Noob 4x4ing?

We now own the legendary 1999 Nissan Pathfinder with mind blowing 2.4L engine and this weird gear stick that only moves forwards and backwards. That said, we did our first outing out of the city today and explored around Lake Lucille area and finally headed across to Squamish Valley road and was pleasantly surprised at how the vehicle was on the 'gnar'.

We won't be snorkling or winching any time soon, so are there many well known 4x4 areas in the Vancouver greater areas i.e. between the border and Pemberton? We need to head further along Squamish Valley Road and there a road off to the west off it too. Looking for interesting stuff with views rather than extreme gnaaaaaar!

Also, are there decent maps out there? The Backroads maps just don't cut it.

There isn't much 'gnar' off the Squamish Valley road, I've explored all the roads off the main, most of them with my very pregnant wife and then a very young baby. Take your time, take a chainsaw, maybe extra gas, and explore.

Heres a couple Day trips from van:
Harrison Lake is great for 4x4 newby's, go up the east side from Morris Valley Road (off the Hemlock Mountain road) , amazing views and great picnic and camping at 20 Mile rec site..
Go up the west side from Harrison HotSprings, head towards Sasquatch Provincial Park, keep left uphill on the the gravel (you'll see rec site signs etc) at the turn off into the park.. 11 KM in is Cascade Point its beautiful camping and swimming

Furry Creek is really cool, easy drive up.. hit the gravel road above the golf course and keep going up till you hit the old mine site and mt shear townsite.. its fun to poke around there

Sylvester Road east of Mission has tons of views, gnar, everything you want
You gotta go 15kms or so on pavement then ban its goes gravel and uphill quickly after that You can get into Davis Lake only a few kms past the start of the gravel.. its fun going down to the lake if yer a newby (probably dont try it if its not dry) and you can get into staves east shore, buzz around on hill climbs etc
Note on Sylvester if you dont like guns its probably not a destination of choice lol

Furry Creek gate (top of the big hill) is locked up I think, might gain access from the golf course service road, or you might get around the gate at the top of Britannia Beach subdivision.

Thanks peeps. I don't mind guns as long as they are not shooting wildlife…. If it's just a rifle range then all good.
I think we may have tried the road up from Furry Creek (LOL etc…) a year or so ago when having an explore and it was gated. I'll have another look around next time we are up that way though.

Being city people we don't have chainsaws. I guess if we get stuck between two downed trees, we'd just have to throw our Starbucks cups at them and call 911 :)

I'd suggest getting an app which will display opencycle or openstreet maps offline. I find they are simply the best for finding your way around backroads.

Don't forget Mamquam and Stawamus FSR.

I like the backroads mapbooks

they have an app now as well for iphone

when your ready:

"Whipsaw" trail

epic 2 day 4x4 fun from right near princeton coming out on the Cog. hiway..

when i was into wheeelin we used to do it annually :woot:

Backroads mapbook was great when it came out but is lacking side roads and accuracy. Open maps allows users to edit, update, input and displays far more roads and features. Opencycle also displays topography.

what app would use the open maps?

If you are on Android, try Oruxmaps. Killer GPS program, it's been my primary GPS for several years now. Can import/export KMZ as well, so I route-plan in google earth then pull into Orux. You can pull from dozens of map databases, I use google topo view, openstreetmaps, microsoft earth (for satellite photo views), google maps, etc. depending on where I am going. I also have the full Mcnutt trailmap, Bear Creek trailmap etc loaded up as overlays on the satellite view.

It's not a user-friendly program, but it is the most powerful GPS app I've found, and is 100% free (not even add supported, really and truly free).

Cheers
KF

Have not tried Oruxmaps but sounds impressive and will give it a try.

I use Canada Maps Pro for android and I find it amazing. I think it was $5 but there is a free version as well. Simple interface, easy to switch between different maps.

Thanks peeps. I don't mind guns as long as they are not shooting wildlife…. If it's just a rifle range then all good.
I think we may have tried the road up from Furry Creek (LOL etc…) a year or so ago when having an explore and it was gated. I'll have another look around next time we are up that way though.

Being city people we don't have chainsaws. I guess if we get stuck between two downed trees, we'd just have to throw our Starbucks cups at them and call 911 :)

Cell service ends on the Squamish Valley Road just as the pavement ends at 10 mile or so. If you don't have a saw, take a tow rope so that you can pull trees off the road. Sometimes you need to fill water bars if you want to keep going forward.

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