Daniel Boone Backcountry Byway(DBBB) - Daniel Boone National Forest - Slade, KY

Wife and I met up with some of our friends and decided to take a long weekend trip to the Daniel Boone Backcountry Byway. We had a BLAST so I figured I would share the trip for others in the area. I liked it so much that I would be willing to put a trip together on here and lead everyone on a multi-day trail ride if there was interest.

Planning:
We didn't prepare for this as much as we normally do for a trip, because we knew we would be pretty close to towns to resupply. Additionally, we were able to download GPX files to use on the Gaia app for all of the trails. We were also able to find that Cartotracks has also mapped out the whole thing, with his CJ. If you haven't heard of them, check them out here. I heard about these guys like 5-6 yrs ago, when they gave out the maps for KOH ~2014 for free and it opened my world to GPS mapping.

The Daniel Boone national forest allows dispersed camping, which is our preference. Be careful of Bears, poisonous snakes, sneaky ass raccoons, and coyotes. Just make sure that you stop by the visitors center, WHILE THEY ARE OPEN, and purchase a dispersed camping pass. It's like $5/day and it goes to keeping lands open.

Anyway, here is the map of the whole trail. Available here and through Cartotracks as mentioned.



Attendees:
Landyacht - Myself and the Mrs. Also accompanied by ol' dogface. Pictured below.
Wonton Overlander - My buddy's JK on 1 ton axles and 37s. He was accompanied by his gf.

Itinerary:
Travel 4 days and camp 3 nights. Our plan is to drive up and camp out on 7/19 and come back 8/22, with dispersed camping on the trip. This would also be our first long trip trialing the new roof top tent that we got. I was fairly stoked to get that thing and use it.

Day 1:
Wife took the day off to help finish packing, but I had been thrashing on the truck for the past couple of days. I had the whole week off as mandatory vacation and there were many things we needed to do. Anyway, she helped load the personal stuff, the food, and made sure the dog had everything he needed. Once we were done, we rolled out:



From there, it was a rather uneventful sunny drive from Indiana to Slade Kentucky. We got in at about 6 or 7 and decided to make our way to the visitor's center to get a dispersed camping pass. Unfortunately, I forgot to check the time and they had already closed. We didn't want to take a risk of getting in trouble by a park ranger if we were caught out in the forest, so we said screw it and headed to a paid campsite. We ended up crashing at the Koomer Ridge Campground. It ended up being a little pricey, but it was getting late and we wanted to get camp setup. However, as we were crossing a couple of the gravel roads towards the camp site, we found this sucker just slithering away. This pretty much solidified that we were staying at the furthest possible campsite from where we saw this.



Other than seeing that rather fat snake, it ended up being a VERY interesting night. We were surrounded by coyotes at this campground. I was rather surprised that they were brave enough to be in campsites as the same times as humans, but I guess with enough food availability, they eventually get brave. Because we had brought our dog, they stuck around our campsite, made a ton of noise and we had a tough time sleeping. Well... at least I did. The Mrs. was out like a rock. Luckily, since it was supposed to rain, we put the dog in the truck and I am pretty sure this was the right choice, since I am sure he would have growled and barked all night otherwise.

Day 2
We woke up to a rather soppy mess, but nonetheless it was wheeling time!!



We started the day off with an extra trail we hadn't researched and it got hard. Fast!





We decided that due to the mud, we were going to take it easy. So we turned around. Getting the landyacht turned around on the trail was rather interesting, so I decided to take some pics.





From there, we popped out and then plugged back into the trail system where we had done more research. Then we encountered our first real obstacle for the day.

On the approach


Then we discussed strategy as I tried to coerce this big bitch onto said rocks



From there, I made a noob mistake, slid off the rock and got high-centered. That smile says "yeah... I messed up".



From there, my buddy gave me a tug from his winch and I was able to try again and make it look good. The way we wheel, we don't stack rocks. If you can't make it, pick a better line. Only if we have to, will we throw a rock to catch traction. You won't see any Overland Bound nonsense here, where guys change trails to make them easier.



After you pass the rocks, our next obstacle was that tree. It was actually a rather large spot. it just looked small. I made it through, in a game of inches.



Here is ol' dogface trying to figure out what's taking so long



From there, we kept on going and were just taking in the sites.










At about 4pm, we noticed that the weather was changing. We pulled up the weather app and saw some pretty sever stuff coming.



We knew we had to find camp and soon! We headed up the mountain and switchback after switchback, we really couldn't find any really good spots where we felt comfortable staying. It rained off and on for a couple of more hours and we hit a couple more spots. When we got service again, we pulled up the app and realized that bad was only going to get worse later.



At this point, the weather changed in a matter of about 20 minutes. We had to get out of there FAST! The wind hit and it rained harder than I have seen in years. At one point, my wipers simply could not keep up with the amount of water coming down. This was the test I unknowingly needed of my truck. We came down the mountain and were hitting some obstacles hard! I have never been a huge fan of the TRD Pro Bilsteins, but I finally had a chance to truly test them and was not disappointed.

On this day, I realized 3 things.

1) I would prefer a progressive piston, which is why i am swapping to Kings, but the TRD Pro suspension is not completely useless. The only complaint I have is that the low speed hits are still too stiff. Hopefully I can change this with valving in the Kings.
2) The stock leafs could not keep up. We had quite a bit of weight in the back with the RTT, tools, etc and the back end was sagging.
3) This truck boogies. If you can fit it, stick it in and watch it get through it. I had 0 issues the whole day and was thoroughly impressed with its capabilities.

