OUTAGAS
Well-Known Member
- Thread starter
- #1
I had never done any real off-roading, but I could tell my R1T with 21" all-season tires was pretty special after pulling a few trailers out of soft, grassy yards. A quick internet search for off-road parks suitable for Jeeps and trucks in central South Carolina yielded Gulches and Carolina Adventure World. I decided to try Gulches first.
My wife and I drove from Columbia to Indian Mound (near Laurens and Waterloo) two weekends ago to see what all the fuss is about. It started raining just before we got there, and I wasn't really interested in going "mudding" so I decided to try is out until it got too messy. I drove up to the little headquarters/gift shop and walked up to the admission window to tell the attendant that I had never been off-roading before, that I did not want to damage my truck but wanted to learn its capabilities. She had a look of amazement on her face, so I asked if a Rivian had ever been there before. The gentleman behind her chimed in and said that about eight months ago, Rivian had rented out the entire park for two days and brought out a handful of trucks to tweak the drive modes. I can only imagine why/how Rivian from California or Illinois sought out this site in South Carolina...
She suggested I follow their complimentary guide/escort through the park as a sampler before going it alone. Perfect! I explained to Doug that I was happy following him anywhere he thought I could go, but I did not want to beat up my wheels or sheet metal on rocks and did not want to scratch my paint. Doug and his wife got in his customized Jeep CJ5. I put the Rivian in Off-Road Mode/highest and followed him. Doug led me down some very narrow "goat paths" that were rutted, slippery, rocky, off-camber, and lined with trees. The truck had absolutely no problem, but there were a few places that I didn't think we would fit between the trees and started to back up. They made for an opening narrower than my garage door, plus the mud and ruts forced the truck to follow a line that I would not have chosen. I was all puckered up and my wife was screaming like a scared little girl on a roller-coaster, but we made it through unscratched. We went across some high points where I thought we would drag the underpan, but the Rivian amazed. We then went through several gulches that I would never have thought any vehicle should go (especially mine). My truck never even spun a tire. We passed by a Jeep half submerged in muddy water and watched in amazed fear as they winched it out. We watched some vehicles, some purpose-built, unsuccessfully attempt to crawl/climb a wicked rock mountain about 80 feet high before we headed for the exit. Doug said many vehicles flip and roll down. I kept asking my wife to take some pictures, but she was too busy screaming and hanging on to anything inside she could grip, and I was too busy driving, so I turned on the drive camera (I thought) to record the entire event. Turns out it only recorded two minutes (gotta learn how to use that thing).
When we got back to HQ, Doug showed me where to go to pressure-wash the mud off the tires before getting back on the road, and where to air up the tires. Air up--why? He assumed I had lowered the tire pressure before hitting the trail. I told him they were at 48 psi. He looked at the tires and said the pressure was about right based on the mud pattern on the sidewalls. He was impressed with the Rivian. I had gone everywhere he did for the last hour in the rain/rocks/clay/ruts and he was on giant balloons running 6 psi. Here are some photos from their website showing places I went.
I did not go into these places. Avoided these:
Now I want to do it again, but probably not at Gulches because I don't want to beat up my pride and joy. I'll be going to Carolina Adventure World first opportunity. I hope to get into some more open spaces to try things like drifting and Rally Mode. I'll try to do a better review then.
Got a cool t-shirt!
My wife and I drove from Columbia to Indian Mound (near Laurens and Waterloo) two weekends ago to see what all the fuss is about. It started raining just before we got there, and I wasn't really interested in going "mudding" so I decided to try is out until it got too messy. I drove up to the little headquarters/gift shop and walked up to the admission window to tell the attendant that I had never been off-roading before, that I did not want to damage my truck but wanted to learn its capabilities. She had a look of amazement on her face, so I asked if a Rivian had ever been there before. The gentleman behind her chimed in and said that about eight months ago, Rivian had rented out the entire park for two days and brought out a handful of trucks to tweak the drive modes. I can only imagine why/how Rivian from California or Illinois sought out this site in South Carolina...
She suggested I follow their complimentary guide/escort through the park as a sampler before going it alone. Perfect! I explained to Doug that I was happy following him anywhere he thought I could go, but I did not want to beat up my wheels or sheet metal on rocks and did not want to scratch my paint. Doug and his wife got in his customized Jeep CJ5. I put the Rivian in Off-Road Mode/highest and followed him. Doug led me down some very narrow "goat paths" that were rutted, slippery, rocky, off-camber, and lined with trees. The truck had absolutely no problem, but there were a few places that I didn't think we would fit between the trees and started to back up. They made for an opening narrower than my garage door, plus the mud and ruts forced the truck to follow a line that I would not have chosen. I was all puckered up and my wife was screaming like a scared little girl on a roller-coaster, but we made it through unscratched. We went across some high points where I thought we would drag the underpan, but the Rivian amazed. We then went through several gulches that I would never have thought any vehicle should go (especially mine). My truck never even spun a tire. We passed by a Jeep half submerged in muddy water and watched in amazed fear as they winched it out. We watched some vehicles, some purpose-built, unsuccessfully attempt to crawl/climb a wicked rock mountain about 80 feet high before we headed for the exit. Doug said many vehicles flip and roll down. I kept asking my wife to take some pictures, but she was too busy screaming and hanging on to anything inside she could grip, and I was too busy driving, so I turned on the drive camera (I thought) to record the entire event. Turns out it only recorded two minutes (gotta learn how to use that thing).
When we got back to HQ, Doug showed me where to go to pressure-wash the mud off the tires before getting back on the road, and where to air up the tires. Air up--why? He assumed I had lowered the tire pressure before hitting the trail. I told him they were at 48 psi. He looked at the tires and said the pressure was about right based on the mud pattern on the sidewalls. He was impressed with the Rivian. I had gone everywhere he did for the last hour in the rain/rocks/clay/ruts and he was on giant balloons running 6 psi. Here are some photos from their website showing places I went.
I did not go into these places. Avoided these:
Now I want to do it again, but probably not at Gulches because I don't want to beat up my pride and joy. I'll be going to Carolina Adventure World first opportunity. I hope to get into some more open spaces to try things like drifting and Rally Mode. I'll try to do a better review then.
Got a cool t-shirt!
Sponsored
Last edited:
