OCALA NATIONAL FOREST, Florida

Ocala National Forest is located in northeastern Florida and is a beautiful forest with plenty of ATV trails and some truck trails. In this park the trails are not designated to certain vehicle types but some trails are not suited for trucks.

We venture out in the woods on the southeastern part of the park and cruise along some trails which consist mostly of sand and have some muddy sections and water crossings. Most trails we drive are easy with big puddles; at one point we get to a water crossing which is deep enough to flood pretty much everything in the engine bay. A few guys with ATVs have fun submerging their vehicles completely under water. Here, I decide that this is too risky for us, and after watching them for a while we turn around and explore other areas. We find a hill with deep sand inclines and play among the trees. Further into the forest, we come across some more water and this time I go through, dipping the headlights all the way into the water. Thanks to the wake, the air intake doesn't swallow any water. We get out okay and, after some more exploring, break one shock mount on a sandy hill when trying to conquer an ascent made challenging due to some tree roots. There is no way getting the shock to stay in place and I remove it completely. We have had enough 4-wheeling for today and drive to Jacksonville to get our shock mount fixed at the local 4-Wheel Parts.

It is a nice park to venture into and I'm sure there are more areas to explore.