Gerad Findlay is an avid off-road enthusiast and overlander living in the western Oklahoma town of Hinton, known for the scenic Red Rock Canyon State Park. He started off-roading by driving his Jeep to Colorado and enjoying the rough terrain and challenges in the Rockies, but eventually decided he wanted to stay closer to home and start enjoying the terrain offered by his home state. As his family grew, Gared decided to stay closer to home and spend more time exploring scenic off-road routes of western Oklahoma rather than the technical challenges of the rugged – and far away – Rocky Mountains. Hence his move to Overlanding rather than off-roading – spending time camping with his growing family rather than winching Jeeps out of crevices with his friends.



Inspired by the Oklahoma Adventure Trail, Gared decided to start mapping some of his favorite routes with his GPS and sharing those with friends on Facebook. Hence the start of his now famous Sugar Creek Adventure Route, which loops 120 miles out of his hometown of Hinton.



But Gared didn’t stop there. He eventually added several hundred miles of routes through western Oklahoma, incorporating scenic back roads, historical locations and markers, creek crossings, dirt roads, and just places that he found interesting. “These are county roads in western Oklahoma, and most can be driven with a regular pickup truck or Subaru Outback. I tried to make this interesting and scenic. These are not off-road trails” explains Gerad.



Interview with Gared



After riding several of Gared’s routes, I decided to interview him about the effort he put into creating these routes. Listen below or subscribe on the Apple Podcast app.