Posts Tagged ‘Off Road’

Jeep Cherokee Harlan KY day 3

Wednesday, June 2nd, 2010

XJlist Spring Fling Harlan, Ky day 3

Saturday morning brought more rain as I added power steering fluid to Jenny’s Jeep and bled the air out of the system. Through the breaks in the drizzle, we had scrambled eggs made on Frosty’s grill.

Getting a slow start from camp we decided to make a leisurely run along the east ridge of the park to see the vista the group had found the night before. We headed up the other end of trail 15 out of Middle Fork. This trail starts of with a steep twisty climb before it follows the ridge out to the helicopter pad.

Just at the top of the hill, a place we spent way too much time at on our first trip to Harlan, there is now a very deep mud puddle.

Mud Puddle

Just as we were lining up to go through he puddle, Evan called on the radio that his Jeep was leaking transmission fluid and was not moving well. I pulled out a hospital cloth for him to lay on and he found that his control arm had hit the transmission lines and crimped both and punctured one of them.

Jeep Cherokee repair

It took a while, but we eventually gathered enough hose, clamps and tools for him to cut and splice the two damaged lines. We headed out again after he was repaired.

From there we made our way on to the Helicopter pad. We continued on the trail past the pad and drove up to the vista the guys had found the evening before. The view form there is spectacular! We enjoyed lunch there and posed the Jeeps for a group photo.

Jeep Cherokee off road

Jeep cherokeee
Jeep Cherokee

Next we made out way to Mason Jar. We decided to follow the new signs instead of the map thinking that they may have made a short cut to the entrance of Mason Jar that was not mapped. However, we were disappointed to find that the signs led us to the exit of Mason Jar. And Mason Jar is a one way trail!

Janice and several others decided to walk the short trail while some of us drove around to the entrance. At the entrance we saw a buggy on huge tires having a terrible time getting up the first obstacles. He would just sit there and use his big engine to dig out dirt at the bottom of the rocks. As we met the walkers, they told us of two wranglers that were broken down further up the trail.

Neal, Frosty and Josh elected to go ahead and run the trail while the rest of us decided to explore elsewhere. We loaded up every one into the back seats and cargo areas of our Jeeps and made the trip back to the exit of Mason Jar to pick up their Jeeps.

Neal's XJ Mason Jar

Form there, we went to Lions Den so that those who missed Thursday adventure could at least get a feel for what it was like. We watched a Wrangler on one ton axles crawl through but not without great difficulty.

From there we headed back to Middle fork to play on the hills there. We had just started up Running Board when the others caught up with us. Scott P made a run but ended up backing down.

We decided to head back to lower rock garden to play around more. After some time there we headed back to camp to enjoy the now famous steaks and potato boats around the camp fire.

Videos of this trip can be found on Youtube:

Rail Bed
Mud Puddle 1
Mud Puddle 2
Scott in the Lower Rock Garden
Josh on Killin Time 1
Josh on Killin Time 2
Haywire on Profanity

Jeep Cherokee on Rail Bed

Tuesday, June 1st, 2010

XJList Spring Fling Day 2

Day two in Harlan dawned wet and foggy. We slowly crawled out of our tents. I found Scott Paulman working with a leaking bead on his XJ. He used his Highlift jack to break the bead and clean the debris that had collected there. We tossed it in the back of my Jeep for a run down to the air supply at the bottom of the hill. There we reseated the bead and filled it with air.

Frosty treated me to some of his farm fresh eggs cooked on a propane grill. We said good bye to Adam as he headed out to attend to other obligations for the weekend. Then we started planning the day. One of my favorite trails from our last trip to Harlan was Rail Bed and I was ready to run it again. So we decided to go there first and work our way back through the park.

Wayne Klotz junior and senior arrived and unloaded and next Jennifer and Janice arrived. We lined up the Jeeps and headed up the Putney Trail. The overnight rains had made the trail a bit slick in places and this provided a great warm up for things to come.

