Tread Lightly! Four Wheel Drive Way

The pin striping struggle is real. Glad I did it but probably wouldn't do it again. The trail is essentially 4 corners connected by a long main road. The north west, north east, south west and south east are all a little different. The southern sections were a little more technical but everything was doable in my stock 2014 sequoia with a roof carrier at nearly 8' tall. I'd highly suggest bringing a portable air compressor to air down since there's a lot of soft sand. Trail is very tight in many places and hand to fold the mirrors in on my sequoia to get it to fit. Had to use tow straps to move 2 trees blocking the trail. Took just over 6 hours and used around a half tank of gas.

Lovely trip through a beautiful landscape. Difficulty might depend on the rig. With a lift and right tires no issues at all. Needed 5 hours for the complete 81 miles. Only a few passages are Difficulty 3. Most are 1-2. My wife and I love our trip!

Our 4 star review is rated on the fact that this trail is a lot of fun! We started on the trail around 9:30am and ended on waypoint 99 at 7:30pm- we did stop around 1:30pm along the trail and cooked lunch. It’s definitely a full day of riding so plan ahead and bring snacks! We went during the Florida dry season- we’re Fl natives and live about 10 mins from Osceola so we were a little disappointed to only find one small piece in the trail with 3 mud puddles that didn’t require 4 wheel drive. As noted in several other reviews, the trail is narrow so be prepared for plenty of pinstripes! We received plenty of surface scratches but nothing worth crying about- after all, why own a Jeep if your not gonna be willing to get a little down and dirty? We also left a little surprise for another Jeeper to find along the trail! :) As I said above, it was dry! Super dusty! We didn’t need four wheel drive at all- we did use the rear lockers in a few places that the sugar sand got pretty deep, especially up hill, but that was it. I imagine if conditions were wetter that the trail may be a little different but this time of year it definitely wasn’t needed. Also, if you are using the app to track please note that at waypoint 72 the app tells you to turn right but you actually need to keep left. Turning right causes you to go off trail and do a U-turn which isn’t easy in the narrow trail! Included are some photos from our day- for info we drive the blue Rubicon- 4” lift with 35’s. Also wanted to mention that one of our buddies drove the Sahara with a 4” lift and 35’s and his also has a roof rack with a roof top tent which adds an extra 14” to the top and a 270 awning which adds another 9” to the side and he was able to go through the entire trail with no problem aside from moving a couple of dead trees that had fell over! Happy Off-roading! :)

On Sunday morning my wife and I decided to take my 2020 ford ranger 4x4 (completely stock)to the Ocala trails. This was only the second time taken my truck off road sense I bought it. I got to the trails and I immediately noticed how narrow the trail was. It was just wide enough for my truck to fit. My plan was to go from turn 1 to 30, but because of how narrow the trail was we stoped at turn 15. The trail was very easy to drive, no water crossing. There was only one spot that was somewhat difficult and that was because it was a 90 degree turn with sugar sand. I don’t think I’ll go back to the Ocala Forest just because of how narrow the trails are.

We followed the trail highlighted here (started at #48 (40 and FR09), aka the Southern Part. There is a place to air down to about 20-23 depending on your vehicle. There is a TL sign (photo op). From there we followed the trail to the "t" listed above, until about hour 4. then we took some side trails to get back to #48 to air up. We found the perfect photo op at the back gate to the bombing range. Our friend who was with us provided some history of the area about how the squared off sections came to be by the Seminole Indians. Yes, there are even stops signs on this trails. We found the trail above to be wide and a few narrow spots. Then we ventured off pass #53/54 and the trailed got narrower. Yes we did get pin stripping - but hey it's a jeep. Don't forget to check in for the Jeep Badge of Honor. There is a place that is off limits (looks like the tree of life from Disney), we stayed on the trail (took pics) and had a Florida Black Bear cross our path.

Four Wheel Drive Way is a fun trail that never seems to end. The trail is very narrow so expect scratches on your vehicle. There's lots of sand, hill climbs/descents, and some great areas for wildlife watching and photography. The trail isn't rated a 5 because there are very few places to flex/rock climb and only a handful of off-camber areas. A few places for mudholes during hurricane season but nothing serious.