Finding a Jeep Playground: County Route 27 Drives

Overview

Finding a Jeep Playground

There are certain areas that I refer to as playgrounds. These are roads that don’t offer a simple, straightforward route. There are some great roads that, while very rough, follow a very well-defined path. These can be very fun.

I get excited when I find an area that has a clear road but at times opens up, splits off, and just seems very open-ended. County Routes 27/1, 27/2, 27/3, and 27/4 fit this description. There are multiple points where they split off and at times open up with some mud pits to play around in.

Getting Started

For us, we took route 218 south from Blacksville, turned onto CR 27, and then directly onto 27/1. At first, it simply looks like a dusty pull-off on the side of the road. You can travel quickly at first, hitting the puddles to throw a little mud onto the Jeep for good measure, but the trees quickly close in a little to provide more of the forested roads I love in West Virginia. When we were there for the first time, there were no leaves, but I imagine the route feels much tighter when the trees leaf out in spring. I can’t wait to go back.

The first crossroads you come to has three options: To the right continues on with 27/1; going to the left brings you to 27/2, 27/3, and 27/4; I’m not sure what the middle path is. I’m assuming it is private property, but there aren’t any posted signs so they might be friendly to people off-roading.

27/1

On our first drive through the area, we turned right, and from there it is a very defined route. You aren’t going to find anything extremely technical or difficult. We did it with a Gladiator Rubicon and I think any stock Jeep or similar vehicle could do it. I liked going the direction we went: because it’s downhill so there are fewer chances of getting stuck. If there is any rain, the mud would make parts of it difficult. Not impossible—just difficult.

There were parts of the trail where I felt like we were about to tip over but I imagine that is mostly from being a novice off-roader. The road comes out at someone’s farm. They have a sign that says “no through traffic” going the other direction, but it’s a public road, so I think it’s fair game.

27/2

Starting back at the crossroads, going left will put you on 27/2. This goes a short distance and is a fun little dirt road with rutted muddy spots. It’s nothing deep, but if it has rained, it can definitely give your Jeep that beautiful mud coat we all love so much. You’ll come to another fork in the road that looks so much like the first that I have a hard time remembering which is which in pictures. There are roads on the left and right at the same level and a path in the middle that goes uphill. The road to the right is 27/4 heading south. Going to the left seems to be 27/4 north (I don’t actually know what the route north is because the map doesn’t specify which road it is continuing) and 27/3 is the middle fork.

27/4 North

We chose to go left first. After about 100 yards or so, there is another split. Going right looked like the better option and it led to some nice downed trees and mud pits as obstacles, which was really fun but we soon came to a private property sign. After reviewing coordinates, this seems to be accurate. We need to go back to explore the route to the left. This also leads me to believe that at the second fork, going straight is 27/3, which, if correct and open, looks to be a pretty decent stretch and should make for a great drive.

27/4 South

After the fun little detour, we made our way back to the fork and made our way down 27/4. This section is very similar to 27/1. There is a lot of dirt and deep ruts. If it’s rained recently, I would expect a lot of sliding and loose conditions. But because it goes downhill, it shouldn’t be anything you would get stuck in. Stock Jeeps would be fine if you avoid a few specific obstacles. Just like 27/1, you more or less come out in someone’s driveway. Because of this, and the easier drivability, I recommend going the same direction I did. You’ll avoid starting by anyone’s house, which I also find less disconcerting. If you start on the other end, someone in one of the homes might try to stop you, whereas there is little they can say if you go by their house at the end.

I hope to make it out there again soon to see it in summer conditions and check out the other roads I missed the first time around. From what I’ve seen so far, this was a really great area that I think most people would enjoy. It’s an easy drive for the experts with lots of great scenery, mud, and obstacles, but it doesn’t have unavoidable obstacles or technical parts to be too worrisome for the novices, of which I include myself.