About half way up the mountain we met a pair of off roaders coming back down. There day had ended early with a broken rear drive shaft on their Wrangler. Getting past each other took a while on the narrow trail especially with one of the Jeeps being injured.

At Middle Fork we all took a run up one of the play hills and headed on out to The South side of the park. We really appreciated all the new signs that Harlan County parks has added. Good use of the grant money in my opinion.

We found Rail Bed and somehow, I ended up in the lead as we poked around for the way in that does not require going up the water fall. I switched on my front locker and headed up the rocky trail.

My favorite thing about Rail Bed is that it is all rock. No mud mixed in. And the rocks are big enough to be challenging but not so big that they overwhelm my 33” Maxxis Buckshots.

Jeep Cherokee Rail Bed

At the end of the trail, I noticed that the ground around the last big rock had really eroded away compared to the last time I was here. I elected to take the easy way out and skip the last boulder. Well, the easy way out is not so easy any more either. There is a name sake piece of rail road track that has been uncovered by the erosion right at the apex of the climb threatening to slice the tires of any one who stays in the ruts. I gave it one try but I slid into the ruts right at the rail and I decided to drop back down.

Jeep Cherokee XJ off road

The second option for and easy out is to squeeze by a tree on a very narrow ledge. This is made even more challenging by a strategically placed rock that the bottom that prevents lining up the way you would prefer and by a root at the base of the tree that requires a bump right where you don’t want to bump. Also, should you miss, there is about an eight to ten foot drop on to the rock you are trying to bypass below.
I picked my way up carefully and made it past the scary part just fine. I parked and went back to watch the others coming up behind me. I missed most of the action but I got back just as Wayne was taking the bypass exit. I spotted him around the rock and he chose the narrow ledge as well.

Next up was Jenny enjoying the traction of her new rear Lock Right locker. I spotted her around the rock and she took off up the hill. She may have bounced on the tree root or the ground may have given way, but for what ever reason, she suddenly found her left front tire dangling over the edge. See the video here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_grDOT3o3LA

Jeep Cherokee XJ off road

She held firm on the brake pedal while I ran up to get my winch cable. Wayne Sr. took my cable and hooked on to her front tow hook as I held by brake and spooled in the cable. The tire slid back to the bank but was firmly hung on the root s and would not pull back over the lip. The Klotzs grabbed her tow strap and quickly secured her B pillar to the tree for extra stability.

Jeep Cherokee XJ off road

We tried to have be back up to pull the front tire back onto the surface but that caused her rear tire to slip over the edge making for an even more serious situation. Neal Hoover realized we needed another winch ASAP so he made the run up the cut with the piece of rail track partially blocking it. He made and incredible drive up the hill and turned just at the right moment to miss the tire slasher and pop up over the crest. He got his winch cable connected to the back of her Jeep and she was again stable.

Janice held the brake in Neal’s Jeep while I held the brake in mine. I could not see well from the seat of my Jeep so I handed my winch controller to Neal. He held his wireless remote in one hand and worked my winch with the other. Matt remarked that he looked like he was playing X box winches as he maneuvered Jenny’s Jeep.

After some tense moments she was finally back on stable ground. She drove up the rest of the way parked and ran to find a place to pee.

Next in line was Matt. As he approached the tree on the ledge he started to slip on the tree root as well. When his spotted motioned for a turn to the left, he just shook his head no. His spotter called for a bump and again he shook his head no. Eventually he carefully powered his Jeep over the root and up to safety.

Next, the guys with larger tires decided the safe way out was to go over and around the last boulder. They all made it out just fine.

Jeep Cherokee XJ off road

After we all calmed down some we headed to the nearby lower rock garden to play around.

Jeep Cherokee XJ off road

Jeep Cherokee XJ off road

It was there we saw a very strange contraption. It had the body of a XJ, the grill of a CJ and the frame and engine of something Fordish. It seemed to be abandoned there.

