wanted

[Taylor Martin]

Tomorrow I'm going out to purposefully anti-svend my car by taking it down a dirt road. But one question remains: which one.

I've narrowed it down to two, the Taylor Creek (hey, that's me) and Biolab Road. I'm looking for opinons, so here are the pros and cons of each:

Taylor Creek Pros:

• Dirt cheap to get in
• The road is longer (from what I can gather)
• 30 minutes from home (1 hour there and back)

Taylor Creek Cons:

• On a hunting preserve (which gives me the heebie jeebies)
• Middle of nowhere

Biolab Road Pros:

• Incredibly scenic (right on space coast in Titusville)
• More reviewed/safer road for driving
• One-way road (no oncoming traffic/can't get lost)

Biolab Cons:

• Significantly more expensive (though not terrible)
• 1 hour away (2 hours there and back).

One is a fine choice, but it wouldn't be much of an experience, if anything it would be freaky because I'm in unknown territory surrounded by guns. The other is further away and a bit pricier, but I'm fairly certain they accept cards, which provides sanity and ease of access.

A lot of you are probably curious as to why I'd want to grunge up my car, but it's all for a good reason. I can't tell you yet, but I can show you this:

Goodnight everybody!

[beefchips]

@taylor-martin I think a road called "Biolab" is creepier. Go for that one!

[Taylor Martin]

@beefchips It is a strange name for a route so pretty:

[dead_elvis]

Evil Santa is making you choose where you want him to beat you to death?! The south is even weirder than I realized.

OK, an actual question - what's up with the cost of entry to Taylor Creek & Biolab Road? Are they within state parks?

[jminer]

You say more expensive - as in gas/time cost to get there? Or are these fee areas?

No need to worry about being on land being hunted on - basically every bit of public land east of Kansas has someone hunting on it almost constantly. The majority of my time outdoors has been spent places that allow hunting.

[Taylor Martin]

@jminer There are some fees that'll come from going to Biolab Road. I think it's 30 bucks but I might be mistaken. In comparison, Taylor Creek is 3 dollars, though the road/route isn't as well documented.

EDIT: $10 fee, which is much more in my price range

[jminer]

@taylor-martin said in Road Trip Opinions Wanted:

@jminer There are some fees that'll come from going to Biolab Road. I think it's 30 bucks but I might be mistaken. In comparison, Taylor Creek is 3 dollars, though the road/route isn't as well documented.

EDIT: $10 fee, which is much more in my price range

So these are private roads? I’ve not spent much time in Florida but this concept seems very strange to me. I’m used to gravel roads crossing national forests everywhere that are free. I’m from west of the Mississippi though so it is definitely different.

[Taylor Martin]

@jminer They're national parks, but they cost money to come in. I've never lived somewhere where unfinished roads are used by the public, which is both kind of nice but also a bummer.

[Taylor Martin]

@dead_elvis 10 bucks, and yes it's a state park which is why I'm more inclined to go there.

Also, me and Santa there are both from Maryland, which to anyone in Florida is the North... I guess we've just adapted haha

[jminer]

@taylor-martin Whereabouts in Florida are you? A quick check of the forestry service website tells me there are a couple national forest in Florida and they also have a good deal of trails and roads. They’re all north of Orlando though.

[Taylor Martin]

@jminer I'm pretty much in Orlando, Winter Park to be exact. If you're talking about Tosohatchee that's around where the hunting area is.

[derp]

If I can wander around playing tourist/off duty in 3 different cities in the middle east and not worry (Kuwait city, manama, and riyadh), you can drive where there may be hunters active attach an orange flag to your antenna if you're overly worried, but you should be just fine.

[jminer]

@taylor-martin Give this a look. It’s the forestry service website on the Ocala national forest which looks to be about 50 miles north of Orlando. They’re got solid road maps, use regulations and other great information about it.

I love the forestry service website - so much amazing information about our public lands! I have spent more time and miles than I can count in national forests. They’re not as pristine as national parks, but are free and usually have a lot less people too.

[Taylor Martin]

@jminer Holy moly! This interactive map has a lot going on, I'm not quite sure how to navigate it to find some simple gravel roads.

I also can't figure out how to get there. Like, which roads lead to these ones. I'd like to at least find one on Google Maps and then go from there. Though there's plenty of roads to explore so this shows promise.

EDIT: Okay, I found my road: Head north on County Road 439 until it turns into dirt, then keep going! It's all there on Google maps so I can get myself back out in a pinch, and it's exactly what I'm looking for:

That little blue cross in the first photo is where the entrance is, which leaves plenty to explore! Thanks a million, man!

[dead_elvis]

@taylor-martin said in Road Trip Opinions Wanted:

@dead_elvis 10 bucks, and yes it's a state park which is why I'm more inclined to go there.

Also, me and Santa there are both from Maryland, which to anyone in Florida is the North... I guess we've just adapted haha

Conversely, I consider anything south of New Jersey to be The South.

I'd go specifically to whichever one you're least familiar with (one of my criteria for day trips) and not worry for a second about hunters (I mean, c'mon, you're already in the state that gave us Florida Man, so...), getting lost, or dirtying the car - they're for driving!

[jminer]

@taylor-martin said in Road Trip Opinions Wanted:

@jminer Holy moly! This interactive map has a lot going on, I'm not quite sure how to navigate it to find some simple gravel roads.

You’re probably better off using their maps here, in particular the motor vehicle use map.

https://www.fs.usda.gov/main/ocala/maps-pubs

A quick check and I don’t see a legend for paved/unpaved but that map plus a quick verification with google maps satellite view should yield that info.

[Taylor Martin]

@dead_elvis Well, the point is to dirty the car, but @jminer found an excellent site and I found a great road that pisses off into unknown territory. No payments, no hunters (well, maybe).

[VincentMalamute]

I vote for closest and cheapest. Don't worry about hunting. They should know the difference between a car and a deer.

[jminer]

@Taylor-Martin There will be hunters in the national forest, also kayakers, birders, hikers, campers and so on. The vast majority of folks that hunt are careful and you’re no more likely to get shot there than anywhere else.

[jminer]

@taylor-martin The map isn’t designed for you to find just gravel roads, but Jeep trails, motorcycle trails, campsites and so on. The Forestry service considers a gravel road a road passable by normal highway-legal vehicles.

Glad I could help - post pics of the ride and scenery. National forests are some of my favorite spaces!

[pip bip]

@taylor-martin why not both?

[Taylor Martin]

@pip-bip I have to actually be home today so we can shoot the stuff with the dirty car. Otherwise, it'd be a real fun day trip.

[DipodomysDeserti]

@dead_elvis Parts of New Jersey are definitely in the The South.

[Thomas Donohue]

That photo should be captioned "What really happened at the end of 'The Blair Witch Project' "