Hampton Roads Bronco Club

So full disclaimer...I didn't actually get a chance to run Potts Mountain. This is because I went with my buddy who was in a stock Rubicon and he has a rooftop tent and lots of gear that bogged his Jeep down so much that the morning we were going to tackle the trail, he was a little worried about it so we doubled back toward home to do Big Levels. I couldn't justify asking him to do something he wasn't comfortable doing so Big Levels was a safer choice (though I totally believed in him!). He has since gotten a lift and 35's so we are planning a new trip up there soon (if anyone would like to join us, I will make it known here in this forum and you're welcome to join).
THAT BEING SAID, we headed up there (to Potts) on a Friday morning and it was roughly a 5 hour drive. Once you get up into the mountains it is just a beautiful cruise. We lost service as we got closer to the trail head which lead us down into a saddle which was had a pleasant temperature and fresh air compared to the humidity and heat of Chesapeake. Our Rubicon buddies never lost service on their phones though! We saw the Potts Mountain Jeep Trail head turn off which was easy to spot and had a parking area nearby on the opposite side of the road. We ventured further down though to look for the Pines Campground which was only a 5 minute drive from the trailhead on the right. There were 16 campsites I believe. We stayed at spot 9 which is centrally located and was a massive sight that could have fit 5 or more rigs. It had a firepit and a picnic table with some gravel but lots of open, flat grass as well. This campground is FREE and first come, first serve! There was an onsite bathroom at the front entrance that we saw, but we've recently bought a collapsible camp toilet that we set up so we didn't have to use the public restrooms. There was also trash bins in the campground for any trash you needed to throw away. I was surprised. There was only 2 or 3 other sites taken there but two sites we didn't even see anyone, just their tent and some clothes hung up. I figured it would be filled up by the end of the night, but nope!
The trouble we had there was the BUGS. Not just mosquitoes (we brought citronella candles and bug repellent spray), there were these little bugs that seemed to be attracted to the citronella and our food and our bodies. They just were taking over so we actually spent most of our free time in our yurt waiting for our Rubicon buddy and his wife to show up. When the sun went down the bugs finally gave it a rest and we spent the rest of the evening by the fire chatting it up. In the morning we were hit by the news that our Rubicon buddies were a little too worried about damage to run the trail and we packed up and headed out to Big Levels. The bugs came back out as the day warmed up so we hurried up. Jeeps and side by sides were starting to show up and park down at the entrance of the campground as people were coming to take on Potts Mountain.

Big Levels was fun as the alternative. It had rained so much that there was plenty of water to go through and some was decently deep!

Have any of you done Potts before?

Here is our campsite at the Pines (the picture shows about 1/6 of the area, the area behind the camera was massive.


Big Levels