Jeep Cherokee XJ off road

Next, we headed up to a new trail called Killin’ Time. Neal got caught between a rock and a hard place and several of us decided to abandon the run and go watch from the nearby road. When Josh made his run he got hung at about he same place as Neal did. Neal climbed in the back of Josh’s Jeep and gave a demonstration of how active ballast works as a traction aid. Neal jumped out and Josh made it up the rest of the trail.

Jeep Cherokee XJ off road

Next we found our way to Profanity. This somewhat difficult climb was made even nastier by the wet slippery mud. I was near the back of the pack and watched as several Jeeps made the climb. As the trail was getting more and more torn up I decided to take the parallel climb along with Jenny. About that time, Wayne popped the bead on his rear tire and had to back down. I went back down and assisted with getting his tire changed.

Jeep Cherokee XJ off road

As we were getting ready to move on, Jenny noticed her power steering was not acting right. We popped the hood and saw fluid every where but in the reservoir. There was no apparent leak in the hoses so we collected fluid form the group and tried it again. Evan looked in to see if he could see the leak as Jenny turned the wheel. Fluid sprayed out everywhere as he jumped back. The source of the leak was found and it was the pump shaft seal.

We told her not to steer more than necessary and headed back up the trails. Back at Middle Fork, Jenny asked Evan to drive her Jeep back down trail 45 as he power assist was coming in and out and she did not want to battle the tricky trail 45 without it.

Back at camp, Evan loaned Janice and Jenny his BMW for a parts run while he and I started removing the damaged power steering pump.

BMW

Fast ride to town

New members Ron and Tracy had arrived at camp by this time so the rest of the group took them out to see some trails before dark. They found a beautiful vista on a trail we had never explored before.

Jeep Cherokee XJ off road

Even and I had the pump off before the girls got back with the replacement. When they arrived we were ready to pop it back on when we saw the new pump did not have a pulley, just instructions on how to reuse the original one. Instructions like, “Do not use a hammer!” We tried several methods to remove the old pulley but eventually decided to we had to have the correct puller. Evan and I headed back to town to take advantage of Advance Auto’s loan a tool program.

Back at camp and armed with the proper implements, Evan removed the old pulley and pressed it on the new pump.

Jeep Cherokee XJ repair

We got it all bolted back up just about dark and left the filling and bleeding for morning. We settled in by the campfire for and evening of food and fellowship.

Jeep Cherokee in the Lion’s Den

Sunday, May 30th, 2010

XJ List Spring Fling in Harlan

The Yahoo Groups XJlist once again had their Spring Fling meeting in Harlan, KY. I found it interesting that there was never any real discussion this time about where to go, Harlan was the instant unanimous choice.

Black Mountain in Harlan offers great camping, miles of trails and generally a perfect setting for a gathering of friends. But this time, Harlan offered one other enticement – Lion’s Den!

After seeing Lion’s Den for the first time last year, Josh started modifying his XJ to be ready for the challenge. On May 20, 2010 he got his chance.

My trip began early that morning heading north on I 75. The trip was going uneventful until just before the Lafollette exit. I began to feel a vibration I suspected was from the trailer. At first it was only at high speed but as I drive through Lafollette, it got worse. I pulled into the Wal-Mart parking lot to check it out. I quickly noticed that there was a large chunk of rubber missing from one of the tires. This was the tire I had chosen to as a spare from an earlier tire failure.

I quickly jacked up the trailer and swapped on the spare only to find it was a little low on air. I pulled out the battery compressor that my parents gave me for Christmas and aired it up. 30 minutes later I was back o the road to Harlan.

I stopped at the Campground office to pay for camping and get a permit and a new map. Then I headed up the steep rugged road to the campground. This road has always been a challenge, but the recent heavy rains had it rutted out more than before. I put the Suburban in 4 low and pressed on. I could here my ramps bouncing, but I knew that if I lost momentum, there would be a scary trip backwards to deal with, so I just kept pressing on and up. Just as I was entering the campground, I met Neal on his way down. I was glad he noticed me and made room so I did not have to back off.

