Burning rock OHV Park Tams, WV June 8th 2019

Here's to you @Nakoma :beer: One helluva winch man. (You worked too hard to be called a winch bitch)

This was nearing the top of a long steep muddy climb. Good effort and hard work by everyone involved.
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Got to be Tough for those that probably had a wet sloppy weekend, to come Home to Flooding conditions. Especially the Hickory folks! Things are getting serious in Mecklenburg too! Anyone on or near a River.
 
The weather didnt turn out half bad. It was mostly cloudy and cool but It never really rained any while we were riding. The sun even came out at 1 point.
(In one section)This place has miles and miles of tame trails with very few challenging spots but lots of great scenery. We didnt see everything, but there is a lot of great potential. We logged a lot of miles on Saturday. It was quite relaxing and I was just happy to be on the trails.

The night run, which was on the opposite side of the park was a little different. Not too far into one trail led to a 2 hour winch fest. If it wasnt wet, it would have been a cake walk. We ended up at a good looking rock garden, but by that time, we were tired it was dark and we were not willing to explore the rocks. Flashlights revealed this was a much larger crawling area than we could see at the time. I'd like to see it during the day for sure.
I had a great jeeping weekend in the woods, and camping with my friends. Good food, great laughs and just what the doctor ordered.
I didnt take alot of pics. But here they are.
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Here's to you @Nakoma :beer:
It was a group effort! I have never minded being in the woods pulling cable. That’s what makes the memories! It was a blast! Not to mention that someone always finds a seat for me and that means a lot to me, so it’s the least I could do is pull some cable to return the favors!!
 
So, Me, Nakoma, Robbie, Larry Lowman, Chris and Jenny, Dylan and new member David Lucas along with his nephew Brandon showed up to ride. David and Brandon did their own thing most of the time as they were already on the trails when we showed up.

The rest of us all arrived on Friday afternoon and it was raining steadily but not too heavy. We all set up camp and had a central shelter made up of Robbie's awning and Chris and my Easy Ups. We pretty much hung out and chatted on Friday and then hit the trails Saturday morning. It had rained all night but stopped about 0930 on Saturday morning and was about sixty-five and partly cloudy all day long with no rain for the rest of the day. It was perfect wheeling weather.

This park is huge! It really does have about a hundred miles of trails. While most of them are for ATV's, there are also full-size trails and you can ride any of them except the single tracks. We downloaded their Maprika App and hit the trails. We hit a green trail called Tam's Loop which also takes you through the old mining town. There were several blue and black trails branching off the Loop which we explored. Most of them were nothing hard but they were beautiful trails that did not seem to have been ridden in a while. We saw a lot of animals, mainly deer on the trails. There is a lot of potential in the park. The owner is definitely up for cutting new trails and there are several places for new trails over rock gardens and steep hill climbs. The park really reminds me off Callalantee and Crackers Neck up in Mountain City in the early days.

After we rode several of the loops and his a few steep hill climbs and muddy slopes we ended up on part of a 17-mile long trail. We were on it about three hours and by the time we came out Robbie and his jeep were low on fuel and it was about 3:30 so we headed back to camp. All told we went about 26 miles.

After a snack of bacon and brats, some of us decided to go back out and find the rock gardens in the full-size area. Me, Nakoma, Dylan, David and Brandon all went. David and Brandon were leading as they had been their earlier. They decided to take us up a trail that had a 200-yard steep hill on it. This turned into about a two-hour winch fest. David and Brandon were up front and unbeknownst to us were open front and rear. Nakoma walked on up with recovery straps and tree savers and pulled cable to help David on up the hill. Dylan went up next and I brought up the rear. When we caught up to them, I hooked Dylan's winch to a tree and my jeep to his jeep as the hill was so steep we did not trust the jeeps would stay put. After winching David and then Brandon, Dylan started up. He made it most of the way with only a little extra spotting. Then I started up and was worried because my Jeep slid backward about five feet before I got any forward momentum. I backed up a little further and then amazingly made it all the way to the top!

