Daniel Boone Backcountry Byway

[BroncoRick]

While most of us are still waiting on Broncos, I suspect more than a few of us are still getting out wheeling

We recently went out with the club to traverse the 100+ mile Daniel Boone Backcountry Byway in Kentucky.

This is an awesome overland loop, and could be done with a Bronco on 33's and a rear locker (and a buddy and some recovery gear), without taking the bypasses or go arounds. There would probably be some skid plate dragging. A Sasquatched Bronco could do it fairly easily. Even without that gear, the route can be broken down into segments, so you can skip the more difficult portions. A Grand Cherokee that was with us was able to do that, and rejoin us on the route once we were through the hairy parts. It can take about 2 days to do the whole loop comfortably.

Hope to see some Broncos out on this system soon!

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[TNBronc4344]

Looks awesome. I live about 45 mikes from the Cumberland Gap so this will be on my list to hit once I get my Bronco. Thanks for the information.

 

[BroncoRick]

Looks awesome. I live about 45 mikes from the Cumberland Gap so this will be on my list to hit once I get my Bronco. Thanks for the information.

Yeah, you're not far. I'm about 5 hours away from it and so it makes a good 3-day weekend if you head there after work on a Friday and take Monday off (or similar) for the return trip. We'll definitely be going back, it was a lot of fun.

 

[TRMFAM]

Wow Rick that is awesome! I think I would want to go with someone that knew the trails that last 10 minutes had trails going everywhere!
Beautiful scenery and love the history!

 

[BroncoRick]

Wow Rick that is awesome! I think I would want to go with someone that knew the trails that last 10 minutes had trails going everywhere!
Beautiful scenery and love the history!

ridethedbbb.org has a digital map available that will put your GPS location right on the map, so it's reasonably straightforward to find your way--however there's definitely some wayfinding involved. We were also using Gaia GPS app quite a bit; that's helpful to have the subscription and all the various maps available for offline download. It was our first time there and we only took a few wrong turns and never got terribly lost.

 

[JHawk]

I have no experience in this but it looks like a blast. I hope that we see jeeps and broncos doing this together soon.

 

[TRMFAM]

Anyone heard if Ford plans to do the equivalent to the Jeep Jamborees? That would be awesome!

 

[BroncoRick]

I have no experience in this but it looks like a blast. I hope that we see jeeps and broncos doing this together soon.

I hope so too. I really want to see more different types of rigs out on the trails. It's way more fun to get different types of vehicles through a trail obstacle, than if everyone just has the same type of vehicle and does it the exact same way! Jeeps and Fords will be a natural fit together on trails like this.

Our club will wheel with people of any experience level, and many other clubs out there are the same. It's usually some of the most helpful and enthusiastic groups of people you'll meet, and are especially helpful towards those who are new to the hobby. Definitely recommend to find a good 4x4 club local to you, it's the best way to get started.

 

[Frankie945]

Slade is my favorite wheeling spot in KY I’m definitely down next year when I have a bronco hopefully. Won’t be going on the big widow maker but the little widow maker for sure. Looking forward to some of that Miguel’s pizza too.

 

[7722 Bronco]

We live about an hour away and plan on taking our Wildtrack up there. Had the dealer mannequin in some of the camping areas while we had it and even ate dinner at Miguel's.

 

[BroncoRick]

We live about an hour away and plan on taking our Wildtrack up there. Had the dealer mannequin in some of the camping areas while we had it and even ate dinner at Miguel's.

Wow that's awesome! You are very lucky to live so close to such an awesome trail system. We saw so many other trails and roads, and features, that we want to go back and explore. I'm going to have to make a note of this Miguel's, everyone keeps mentioning it...

 

[7722 Bronco]

I'm just getting back into wheeling so looking forward to exploring up there. Wheeled in a '77 Bronco back in the day.

 

[BroncoRick]

For those of you who have wheeled this area before, I always see people refer to wheeling near Slade, and a few rock trail references like "Widowmaker" and "Gatekeeper". Is this stuff in the Hollerwood offroad park? Or can these be found in some other way? What's down there besides the DBBB and what's the best way to find additional trails?

 

[7722 Bronco]

Kind of on the same topic of wheeling,,, what's the preferred way of communicating between vehicles? GMRS or the old tried and true CB??

 

[BroncoRick]

Kind of on the same topic of wheeling,,, what's the preferred way of communicating between vehicles? GMRS or the old tried and true CB??

I still have a CB in the rig, since I used it for almost 20 years, but hardly use it anymore. Many people have moved off to GMRS. I have a Midland 275 which I like having all the controls on the mic: https://midlandusa.com/product/mxt275-micromobile-two-way-radio/ But I also have a couple of older Motorola GMRS and I like those too (they're additionally handy as spotting radios). The added benefit of GMRS is that at least on the lower-power channels, you can communicate easily with those who have FRS radios.

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