Have any of you been to a private OHV park?

Have any of you been to a private OHV park? It seems that as time passes the amount of available trails has been slowly but surely disappearing. We don't have as much of a problem in Utah since there seems to be a lot of us who clean up and stay on the trail and there is a ton of land. But I've seen a few guys talking about private trails in other parts of the country.

I have been thinking for a while about getting some land up a ways in the mountains for tax reasons, future investment, and just because I want some fun place that I own (or own with a group of others that can be used for vacation/offroading). I have had this idea of a sort of non-profit business plan with a series of trails that are maintained by funds and volunteered labor from members who use it. I am just not sure if insurance issues and such, as well as really how large of a plot would be needed to create a fun place and the legality of such a thing (zoning and all of that)?

I already have some good ideas of obstacles, and I believe with some donated time and effort from members of the non-profit that a very cool setup could be built with minimal investment just using a backhoe and materials that are already on the property (lumber, rocks, stream beds, roots, stumps, etc. etc. etc.).

If I'm off in left field and living in a dream world then by all means let me know. If this seems like something that may actually work then please let me know your ideas. I think it would be cool to create something like "Utah Cruisers Park".

One of the reasons I like it so much and have mulled it over so much is that it seems like when folks are first learning to drive they need to do a bit of range time before they fully understand what they are doing. Same with skiing. You need to build your way up to the difficult runs, and you REALLY need some great experience before going into the backcountry and such. It just seems like an introductory to the sport with others there supporting and helping to learn a variety of obstacles in a closed course without others there would be a good way to build the sport and get others started.

I know when I hit AF Canyon my first time I felt totally out of place, because the Jeepers were giving everybody the stink eye, the roads were overcrowded, you had kids that were camping running across the road as vehicles were coming through at high speed, and there really were few obstacles.

Just something I've been thinking about for literally 20 years. If anybody has ideas to add, then PLEASE let me know what you think. I'd love to hear what a rotten idea this is from people in the know.

I think this is a good idea; I would personally have no issue volunteering labor to swing a Rhino or McCloud. Perhaps even some financial resources as well to purchase some land or buying up some more land to add on to whatever it is.

I would hope that public land will always be available; however I believe that a privately controlled area is a good thing for an uncertain future; furthermore it is a great place to teach people to wheel in a controlled environment.

j

Thanks for the info. If anybody knows of a website for one of these private operations, please post the address. I know I have read about some, but I can't remember the names of any of them off hand. I'd be interested in checking one out in person and seeing what they are all about and how they are managed.

In my web research I came up with the following links; hope this will help you along your way. Obviously not a lot in Utah or the surrounding area but I suppose that is to be expected due to the current availability of public lands. Figured in the very least the ones beyond the SW could at least give you some websites to look at.

Places To Go Wheeling Before You're Gone

Indiana
•Badlands/Attica http://www.badlandsoffroad.com/ 866.762.2981

Ohio
•Forbidden Zone/Wellsville (Hammondsville), www.wellsvilletrails.com 740.219.9448
•Jeep Skool (Mantua), www.jeepskool.com robocon@jeepskool.com
•Painted Rock Adventure Park (Mt. Perry), www.paintedrockohv.com 740.659.1171

Oklahoma
•Day Adventure Park (Wyandotte), www.ddayadventurepark.com 918.666.3411
•Hogan's Offroad Park (Disney), www.hogansoffroad.com 918.435.8001
•Hurliman's ORV Park (Clayton), www.indianmoundshorsecamp.com 918.569.4761
•Mr. Frieling's ORV Park (Clayton), 918.522.4244
•Rock Creek/Green Acres Off-Road Park (Clayton), 918.569.4289

Pennsylvania
•Outback Off-Road Adventure Park (Six Points), www.outbackoffroadadventure.com/park.php 724.285.5082
•Rausch Creek Off-Road Park (Joliet), www.rauschcreekoffroadpark.com 610.842.3596
•Rock Run Recreation Park (Patton), www.rockrunrecreation.com 814.674.6026