Once we got to the top of the hill, it was dark but we decided to go see the rock gardens. When we arrived, they did not disappoint! We did not ride them as it was after dark, but there looked to be quite a bit of challenge for all levels of rig from basic jeeps on 33's to all-out buggies! When we go back, i would still like to explore other trails but feel like we need to head here first! After seeing the rock gardens we all heading back to camp and ate supper at about 10:30.


All in all this was a great trip! It's a beautiful park with something for everyone! It has a clean and well set up campground and best of all it is close! It seems to be four hours or less for about everyone. It took me four hours exactly and the same for David and Brandon coming from Rocky Mount. Robby only took a little over three hours. I definitely look forward to going back.

Michael Juarez
 
So, Me, Nakoma, Robbie, Larry Lowman, Chris and Jenny, Dylan and new member David Lucas along with his nephew Brandon showed up to ride. David and Brandon did their own thing most of the time as they were already on the trails when we showed up.

The rest of us all arrived on Friday afternoon and it was raining steadily but not too heavy. We all set up camp and had a central shelter made up of Robbie's awning and Chris and my Easy Ups. We pretty much hung out and chatted on Friday and then hit the trails Saturday morning. It had rained all night but stopped about 0930 on Saturday morning and was about sixty-five and partly cloudy all day long with no rain for the rest of the day. It was perfect wheeling weather.

This park is huge! It really does have about a hundred miles of trails. While most of them are for ATV's, there are also full-size trails and you can ride any of them except the single tracks. We downloaded their Maprika App and hit the trails. We hit a green trail called Tam's Loop which also takes you through the old mining town. There were several blue and black trails branching off the Loop which we explored. Most of them were nothing hard but they were beautiful trails that did not seem to have been ridden in a while. We saw a lot of animals, mainly deer on the trails. There is a lot of potential in the park. The owner is definitely up for cutting new trails and there are several places for new trails over rock gardens and steep hill climbs. The park really reminds me off Callalantee and Crackers Neck up in Mountain City in the early days.

After we rode several of the loops and his a few steep hill climbs and muddy slopes we ended up on part of a 17-mile long trail. We were on it about three hours and by the time we came out Robbie and his jeep were low on fuel and it was about 3:30 so we headed back to camp. All told we went about 26 miles.

After a snack of bacon and brats, some of us decided to go back out and find the rock gardens in the full-size area. Me, Nakoma, Dylan, David and Brandon all went. David and Brandon were leading as they had been their earlier. They decided to take us up a trail that had a 200-yard steep hill on it. This turned into about a two-hour winch fest. David and Brandon were up front and unbeknownst to us were open front and rear. Nakoma walked on up with recovery straps and tree savers and pulled cable to help David on up the hill. Dylan went up next and I brought up the rear. When we caught up to them, I hooked Dylan's winch to a tree and my jeep to his jeep as the hill was so steep we did not trust the jeeps would stay put. After winching David and then Brandon, Dylan started up. He made it most of the way with only a little extra spotting. Then I started up and was worried because my Jeep slid backward about five feet before I got any forward momentum. I backed up a little further and then amazingly made it all the way to the top!

Once we got to the top of the hill, it was dark but we decided to go see the rock gardens. When we arrived, they did not disappoint! We did not ride them as it was after dark, but there looked to be quite a bit of challenge for all levels of rig from basic jeeps on 33's to all-out buggies! When we go back, i would still like to explore other trails but feel like we need to head here first! After seeing the rock gardens we all heading back to camp and ate supper at about 10:30.


All in all this was a great trip! It's a beautiful park with something for everyone! It has a clean and well set up campground and best of all it is close! It seems to be four hours or less for about everyone. It took me four hours exactly and the same for David and Brandon coming from Rocky Mount. Robby only took a little over three hours. I definitely look forward to going back.

Michael Juarez

Totally stealing this for the newsletter.
 
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