Overland Trip Planning Tips You Need to Know

by

Words by Jason Livingston

Weekend off-roading and overnight camping is adventurous, but once you have the itch to explore more remote destinations, the local trails are often not enough to cure that craving for additional experiences.

The easiest way to ramp up your trips is to tag along with a group of experienced overlanders who push further out there. Most are satisfied with this style of experience, but some have the desire to take on the challenge of planning their own adventures.

A few years ago, I decided to jump into the deep end of planning my own overland trips. Even though I found there were plenty of resources describing what gear to bring, advice was slim and often conflicted on how to actually plan a trip.

While I am certainly not an expert, I thought I would share my thoughts and experiences to provide a starting point for those looking to take their first steps into more extensive overland trips.

Expectations

Before planning, first create a framework on which to build. Above all, understand your capabilities. Are you able to handle mechanical failures, recoveries, or medical emergencies? How are your survival skills? Will you be bringing anyone else with abilities that cover areas you aren’t strong in?

By knowing your limitations, you can define the type and duration of your trips. For example, will you be capable of exploring technical hydro cut trails or maintained logging roads? How remote will you travel? This is also a good time to assess your vehicle, gear and plan any upgrades or changes required to tackle worst-case scenarios. My last big trip was a solo adventure so I chose to improve my self-recovery capabilities. I also knew that I wanted to explore a region prone to water accumulation so I installed a snorkel.

Travel Duration

When planning trips, I find it easiest to take a ‘building block’ approach. This can be accomplished by putting travel duration into one of three categories – short trips, medium trips, and long trips. These categories are based on the amount of supplies and fuel that can be carried.

Short trips for me are generally two or three days. These journeys make good weekend adventures and generally involve exploration of a single area such as a hydro cut or a section of logging roads. The defining attribute of these trips is that re-fuelling and re-stocking supplies are not required. This makes them the easiest to prepare for and a great place for new overlanders to start.

Medium trips cover enough ground to require a fuel stop. For me, this is typically four to five days of travel. I find it easiest to treat these trips as two short ones with a planned re-fueling opportunity in the middle. This allows me to double my exploration area or to explore two different areas in the same region.

Long trips are the most complicated to plan for since both re-fueling and re-stocking is necessary. Again, this is simply a matter of using the building blocks. Planning can be approached as a pair of medium trips with a re-stocking opportunity arranged at the half-way point. If you must re-stock ice, it is important to keep in mind that bags of crushed or cubed ice will not last as long as ice packs or blocks, so expect to replenish your ice a second time in the latter half of your long trips.

While the number of days represented in each of these categories may vary based on the amount of supplies you can carry, the principle is easy to implement and to scale as far as you want.

The Extra Day

When travelling into new or otherwise unknown areas, it’s difficult to gauge timing and progress. For example, you may cover 200 km (124 mi) in a day on good logging roads, but cover less than half of that on more challenging terrain. Since travel plans are often bookended by the need to return to work and other responsibilities, I often add an extra day to my timeline estimates. That way, if something goes wrong, I can work around it as opposed to having to cut a section of the trip short.

Maps, Maps, Maps

With your scope determined, it’s time to focus on maps. Putting in the extra effort here is worth its weight in gold. When route planning, I use three primary map resources. The first is Backroad Mapbooks (BRMB). It’s unequivocally one of the best backroad resources available, covering everything from off-road trails and logging road networks to topographical information across the country. I use this to find a remote area with an abundance of routes to explore.

The second map I resort to is the satellite view on Google Maps. I scour the satellite imagery of the selected area in order to get a feel for terrain difficulty and accessibility. This is not an exact science, but it will give you an idea of whether or not roads are overgrown or blocked. For example, in Northern Ontario, if the satellite imagery shows the road as only an impression through the trees, it’s usually impassible. Given the growth rate of the underbrush in that region, you usually have to be able to see the roadway itself to be sure it can be driven. When there are questionable sections, bypass routes can be added to your plan. Google Maps is also great for assessing potential camp spots as well as scenic areas.

Finally, in Ontario, I make extensive use of the online Crown Land Use Policy Atlas. It has the latest information on where to find Crown Land and its permitted uses. This is also a vital resource for choosing camping spots.