As I got ready to unload, I noticed that one of my ramps had not made the trip and I hoped it was on the trial up the mountain. I don’t need ramps to unload anyway so I dropped Scuffy off and headed down to look for it. Also, I also noticed that the map I just bought was not in the handful of stuff I left the office with.

I drove slowly down the road looking for my ramp and I was beginning to get worried when I saw it poking out the back of Evan’s Jeep. Thankfully Kevin had noticed it and picked it up on his way down to get a permit. I got my map and we all headed back up to camp. Evan helped me set up my tent while we waited for Scott P to arrive.

With the gang there for the day we headed out to the trails. Knowing that rain was predicted for later in the weekend, I suggested that we head straight to Lion’s Den. There was no argument so we studied the map and found the quickest way there.

Trail 45 that leads from camp to the top of the mountain makes for a good warm up. It is steep, narrow, rocky, muddy and has huge drop offs along with very tight switchbacks. We then made a run along the ridge on trial 15. The infamous stair steps on trail 15 now have a by pass. Good thing too as they have really been eroded out.

At the intersection of 15 and 12 some of us continued on the part of the trail that was blocked last time. Adam and I noticed trial 12 above us and a muddy climb connecting the two so he gave it a go. Adam made it up so I decided to give it a run. I was very pleasantly surprised at the traction I got from my Maxxis Buckshots and I made it up the hill easily.

Once we were all up, we headed on to Lion’s Den. We did pause briefly to play on a hill climb that I think is called Grace Trail. Part of us headed over the mountain peak by the radio tower while others went around on the lower trail. We all met back up at Lion’s Den.

As we were walking the trail to see just what Josh was up against, we heard the whine of Frost’s turbo on his Toyota. He was headed into the mouth of the Lion’s Den. Just getting into the entrance was a challenge due to the mud and huge rocks. As Frosty let his rig cool, Josh made his way into the entrance. But now he had to dodge a suitcase size rock that Frosty moved on his way up.

XJ Entering the Lion's Den

Josh enters the Lions Den in his Jeep Cherokee

The most prominent feature of Lion’s Den is a huge boulder that over hangs the trail where the vehicle has to make a four to six foot drop. The drop is less near the boulder but due to the overhang you scrape your roof. The drop is less away from the boulder but if you slip off the outside of the rock there is a long drop off the mountain into the trees.

Jeep XJ drops in to the Lion's Den

Jeep XJ drops in to the Lion's Den

Frosty and Josh made the scary drop both relatively uneventfully. Although I am sure it was much scarier from the driver seats. And knowing that this is the point of no return adds to drama.

Jeep Cherokee in the Lion's Den

Josh moves along through the Lion's Den

The next obstacle in Lion’s Den is a narrow squeeze. There is a ten foot tall boulder beside a tree with only about four feet between them. Even the narrow Toyota and the XJ will not fit. To pass through you have to place a tire either on the tree or on the rock. Or maybe a bit of both.

Toyota squeezed

Frosty makes it past the squeeze


Toyota Truck moves through the Lion's den

Frosty moves to the next obsatce in Lion's Den

Frosty made several tries using just his wheel power but eventually he decided to pull a winch cable. We strapped him to the peak of a rock in front of him with also gave an up pulling vector to the cable. With the assistance of the winch, Frosty made it through the squeeze but not without some damage to his custom doors.

Rock overhanging XJ

Josh's chop made clearing this rock a bit easier.

Josh learned form Frosty’s passage and lineup up a bit differently for the squeeze. Josh made good use of his new exo cage but still managed to hang his spare tire on an overhanging boulder. We had to remove it from the carrier for him to pass through.