South Carolina
•Gulches Off-Road Vehicle Park (Laurens), www.gulchesorvpark.com 864.449.5698

Tennessee
•Bold Springs Off-Road Park (McEwen), 931.582.6060
•Coal Creek OHV Area/Wind Rock Park (Oliver Springs), www.coalcreekohv.com 865.435.0486
•Crazy Horse Extreme Off-Road Park (Waynesboro), www.crazyhorsecanoe.com/offroad.html 931.722.3960
•Golden Mountain OHV Park (Sparta), www.goldenmountainpark.com 931.644.9917
•Wheelin' in the Country (Summertown), www.wheelininthecountry.com 931.964.3417
•Wooley's Off-Road Club (Lynnville), www.woolysoffroad.com 931.703.3129

Texas
•Brazos Valley Off-Road Ranch (Bryan), www.brazosvalleyoffroadranch.com 979.846.1592
•Brushy Creek Motor Farm (Dallas), www.brushycreekmotorfarm.com 972.524.2526
•Cline Ranch Off-Road Park (San Antonio), www.clineranch.com 210.379.4146
•General Sam's Off-Road Wilderness Park (Huntsville), www.generalsams.com 281.705.0078
•Hidden Falls Adventure Park (Marble Falls), www.hiddenfallsadventurepark.com 830.798.9820
•Katemcy Rocks K2 (Mason), www.katemcyrocks.com randykruse@verizon.net, 325.347.6333
•Long Ranch ORV Park (Llano), www.longranchwheeling.com 512.755.5952
•Primitive Acres Guest Ranch (Mt. Enterprise), www.primitiveacres.com 903.822.3983
•River Run Park (Neches River), www.riverrunpark.com 903.724.4100
•Rock Creek Off-Road Park (Lipan), 254.227.1020
•Satan's Playground ORV Park (Ozona), www.sp.orv.com rockkrawler@hotmail.com
•Shiloh Ridge ORV Park (Rusk), www.shilohridge.com 800.432.3965
•Texas HogWallow (Deweyville), www.texashogwallow.com 409.746.2020
•Texas Race City (Florence), www.texasracecity.com 254.554.1226
•Tire Trax Ranch Offroad Park (Rockdale), www.tiretraxranch.com 512.373.6552

Utah
•Area BFE, www.areabfe.com 562.233.6523

Virginia
•Big Boys Playground (Harrisonburg), www.bigboysplaygroundllc.com 540.476.2044

Wisconsin
•Apple Valley Farms (Chetek), www.rpm4x4.com info@rpm4x4.com
•Northwoods Overland OHV Park (Rib Lake), www.northwoodsoverland.com 715.783.0191

Wyoming
•Bliss Dinosaur Ranch (Weston), Bliss Dinosaur Ranch, www.wyomingdinosaurs.com frank@blissnet.com

Canada
•Sault Trussel OffRoad, (Sault St. Marie, Ontario), www.saulttrusseloffroad.com saulttrussel@xplornet.com

Most excellent work J. I've got me some readin' to do! Woot!

If anybody has some time and wants to go through a couple of these and read up then let me know.

My thinking is that some of these have to be on public land. Just as ski resorts operate. So I don't know that needing to buy a large parcel is any type of requirement in order to get a trail set up and maintained. I know the Jeepers spend a day or two at a time where they'll go and work on a trail on public land and then they take extra time watching out for it and report idiots who do damage and such. Last year I recall them going out to Five Mile and having to remove a couple of burned out couches and such because fools had left them behind.

So maybe there is a place we can comandeer and set it up to our liking. I still like the private park idea though. There is a guy who has some land near Draper I believe and he lets people offroad there if they sign a waiver. I know Kalen has been there. Am I right on that one, or am I remembering totally wrong on that KB?

Any ideas or thoughts are much appreciated. Even if this is just a pipe dream and I should forget it.

