Four wheel drives: The road less travelled

A joint volunteer effort between three four wheel driving clubs, the Spectacular aims to encourage responsible and safe recreational use of the vehicles which are experiencing a burgeoning popularity.

Behind this popularity, and the love of many a four-wheel drive enthusiast is the desire to reach the untouched and the isolated.

At least, that is what sparked the passion for Southern Tablelands Four Wheel Drive Club president Alan Jones.

"You can go places in four-wheel drives that you really can't in your standard vehicles," he said.

"It can give you the opportunity to get off the beaten track, to go to camping spots that are not available to everyone else and to go to fishing spots that are not available to everyone else."

"I used to do a lot of spearfishing on the NSW south coast and to get to some of the locations that I wanted to get to with my mates, I needed a vehicle that could actually go over some fairly remote and rough tracks."

Mr Jones first became involved with the vehicle fifty years ago when he came into possession of his first four wheel drive, a series IIB Land Rover.

Since then he has traversed four wheel drive tracks from the Simpson Desert to Cape York and watched as membership of his club exploded as a broader demographic accessed the past time.

"Up until the last year, I would say that member ship in our club had a bit of a lean towards the upper age group but now it's spread out a lot more and it's good to see because there is a whole lot to be enjoyed for younger families," Mr Jones said.

"I would say that the majority of new members that have come into the club are younger families and they are wanting to come in and share the time with their children, get off the road and into places where they wouldn't otherwise be able to go."

For these new four-wheel drive fans, the local area is plentiful with appropriate and accessible driving tracks, and according to Mr Jones the majority of them are located in Queanbeyan's backyard.

"The tracks out through the Brindabella's - there's quite a number of tracks through there that people can get on and access without getting themselves into strife," he said.

"The Bendethera Valley is amazing too, it is right along a river there so that's a pretty good place to go, as well as the many tracks down the coast, and of course once you get up into the Snowy Mountains there are a lot of tracks up there and you can even continue on to just over the border and into the Victorian high country."