Between a rock and a hard tree

Between a rock and a hard tree

Just past the squeeze you have to make a hard left turn. Again there is an overhanging rock and depending on how you land after the squeeze, you may be tucked will under it. Both Frosty and Josh used their winches to assist in making the turn. Josh’s stinger proved to be a slight hindrance here but it held up well to the abuse from the rocks.

XJ Jeep Cherokee squeezed

Josh works his way through the squeeze


Jeep XJ Cherokee narrow

Josh picks his way along the narrow ledge

Jeep cherokee XJ lions den rock

Josh lines up for the exit rock


The exit of Lion’s Den is a huge rock that is too tall and narrow to be driven over. Frosty and Josh tried different lines but both resorted to a winch cable to get them over when they both ended up on their cross members with all four tires in the air.

Toyota exits Lions Den

Toyota exits Lions Den

Jeep XJ exits Lions Den

Josh exits Lions Den

There was much rejoicing as we celebrated the victory of the Lion Tamers. All the engineering and fabrication time were made worth while by the successful passage through the Lion’s Den.

Lion's Den Harlan, Ky

Lion's Den Harlan, Ky

Lost and Stuck in woods

Sunday, April 11th, 2010

Lost and struck

Ruts from where Jenny's Jeep was stuck

Ruts from where Jenny's Jeep was stuck


Late one afternoon last week I decided to make a test run on Scuffy to see how the new tie rod worked. It was really dark when I headed into the woods behind the barn. I had not run this trail in a while and I don’t think I have ever run it at night.

This trail consists to two intersecting loops. I had started at the far loop and was looking for the intersection of the trails to head back up to the barn. Right before the intersection there is a gully that has to be crossed. Somehow; in the dark, I crossed the wrong gully just before the intersection. I thought it seemed a bit steeper but I was not sure until I ran out of trail just a few feet up the bank. I managed to get turned around, but in the dark, I was not sure where I was.

I decided to walk up the hill to get my bearings. As I walked up the hill in the dark, I saw a light and started walking toward it. As I got closer I realized from color of the light, this was the light from my neighbors house and not from my barn. Suddenly I heard my dog Smash barking as he had been waiting for me by the barn. I turned and walked toward the barking. Soon I made it to the driveway not at all where I expected to be. I thought I was behind the barn when I got lost but I came out in front of the barn.

I went in and got a flashlight. Then Smash and I went back to look for the Jeep. I had thought about leaving it in the woods for the night but since the trail I was one runs along the property line, I considered the possibility that I might have been on my neighbors property instead of mine. As I walked down the hill, Smash took off in a different direction. I shined my flashlight over where he was and saw the reflection of my Jeep glint through the trees.

Smash knew where the Jeep was before I did. Thanks to Smash I took a much shorter route back to the Jeep than I did coming to the house.

Once I looked around and had a good laugh about what I had done, I was able to easily get back to the trail and drive back up the hill to the barn. The new tie rod worked well too.

On Friday when Jennifer came to visit, Janice told me to show her where I got lost because she was still laughing at me for getting lost in my own woods. I made a quick run around the trail in Scuffy and let Jenny laugh at me for getting lost.

As Jenny was getting ready to leave, her son Caleb wanted to see the spot also. I had already put Scuffy away so I took him in Jenny’s Jeep Princess. Just like Scuffy her Jeep has a three-inch Rough country lift, a Lock Right Locker and Maxxis Bckshot tires. The big difference being that hers has 31” and Scuffy’s are 33”. That two inch difference turned out to be more critical than I imagined.

I stopped on the trail to show Caleb where I got lost. Then I proceeded to cross the gully just before the trail intersection. The gully has gotten a bit deeper due to the recent rains and was still a bit mushy on the bottom. Unlike Scuffy, Princess also still has her stock front bumper and air dam. I entered the gully gently so as not to stuff her bumper into the far side of the gully. My fatal mistake was not powering on from that point. I was a bit concerned about hitting her back bumper as the rear wheels dropped into the gully.