On a related note, I am very grateful to all of you who go out of your way to help out and keep the trails open. I know a lot of you have seen people doing dumb stuff out there and it hurts the reputation of all of us unfortunately. The few times I have gone to AF Canyon I've always been really impressed with how people were behaving and sharing the road and staying where they are supposed to. A few years ago that wasn't the case and we lost a few trails due to the actions of a few... maybe forever and that bugs me.

We've (Utah 4x4 enthusiasts at large) have had this conversation many times over the years and we are starting to see it happening, albeit slowly. You have AreaBFE in Moab on land that was once public (SITLA), sold at auction and bought to preserve access. You have the off-road park at the Miller Motorsports Park that just got a bunch of new terrain finished off for the recent We-Rock event and will have even more completed for the upcoming We-Rock National Finals event... beyond that a couple of smaller facilities exist, Carbon County has an off-road park as does Millard County. Rocky Mountain raceway had some obstacles set up for the now defunct UROC events, they tore it down earlier this year. There is a place in eastern Utah (Vernal area) that sits on the Indian Reservation that has been used as an offroad park for events, and another that is privately owned that has some pretty neat terrain but at the time is invite only.

Utah is still 30-40 years from having a real market for such a place imo, 70%+ of our total lands are federally owned and much of that is still open to OHV use, while we have lost what I consider drastic and overwhelming amounts of trails in the last 10 years, its still likely only 1-2% of the total 'route miles' in the entire state. Granted the offroad 'quality' ie technical trails might not be as preserved, that isn't the average 4x4 route user either.

As far as getting a permitted lease ie ski-resorts, never going to happen for OHV use. Skiing is a relatively low impact sport and even at that they have very tight permit regulations that dictate the number of days they can operate on the hill, watershed considerations, noise, etc. Give the character of BLM and USFS operations in the recent years, leasing land for OHV use would be near impossible. It could happen, I just don't see it happening in any area worth having for off-road routes.

Private land would be the key and even if the market isn't yet developed, now is the time to buy and start working on a business plan to make it a reality. One of the biggest killers for any private 'thrill' operation be it an off-road park or helicopter rides is going to be insurance. See counties like Millard and Carbon can own them just as they can a motorcross track, a skate park or a playground... they are inherently sheilded by liabilty to some degree by being a government entity. You would not be and the insurance policy to let people come out and participate in what is considered a 'high-risk" activity is not cheap and the best waiver in the world won't change any of that. You'll need to find that magical number of what people are willing to pay and what our expenses are. Study what those are doing outside of the state as they seem to be making it. Hence why I think Utah is not ready, the cost you will need to charge won't be inviting to customers who have free access to millions of acres. If/when that land is closed ie Wilderness, eco-systems or National Monuments and users will be willing to pay more. You need to be ready to monopolize on that day before the next guy.

...My 2 cents...

Thank you Kurt! That is one of the best things I've ever read on ANY board. EVER. Thank you for taking the time to give such a thoughtful and information filled reply. I am really glad you're posting here. I talked with you before on one of the other Utah boards a couple of years ago, but my computer busted and I lost all of my bookmarks and haven't been back there since I sold my old FJC. I'm just now getting back into it and was glad to find this site and so many of the guys I like from FJCForums and yourself as well. I hope this site continues to grow.

You're a true genius when it comes to these issues and I am so appreciative of what you've added to this conversation. I am guessing in 30 or 40 years I won't be around. I guess I'll see in a few years if off-roading is something my son takes a liking to. He is six and was cruising around the internet with me the other night (he sits on his little laptop and can search as long as he is next to me and I can see the screen... hee hee hee) and he has always said he wanted a Mustang (bleeecccccccch) but he searched for Landcruisers because I was talking about them and came across a green FJ40 (I believe it was a '78) and was reading about it. Then he marched out to his Mom (he's a little reader and he reads surprisingly fast) and I hear him say in the other room, "Mom... when I'm 16 I want an FJ 40 Landcruiser with 33's on it." It about knocked me over. I sat here laughing for a good five minutes. So there's hope for him yet. Maybe I should buy it soon and get started on it so it will be all ready for him in 10 years. If you happen to see a good candidate for a good price then let me know!