Mid-Atlantic Expeditions

ecampbell

Piney
Jan 2, 2003
2,844
967
I passed this SUV on Tuckerton Road down by Push Line on Saturday. The video is slowed down 5x.
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https://www.facebook.com/midatlanticexpeditions/
 
Feb 1, 2016
273
133
53
Camden County, NJ
Yeah, I met Leon/Lee at Lines on the Pines. They lead small groups of vehicles through the Pine Barrens and other locations. They have an upcoming "event" ok'd by DEP, FFS, and PPA :) that runs from Cape May to High Point State Park. Camping at Belleplain, Brendan and one other site up North. All driving is done on existing approved (by DEP etc) sand roads and public paved roads. He is firmly and vocally against mudders and promotes a Tread Lightly approach...he was interviewed by the Inquirer a few days ago (posted in this forum) stating as such. It's important to note that no fees are charged or collected for him to lead folks who wish to follow him on trips.
 
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Feb 1, 2016
273
133
53
Camden County, NJ
How does that business model work?
They are not operating as a business but more as a social club or even just a few folks looking to see some of the sites with a friend who knows some of the area. I think at a future date if the demand was high enough he might make it a business but not at this time. I have mixed feelings about the concept but I guess if one was to be introduced to the Pines via motor vehicles it would be better to be led by someone who stays on the roads and treads lightly. He does appear to have some corporate sponsors and his FB page indicates he is testing the waters to make it a business but time will tell. I spoke with him for about 30 minutes and his indication was that he was unsure if he would ever charge. Could be an interesting model of not charging but having enough followers/likes/etc to justify collecting revenue from sponsors.
 
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Xplorer313

New Member
Mar 14, 2017
8
9
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Burlington
www.instagram.com
Hi Ecampbell! Thanks for pulling over and letting me pass. As soon as I saw you I was gonna pull over to let you pass but you beat me to it, ha. Nice dash cam by the way! What brand do you use? It has some extremely clear video!

So, a little bit about myself and Mid-Atlantic Expeditions; we call it MAX for short. My name's Leon but mostly everyone knows me as Lee. I use to run Northeast Expeditions and it was just an Instagram, Facebook, and YouTube account that I created to document my adventures and travels with everyone. I teamed up with another guy, Phil, who had the same interest as I did, exploring, camping, adventuring, and overlanding, and we formed Mid-Atlantic Expeditions. We're just a two person overlanding team who loves all things outdoors. Phil is based in Brick, NJ while I'm out of Burlington, NJ. Most people who don't know what overlanding is would put us into the same classification as "off-roaders". While we do love to play around "off-road" in privately owned off-road parks, here in Pine Barrens we keep a strict rule to tread lightly, pack out what we pack in, and to try and leave no trace.

In the last few months we have slowly been prepping to take the 450+ mile journey along the Trans New Jersey Trail. The TNJT is a trail that was created by the adventure bike and enduro guys. It was comprised of all of their favorite routes leading from High Point, NJ to Cape May, NJ. I took their .gpx files and began to run them in sections, soon to realize that a lot of what they were doing was either illegal or the route had you going down someone's private property. I spent the last two years, before the idea of MAX was conceived, rerouting the routes to accommodate cars, trucks, and SUVs. The route follows along paved, gravel, and sandy backroads, all of which have been properly chosen to comply with the DEP's M.A.P. that was released back in 2015. During the time of my rerouting, the M.A.P. was conceived and I had to reroute a lot of the trail due to the M.A.P.'s approved fire roads, all of which still remain as part of the TNJT now.

With a trip so grand, usually lots of interest follows suit. We have been asked for the best routes through the forest and have even been asked for the best "off-roading" spots. While steering away those who are only looking to "off-road" and to do so illegally, not by just driving down a fire road, we wanted to cater to those who were looking to enjoy the forest while legally "off-roading". To do this, in my spare time I create voice guided routes for people to follow, or I will even go as far as taking them out on guided tours. These tours feature all approved and legal routes/roads, historical sites, and just the overall fun of driving your vehicle down a dirt fire road where it's peaceful, quiet, and just plain beautiful.

We don't actually offer guided tours in a business aspect, but it is something that has crossed our minds. It's not something we are going to over look. We feel it might actually be a good idea to offer these 4wd guided tours to those who want to experience the forest without risking the possibility of ending up somewhere they shouldn't be, like a sensitive area or off limits area.
 

Xplorer313

New Member
Mar 14, 2017
8
9
37
Burlington
www.instagram.com
Hi Lee, I like the graphics on your SUV. My dashcam is a StreetGuardian, I got it to record some of the weird stuff I come across, present company excepted.
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B019WXYCMM/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o04_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1
I look forward to more posts about your trails and adventures. Right after we passed I gave some campers a jump at Batona Camp.
Tabernacle native since 1974.
Ed
Thanks! I designed the graphics using a silhouette of the pine barrens for the trees and some random clip art of mountains. The two symbolize NJ, where we are based out of. One of our sponsors, Viggs Designs out of Freehold, NJ, put the design together and did the vinyl work for us.

Thank you for the link on the cam! I'm definitely going to check it out. I had been looking into them but unsure about which brand to go with since there seems to be so many different brands.

Sounds like your journey was eventful after passing by. Which way did you go to Batona? High Crossing out to Carranza? Right before passing by you, I passed by the 215 Jeep Crew/club. One of the guys was broke down and working on his Cherokee while everyone else in the group decided to park illegally, but I guess it's excuseable since they were trying not to block Tuckerton Rd.

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Xplorer313

New Member
Mar 14, 2017
8
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Burlington
www.instagram.com
Awesome video!! It was great meeting so many different people along the route. I'm still working on my videos. I should have episode 1 completed sometime this week! I'll share it on here when I finish!
 
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