Hurricane Creek Road and National Forest Road
6.2 mi
Distance
3 hrs 8 min
Time
terrain
1,785 ft
Elev Gain
Overview
This is a difficult one way trail in North Carolina.
Rate this Hike
★★★★★
As a hike this can be moderate. As a drive it is difficult. Previous posts that say it's easy are either not referring to the right road or something drastic has changed with recent rains. I do not recommend this road without short wheelbase, lift, and at the very least 33" tires with that size vehicle. Drove this road with a Jeep Commander Limited, Hemi, 2.25 lift, and 32" tires along with a Ford F-150 FX4, super cab, 5.5 bed, 3.5 twin turbo V6, 33", full skid plates up front. Very steep approach and departure angles, heavily rutted, off camber with ruts. Would not have made it without the generic traction boards and extreme heavy duty ladder/traction boards by Crux. Some drop-offs in to puddles so steep and no other line that yanking rear bumper on truck inevetible. Heavily damaged bumper. Side steps on truck (not meant for wheeling) trashed because of long breakover angle of truck. Hence recomending short wheelbase or at least more mods for full size vehicle. Heavy pinstriping as well on full size. While Commander was not heavily damaged there were still really heavy drops, some pretty tippy areas and difficult approaches not possible without the traction and ladder combo mentioned.
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Fun little drive through the woods. Ran this with a 98 Nissan Frontier (bone stock). No issues. Several stream crossings and lots of light rocky eroded road bed. Was followed by a Subaru GL wagon with oversized tires. Wagon bottomed a couple times. Good fishing in the branches (N.C.Wildlife General trout waters).
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Completed in early February with a 2018 Tundra (2.5" lift, 33" M/Ts, no lockers). I would definitely say 4x4 is required. I ran in 4-Lo the whole time with tires at 18 psi going about 5-10 mph. Seemingly small mud holes are deeper than expected, so enter and exit with caution. Lots of scrapes on my skids and sliders. Scraped rear diff at least once. VERY ROCKY. Lots of deep ruts. Picking a good line is important. Unfortunately I was alone, so I had to do the best I could. Lots of pinstriping (large truck), probably would be less with a smaller vehicle. Only got hung up on one spot, there's a steep rut with tree roots. Rear diff locker would have made a difference here. I was able to get through with traction boards. Overall a very fun trail. Excited to return. Saw several good camping spots. A good spotter or front camera (if you're alone) would definitely be beneficial, especially if you're in a large vehicle. Skids, sliders, some degree of suspension lift, and aired down tires would also be in your best interest. Lockers not necessary but would be helpful. Only, the first mile or so will have cell service.
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