Between these three maps, a route can be put together with success. However, it’s still a good idea to confirm your findings through local resources or overlanders who have explored the area.

If your preference is to utilize a GPS based digital map such as Gaia GPS, print out paper backup maps in case your device fails or you lose signal. If you are running paper maps only, have a method to determine where on the map you are. It’s also wise to leave a copy of your route with someone back home in the event something goes wrong, and a search party is needed.

Refrigeration

One of the biggest challenges with more extensive trips is keeping food cold and fresh. The most effective way is to use a fridge such as those made by ARB or Dometic, but this isn’t always budget-friendly. Being on the ‘dad-with-kids’ budget, I use a Coleman five-day cooler. It gives me three or four days of good refrigeration in hot weather and with a few tweaks, performance can be improved.

For example, refrigerate and freeze as much food as you can beforehand and pre-chill the cooler. Large ice is always better. I use rectangular, 2 L (64 Fl Oz) Nalgene bottles as ice packs. They can be refilled with bags of ice if re-stocking is necessary. Covering the food in the cooler with a towel allows you to leave a measure of insulation while pulling items out. Placing fresh vegetables or items requiring less refrigeration on top of the towel prevents them from freezing. Finally, putting a sleeping bag over your cooler increases your cooler’s thermal isolation from outside temperatures. By using these simple techniques, I have gone up to six days before running out of refrigeration, almost doubling my run time.

Fuel

I cannot stress this enough for remote travel. Even if you never use it, always carry extra fuel. Ideally, you should have enough fuel to travel twice the distance between fuel sources. That way, if you run into a road block at the end of a leg of your trip, you are capable of returning the way you came. If you are limited on fuel capacity, be creative in your route planning. Being stranded or having to walk out can quickly become an emergency in remote areas.

Emergency Planning

A lot of overlanders travel without an emergency plan. This lack of preparation can quickly turn into a life-threatening situation. Emergencies generally happen in three ways – health, vehicle, or sustenance. The farther you travel, the higher the chance that you will be dealing with emergencies on your own, even if you can reach someone by phone.

In order to deal with health emergencies, I carry an extensive first-aid kit plus over-the-counter medications for allergic reactions, swelling, pain, inflammation, and other health issues. It’s also wise to have a minimum of two participants who are trained in first-aid – people on a trip who can patch you up or remedy your injury efficiently. Two additional items to add to the kit are powdered Gatorade and Gravol. Heat stroke and motion sickness are common and are often overlooked issues when overlanding.

When it comes to your vehicle, always try to carry fluids and spare parts for more vulnerable components. Sustained abuse on logging roads can be hard on starters and alternators, and CV’s can be a weak point in technical terrain. Remember, spare parts won’t help if you don’t have the right tools or the knowledge to make use of them. Make sure to account for this. A battery booster is also a must if you travel solo.

Along with breakdowns, there is always the risk of getting stuck or encountering a road blockage. Be sure to carry appropriate gear to help you overcome expected obstacles. For example, a recovery strap and shackles are pretty useless if you are travelling solo. At the very least, I would never travel without a good saw and shovel. Those two items have seen use on almost every trip I have taken.

When it comes to food, have a stash of non-perishable or dehydrated food on hand in case you misjudge your food quantities or your refrigeration fails you. I used to bring a large supply of extra water, but it took up a lot of space. I have since switched to supplementing my supply with a high quality, portable water filtration device for refills.

Even when properly prepared, there is still the risk of emergencies that may require some – or all of your team – to walk out. In these cases, it’s always valuable to bring a light bug-out pack with essentials; it doesn’t have to be too large. I utilize a backpack that can fit my water filter, water bladder, non-perishable food, some form of basic packable shelter, paper maps, compass, and the first-aid kit. I also pack a roll of flagging tape so that I can mark my route as I walk.

Get Out There

Preparing for remote overland travel can be daunting. Reading about the worst-case scenarios can make it difficult to want to tackle such an endeavour. In truth, most of my overland experiences have involved only minor, surmountable issues and have been extremely rewarding. I plan for the worst simply to enjoy the best.