Attendees:
- Matt – Black Toyota 4Runner
- Ben – Silver Toyota 4Runner
- Hannah – Lunar Rock Toyota 4Runner (guest of the club who just happened to be there!)
I can’t remember exactly where I saw it, probably in an advertisement or somewhere on Facebook, but I found a new off-road event company called Where 2 Wheel (w2wparks.com). Essentially, they work with private landowners to host ticketed events on private off road areas. One of these locations, called Moon Shine Farms, is located on the Eastern Shore of Virginia near the town of Onley. It looked interesting, and I’m always up for exploring a new part of the Eastern Shore.
Ben found a great campsite about 45 minutes away at Janes Island State Park, while Matt stayed with local family nearby.
Ben and I arrived and met the other attendees, mostly in modified Jeeps. The property owner was in a big ol’ jacked up K5 Blazer on mud tires. In the days prior to this trip, there had been a lot of rain and legit mud tires were necessary for many of the bigger mud holes. We had a quick drivers meeting and then the organizers led all the vehicles, about a dozen in total, on an easy loop through the property to help us get oriented. We drove through some tight wooded trails, through a marshy section and finished in a little obstacle course with log stacks and dirt mounds to play on. Ben represented us 4Runners on this section really well, tackling the log stack like it was nothing!
After that, we were encouraged to go off on our own and explore the park. I can only speak for myself, but I had no clue where to start – the trails aren’t marked or mapped, and I really didn’t know where I should go, but more importantly, where I shouldn’t go in a pretty-stock 4Runner. We basically decided that Ben (running a small lift, 33” ATs and a snorkel) would carefully go first, and I would follow him and we’d get through it one way or another. Hannah, in a stock 4Runner, also joined us.
On our way back towards the wooded trails, Ben decided to play in the big muddy field (definitely a highlight of this park!). There were at least 4 different lines through the mud, ranging from shallow but greasy to suicidally deep mud. Ben chose one of the easier ones and quickly got stuck. I hooked him up (doing a weird yoga pose on his back bumper trying not to fall into the mud) and a Jeep tried to pull him out. That didn’t work, so another Jeep tried winching him. Still no luck, the Jeep had to be anchored to a power line pole to get Ben Out! Afterwards Ben returned the favor and acted as an anchor to help pull another Jeep out.
Ben, never defeated, tried a different line and still had lots of fun! Somewhere along the way, a Jeep Gladiator on at least 35s sucked in some water in one of the mudholes and got hydrolocked. Ben almost got himself stuck while trying to avoid spinning his tires and throwing mud on the wrenching Jeepers.
So we got to the wooded trails, with Ben carefully leading the way. There was an off-camber section with tight trees on either side and greasy mud, and we eventually came to a section with much deeper water. Ben ventured forward, joined by one of the organizers in a Jeep. Hannah and I turned around before it got too rough. Both of us have the stock 4Runner tires, which do surprisingly well but were at their limits.
Ben’s submarine 4Runner took on some water through the door seals in the deepest section, according to the Jeeper that he was with, the water got up to his rear license plate!
We all had a good time! I don’t know if I would rush back to Moon Shine Farms unless I somehow knew that it was going to be less wet or if I had built out my vehicle for playing in the mud. The property owner mentioned that this was one of the wettest days that they have had for wheeling, and in these conditions, I don’t think there is very much that you can do with confidence in a stock 4Runner. But as I said earlier, I felt a little lost on the property so I’m sure that I missed stuff.
Again, we had a great time and the people from Where 2 Wheel were awesome. They were all very nice and did a great job helping with vehicle recoveries. I would definitely look into doing another event with them!
Trail Report written by Matt Malone. Pictures contributed by Matt Malone and Ben Dunkerton.