Best Off-Road Destinations in the Lower South

June 9, 2023May 17, 2023 Lisa Conant 0 Comments Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Louisiana, Mississippi, Off-Roading, Outdoor Recreation, South Carolina, Trail Runs, Truck and Off-Road, Westin

The lower half of the U.S. isn’t just a heat- and sun-seeker’s paradise. It’s also home to some of the most fun and challenging off-road attractions around. Whether you’re looking to put some miles on your favorite ATV or do some serious rock climbing in your Jeep or Bronco, America’s Lower South will welcome you and your buddies with plenty more than just that famous southern hospitality.

Check out some of our favorite spots in this year-round outdoor enthusiast’s paradise. It ain’t called the Redneck Riviera for nothin’…

Louisiana Mudfest, Louisiana

If you’re looking for an anything-goes mud mecca, this is heaven on earth. Located in Colfax, this family-owned business boasts over 300 acres of some of the muddiest and messiest trails in the south. It is open year-round, and open to everyone — ATVs, UTVs, dirt bikes, Jeeps, custom-built trucks with massive mud-eating tires, you name it.

Tent and RV camping are available, so you can make a full weekend out of it. There are also numerous events hosted on the grounds, including concerts, fishing, and bikini-clad truck shows. It’s almost as much fun to drop the tailgate on your truck and take in the action as it is to be an active participant. Actual “Mudfest” is held around the end of April each year, but there’s still plenty of fun to be had throughout the season.

BMB Off-Road, Mississippi

BMB, or Barnyard Mudboggers, located in Fulton, Mississippi is a 715-acre off-road park that boasts a wide variety of terrain. Rugged hills, challenging wooded trails, deep water crossings, and of course, the requisite mud bogs that the park is named for provide hours of fun and opportunity to test your off-roading skills or simply get a dirty undercarriage. This location is mostly easy to moderate terrain, but also offers plenty of difficult and challenging aspects.

BMB is actually an off-road park that is open Friday-Sunday most weeks of the year. You can book special access during the week by appointment. The facility also features RV and tent camping and hosts a variety of special events throughout the year, like a Fourth of July fireworks show, a foam party with a DJ, mud races, and much more. You can check their schedule of events on Facebook.

Hollytree Off Road Park, Alabama

A relative newcomer to the scene, Hollytree Off Road Park is a privately-owned parcel of more than 800 acres snuggled in the mountains of northern Alabama. Roughly 35 miles from Huntsville, the park is open year-round and is happy to accommodate practically any OHV you can find. Hollytree is proud to offer something for everyone, from laid-back scenery to steep drop-offs, technical rock crawling, tightly packed trails, and more.

Easy to extreme, you can run the gamut of riding challenges in a single day. As an added incentive, the park is currently finishing construction of the largest RC track in the Southeast. Hollytree also offers primitive camping, a few RV sites, and monthly TVR SCCA Rallycross races which let you take your own car and tear around their dirt track in a controlled setting. The park even touts an ideal setting for outdoor weddings, in case you’d like to seal your vows with a Jeep wave.

Beasley Knob OHV Trail System, Georgia

If you’re looking for some of the most challenging and technical trails in the south, Beasley Knob OHV Trail System is your pick to click. Open to motorized vehicles mid-March through January, Beasley Knob offers 13 miles of trails that are part of the Chattahoochee National Forest. Most are rated “Difficult” or “Most Difficult,” so get ready for rocks, rocks, and more rocks. Tight, narrow, and steep are the words of the day when describing this system of “roads.”

To up the ante, trails get even tougher when the weather is wet and mucky. As a result, closings sometimes occur between January-March, so double-check availability before you show up looking for fun. The trails are open from sunrise to sunset and the required day pass is a very reasonable fee of $5/rider, or splurge for the $50 annual pass. The one drawback: there’s no camping allowed onsite.

Broken Nut Off Road Park, South Carolina

Broken Nut is one of the few trail systems in South Carolina open to all in terms of OHV choices. Take your ATV, UTV, dirt bike, Jeep, SUV, dune buggy, side-by-side, or sand rail all over the park’s 350 acres. This park boasts plenty of rugged hill climbs and twisty trails, as well as lots of opportunities to get muddy in shallow ponds or swampy bogs. With terrain ranging from sand to clay and dirt, there’s a little something for everyone in terms of skill level.

Broken Nut is a weekend park with camping available on select weekends, as well as the occasional live music event. It doesn’t offer much in the way of steep, rocky terrain, but is a fun place to turn up the speed and enjoy some time with your friends that doesn’t require hours of slow going and winching each other out of some tight spots.

Lazy Springs Recreation Park, Florida

Don’t let the name fool you, Lazy Springs is anything but. This all-inclusive park welcomes OHVs of all different shapes and sizes, and promises a safe and super fun environment for riders of all ages. Covering 375 acres, the park features varied terrain. You can experience everything from fun and filthy mud bogs to rock climbing, motocross jumping, an obstacle course, and even watersports. That’s right, you can jet ski, swim, kayak, canoe, and fish at this well-equipped recreational space that features several lakes and plenty of waterfront.

The park rents equipment, and there’s also plenty of camping in case you want to make a weekend out of it. What you won’t find at this park, however, is a lot of elevation changes or shade. Lazy Springs is mostly open space and direct sun exposure, so plan your visit accordingly.

Looking for more great trails? Check out our round-up of Upper South destinations, as well as other U.S.-based attractions.