It turned out my concern was valid. As I dropped into the gully, the rear bumper hung on the bank and held both the back tires up out of the mud just enough to keep them from getting traction. Working the front back and forth just got me more stuck. Eventually, I gave up and Caleb and I walked back to the house. We had no trouble following the trail in the daylight.

Jenny and I went back in Scuffy to pull Princess out. I expected a quick tug on the strap would have her free. It took quite a bit of maneuvering in the tight confines of the trails. After scraping a couple of trees and popping off a piece of trim, I finally got the strap hooked up. Jenny fired up Princess and Scuffy tugged. Scuffy went sideways and Princess stayed stuck.

I backed up and gave it a bump, but Princess stayed stuck. I bumped harder and slid sideways into a tree. Princess stayed stuck and maybe dug in a little deeper.

Now that it was dark, we decided to try the winch. It took even more maneuvering and running over some small trees to get Scuffy into a position to use the winch and be able to brace on a tree.

The winch slowly extracted Princess from the gully and she started up the hill on her own. However, just a few feet up she stared to spin again and slipped sideways. I rerigged the winch cable and pulled again. The angle was not quite right so the cable bound up in the side of the spool. I had to stop to respool the cable.

By this time Janice had called to see what was taking so long. She suggested that we just leave the Jeeps and let Jenny and the boys stay the night. We tried one last pull and got Princess up to the point where the two trails intersect. She should have been able to drive out at that point but for some reason not visible to us in the dark, she just went sideways into the tree instead of out onto the trail. Scuffy was blocked in by the trees and could not move until Princess was out of the way.

We gathered up their luggage and hiked back to the house. Also in the dark since one of her boys had stolen the batteries out of her flashlight.

Where the two Jeeps slept after getting stuck

Where the two Jeeps slept after getting stuck


The next morning, Jenny was feeling ill, so while Janice took care of her, I went down to check on the Jeeps. I strapped Scuffy to a tree and cranked him up to respool the winch cable.
Princess the jeep stuck

Princess the jeep stuck

After surveying the situation I saw why Princess was stuck. Her rear tire was against a root and the root was pushing her against the tree instead of letting her go up the hill. It did not help that her Maxxis Buckshots were still at full pressure.

Jeep Stuck on a root

Jeep Stuck on a root


I simply backed up a couple of feet and gave it a bump over the root and drove up the hill. Hunter and I then walked back down and drove Scuffy out as well.

I built these trails as a training ground to develop my off roading skills in a relatively safe environment. They sure served their purpose this week as I got to practice winching, rigging and various driving techniques to recover Jenny’s Jeep.

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Golden Mountain Off Road Park

Monday, November 2nd, 2009

Golden Mountain Off Road Park

Golden Mountain

Golden Mountain

For Halloween, Janice, Jenny and I decided to visit Golden Mountain Off Road Park for their Halloween ride. We really had no idea what to expect. We had seen pictures of other off road parks that had Halloween rides and expected to see lots of rigs decorated for the holiday.

Princess in costume

Princess in costume

Jenny had decorated her Jeep for a spirit contest at Caleb’s school so she left part of that in place. She and Janice also dressed as Bunnies. Her son Caleb dressed as the Black Knight.

What we first noticed when we drove through the gate was the beautiful fall colors. It was easy to see why someone named it Golden Mountain. The landscaping around the many pavilions was very nice as well. I am not sure what this place used to be but it was something really nice.

We waited at the vacant pay booth for a while. Finally I decided to call the phone number listed. The fellow said he was doing some work on the toilets and would be right down. He was very friendly and when he found that it was our first visit, he gave us a map and told us the general layout of the park and which trails he recommended we start with. He then informed us that we had the whole park to ourselves and he did not expect any one else to come.