For someone who is only going to wheel like this maybe a couple of times, the TRD Pro Bilsteins and now FOXs are a VERY decent option.

From there, we made camp and yet again, it was a soppy mess. So dogface got a tarp, with a bed sheet on it to lay on. This is what a thoroughly tired pooch looks like. Hard to believe this guy is almost 10 yrs old.

 

Day 3
We got a late start. Mostly because we were tired from the day before, but we were also waiting for my buddy's brother. While my buddy has a JK on tons, his brother just picked up a new JL. After he arrived and we had eaten breakfast, we left Koomer Ridge Campground again and started our day. We needed some more ice, so we popped out of the trail system to resupply and back in we went.

It actually rained so hard and we hit so many water crossings that my truck looked clean to start the morning.



We just continued taking in the sights or smells....









From there, our goal for the day was stump cave. We had seen pictures online and we definitely wanted to check it out. So off we went. We had heard that it was tough to get to, but no damage was incurred and the results totally worth it.





Landyacht coming through





Eventually we made it through and as you come around the corner, stump cave appears.













Stump cave trail is a there and back, so we got back onto the main trail system and kept going. Because of the rain, things got even more muddy and the poor JL was having issues. This was off the showroom floor btw. It has less than 2k miles and we did 50+ miles of trails.

The only other spot that gave me real difficulty was this section. I got confident in my wheel base and decided to make my own line. This ended up with me teeter tottering on 2 wheels and then the ass end slid down, destroyed my bumper, ripped the rubber hanger off one of my tail pipes and pushed it underneath and in front of my tire. No pics though.. we were rather busy.

My buddy ended up giving me a tug and then we got to fixing my exhaust. Some zip ties and 25 min later, we were up and running again.



Waiting for the JL to catch traction.



After wheeling for most of the day and looking like some inclement weather was coming in, we decided to head for camp. We found the lookout point online and decided we would camp there for our last night wheeling.

My buddy's brother took off, so it was only the two couples again. When we got there, it did not disappoint. Because of the rain, there was a ton of moisture in the air and the clouds were low. It was EPIC!!!



Look at that sky.....











The sketchiest bridge in the world to put a 8,000 lb truck on.... I did it twice, out and back.









After some scenery, we decided to call it a night and setup camp. We ended up staying about a 1/4 mile from this spot, since the oil rigs were putting off a natural gas smell and we were planning on having a fire. Not really trying to blow up myself, let along an entire side of a mountain, so we found a nice little cove among trees and setup camp.

 

Day 4
We woke up to yet another day of damp trees. The night prior was perfect though. It was sprinkling just enough to be white noise and it was so dark that the sky lit up like a city sky line. THIS is why I wheel and camp. It was one of the most relaxing nights I have had this year.

Our setup for the previous night. My buddy is sold on a RTT. Our camp setup was done in 10 minutes. They spent the better part of 35 minutes setting up the tent and ez-up. One thing I wish we had on the truck is an awning, but it isn't critical and I am skeptical of continuing to add the weight.



The view was so epic from the day before, that I had to go back. I am glad I did. I was able to snap this pic. It's my favorite pic of the truck. So much so that I am making it my avatar pic.



We headed out of the trail system and back into town. We aired up, said our good by's for now to our friends, and headed home.

After getting home, I power washed the truck for hours... and let the RTT air out. Getting mud out of things, sucks!!!



Finally, i put the Garmin inReach to some good use on this trip and glad I did. I tracked our entire adventure and it went about setting waypoints the whole way. From there, I dropped pins on all of the awesome spots we did.



As mentioned above, if anyone wants to go back out, we are all in!

Anyway, hope you enjoy the read and onto the next adventure.

 

Great stuff

 

Nice trip report.

 

Great trip report!

 

Awesome!..thank you for sharing.

 

Awesome pics and story!!

 

Awesome trip, great report!

 

nothing like a little kentucky mud. fond memories of driving down that way and doing stupid things during high school and college. good times. great pics. thanks for sharing.

 

Awesome write up and thanks for sharing.

 

Thanks for the comments guys!

I wanted to share our trip, but also entice others to go. We need another excuse to head back out there.

 

@the_midwesterner that trip looks awesome. Thanks for sharing.

Being from Illinois, this looks like might be a promising area to get my feet wet with some light off-roading. I'm curious how you think a stock TRD Pro would do on those trails, or if 35s and extra armor are required?

 

Any updates..

 

It’s not that bad of a drive and the scenery on I64 towards Kentucky is gorgeous. Nothing like horse country.

Armor is always a good idea. You never know when they truck may take a wrong bounce and then you’re out thousands for body repair, a popped engine, new trans, etc. vs spending $2k up front for sliders and skids.

Also, 35s help, but not required. You need some sort of Offroad tire to handle the muck and mud, but with 33s you just have to try harder.

 

What are you looking for in regards to updates? Trip was 4 days and 3 nights. All listed above.

 

I must of read wrong..thought u was coming back 8/22..

 

Ha, my mistake. That was supposed to say 7/22. I see the confusion now.

 

That bridge goes to a place called No Mans Land. Here are the before and after shots after they repaired it. We go down to Slade about every month...Only about 2-1/2 hours away for us.


BUT...We drive these. LOL

 

Super great write up and pics. Very nice trails. Our trucks can actually go places that would surprise a few! That bridge is something else...

 

Nice! I got one of them too. I exploded the transfer case last time I was out, but I guess spinning 37s with an LS will do that. That was a year ago now and I’ve lost motivation to fix it/do things to it, so it’s collecting things in my garage.