George Washington State Forest Mille Lacs Spillway Technical Loop

This isn’t your typical Minnesota forest road — the Spillway Technical Loop threads through a landscape of house-sized granite boulders left behind by the last ice age, creating natural obstacles that’ll challenge even built rigs. The route follows old logging skidder paths that wind around massive pink granite formations, some stacked so precariously they look ready to topple. The centerpiece is the abandoned spillway construction site from the 1940s, where rusted machinery and concrete footings create an eerie industrial graveyard in the middle of pristine wilderness.

This is difficult terrain that demands serious rock crawling skills — articulation, low-range gearing, and rock sliders aren’t optional here. Summer months offer the best conditions when you can actually see the granite you’re climbing over. No permits needed, but notify the state forest office of your plans since rescue would be complicated in this remote area. What you get is some of the most technical four-wheeling in the Midwest, plus a glimpse into Minnesota’s forgotten industrial history that most people never knew existed.