We parked in the huge gravel parking area just inside the gate and I unloaded Scuffy while Jan and Jenn found the restrooms. The restrooms are located in a big building that overlooks what used to be a stock car dirt track. It has more recently been used for motor cross racing from the looks of it.

The guy had warned us that it would be slippery on the muddy trails. Well, with that warning in mind we set out for trail 1 marked “easy.” We made it a few yards up the trail before we found out just how slippery the mud is there. No worse than Harlan or Aetna but no better either. The “easy” trail was now quite a challenge.

Jenny got hung up on the first few rocks and had to take time to air down before she could go further. I made it to another set of rocks and my lockers just allowed me to get scarily sideways before I called it quits and let the front end slide back down the hill.

Trail 1

Trail 1

Easy trail? What else was in store for us here?

We then took trail 3 also marked easy but at least it was flat. Off to both sides was lots of fun looking hill climbs that would have to wait for a drier day. We soon intersected trail 2 and followed along to an interesting pavilion in the middle of nowhere. It looked like it had a fishing pier but there was not really much of a lake there now.

We followed trail two on further and came to a ledge that reminded us of the one on trail 15 in Harlan. Remembering to keep up momentum going into it we both made it up just fine. Trail two ended at a gravel road beside a beautiful lake and more picnic pavilions. We walked around the area for a while before following the gravel road down to the parking lot to get our rain gear.

Bunnies at the picnic pavilion by one of the many lakes.

Bunnies at the picnic pavilion by on eof the many lakes.

This time we took trail two up the hill. I tried in vain to stay out of the big rut on the down hill side of the climb but I eventually gave up and hugged the rut to the top. Once at the top I realized I was in two wheel drive. Jenny made it up just fine.

Running between trails 2 and 3 is trail 16. It looks like a rock garden. It reminded me of Pinball at Harlan just about one third as long. The rocks were slick form the mud but I really enjoyed the small climb. Janice and Jenny took turns riding with me as I ran the trail two more times.

I then tried to run another upper part of 16. This trail looked easier but it was not. The rocks were larger and there was more mud between them. After banging on my rock rails a few times I finally backed out and we went exploring again.

The park is really compact so you are never really very far from lots of fun trails. It looks like there is plenty of variety for every body from stockers to buggies with plenty of fun stuff in between for trucks like mine.

We drove back up two and this time took the other loop of the gravel road. This lead us to the camping area which has RV hook up as well as lots of space for more primitive camping. There is also a huge and I mean HUGE picnic pavilion there. It has restrooms, a full industrial kitchen in the concession area and a beautiful fireplace. There is even a bar.

Beside the pavilion is a monster playground for kids. We took time to walk around this area and explore before heading back to the trails.

Play Ground

Play Ground

We then took trail 2 again and attempted to loop back to the part of 1 where we got stuck in the morning. The trails were drying out and the easy trails were in fact easy. The moderate ones were still difficult and the difficult ones impassable.

At the top of the hill on trail one we found a spot marked difficult. Jenny and I both drove between the rocks. I think you are supposed to go over them but we had fun running the trail our way just to say to ours selves we ran difficult trail in the mud.

Coming up trail one we had crossed some ruts that we really did not want to go back down through so we scouted the top of the hill and found trail 21 with connect down. The top of the hill was the only place in the park where the trails were not perfectly marked. However with the aid of the map I quickly figured out where we were.

We drove down trail 21 and took a few minutes to walk around on trials 22 and 23. I don’t think I will ever run 23 in a Jeep but 22 looks very interesting. I will have to give it a try some day.

Trail 22 - want to try this one.

Trail 22 - want to try this one.

Late in the evening we decided to head out. We really did have the whole park to ourselves all day. It was fun that way but I really hope the owners get more business in the future to keep the park open.

I think Golden Mountain is now my favorite place to go off road. The park is small but there is a lot to do there. Lots of trail variety and the fall colors were simply beautiful. I am already looking forward to returning.

Heading out

Heading out

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