Tellico

[Jason97D90]

One year?
Four months??

I'd be willing to bet dollars to donuts, that once those trails are shut down...they will not reopen.
Ever.

I would bet the same thing.....:banghead:

 

[garrett]

LR Max,

The last time I was at Uwharrie was in 2001. At first I had no idea that it was a state park simply due to the fact that I've never seen a state park treated like that. Where I come from state parks have very limited use and are very well preserved. Uwharrie did not appear to be in the "preservation" mode.
I saw lots of erosion and misuse all over the park. Fortunately I didn't see a bunch of trash, but what I did see would shut down most state parks that I am familiar with.
Overuse appeared to be the obvious problem. You can certainly introduce off roading in an area and have a limited impact with proper supervision and protection. When you let it go and erosion and ignorance play the primary role, then you have every reason for the state to step in and say "enough is enough".

edit: I believe it's a National Forest, not a State Park.

 

[landrovered]

FYI: Last time I was at Caney Fork, there were signs posted that some of the trails were being closed. Caney Fork is under just as much scrutiny as everthing else.

Of course the rednecks one camp site over from the bald, doing 2AM hill climb challenge at about 6000 rpms does not help either.

 

[LR Max]

FYI: Last time I was at Caney Fork, there were signs posted that some of the trails were being closed. Caney Fork is under just as much scrutiny as everthing else.

Of course the rednecks one camp site over from the bald, doing 2AM hill climb challenge at about 6000 rpms does not help either.

Really? Signs to close down the trails? Huh. Interesting. I did not see those/remember seeing such signs when I was up there. But I believe it.

Garrett, did you run into any of the ATV sized holes at Uwharrie? I was there in 2001 also, but in a green stock discovery (lets just say, I didn't stand out in the crowd :smilelol: ).

 

[garrett]

I am sure we did, but most of the erosion I saw was caused by overuse on a broad scale including 4 wheel drive trucks and ATVs.
We encountered plenty of "Bubbas" driving K5 Blazers with 40" tires and heavy right foot.
I not fond of mixing with ATVs anyhow. Eventually someones going to get killed.

 

[flyfisher11]

Has anyone spoken with Heath Shuler concerning this? I will try to put something together coherent for him to read regarding this. He is originally from Murphy and now lives in Waynesville when not in Washington.

Cheers,

Mike

 

[tiger]

Did you ever run Uwharrie back in the day? I'm talking like, 5 years ago? (god, that makes me feel old) There were usually about 5 ATV-sized 3~4 feet deep holes on the trails. Also those guys usually rely on wheelspin, and those spinning wheels move dirt around significantly. They can create rooster tails around 10 feet, and the riders usually like to create rooster tails in EVERY corner. In comparison, a rig on 40s will only spin its tires at an obstacle. From my experience with bigger off road vehicles (I have a reasonable amount of experience) is that the rooster tails usually don't go beyond 5 feet. Heck, there is rarely any sizable amount of dirt moving. And if they move dirt, its in a very localized spot. Not to mention its an obstacle so a little dirt moving is unnoticed. Also with all the gear reduction, the bigger tires probably aren't spinning as fast as the smaller ATV tires. Lastly, most 40" off road tires are STICKY. This means they hook up. The ATV tires don't seem to be that soft. Harder tires means they see more wheelspin (back to my argument on wheelspin).

Also with a 2WD ATV, they rely on momentum to traverse obstacles. And that usually means getting on the throttle, and you've got rooster tails. This goes back to my argument above.

As for my style of wheeling, I prefer the style seen by most of the rest of the 4 wheeling community. I like obstacles. Not just a shallow road bed that I cruise around in 2WD the entire time.

Oh, and Caney Fork is not in any danger of closure. The crowd that does *damage* are attracted to places that have obstacles. Caney has none. So you shouldn't fret too much.

Other than Caney Fork (I know you run that place, I SAW YOU!! Speaking of which, my friend from Georgia and I are waiting for some snow up there, then I'll go back and see whats there) where else do you ride? Where are these "out to tear it up people/beer chuckers" you speak of? Only other places I can think of are Uwharrie (always trash piles there, but I used to volunteer up there back in the day, I haven't wheeled there in yearS), Beasley Knob (don't know anything about that place, wish I did), Tiger (no one knows about that place), Gulches (there is no beer drinking there and all the dirt moving is good so the rock will expose itself) and Tellico. Tellico is in A LOT better shape since they outlawed 2WD vehicles. Same for Uwharrie. I rode up there in May and there were no ATV sized holes. Heck, hardly an ATV out there. It was like...heaven.

Most private parks do not allow ATVs, and if they do, they only allow the 4wd flavor, no 2WD or dirt bikes.

But enough about this or that. The bigger issue is more legally driven. Helping fight with letters and phone calls means more than picking up trash or laying down bails of hay.

If you are digging ruts AT ALL, please don't do it in my National Park System.

 

[flyfisher11]

........... OUR National Park System.

Fixed it for you.

 

[tiger]

Well said. I've been in too many parks and have seen the results of off-roading. Show me zero impact(no ruts, no noise) and I have no problem with it.

 

[BaldEagle]

FYI: Last time I was at Caney Fork, there were signs posted that some of the trails were being closed. Caney Fork is under just as much scrutiny as everthing else.

Of course the rednecks one camp site over from the bald, doing 2AM hill climb challenge at about 6000 rpms does not help either.

from what i read from the USFS site, caney fork has regularly scheduled seasonal closings (snow related) on many trails, usually late dec through feb. when did you see these signs? i was there in late oct and saw nothing. we're planning another trip right now.

 

[landrovered]

I was there with ONSLRS in Oct or Nov. can't recall exact date, Steven pointed them out to us.

 

[DennyDoler]

Oh, and Caney Fork is not in any danger of closure. The crowd that does *damage* are attracted to places that have obstacles. Caney has none. So you shouldn't fret too much.

Any trail we ride has the danger of closure. Most of all trails started out as dirt roads and lacked maintenance and turned into trails with obstacles due to this and attracted the *Damage* crowd. Don't kid yourself about this, the people that live on all the roads that lead to Caney Fork or any trail for that matter have a voice. When these people get tired of trash, people trying to create new trails thru their property, erosion, or any thing they find issue with they will speak.

Tiger (no one knows about that place)

The local government knows about Tiger. Our club (SOLAROS) has started talks with the UFS and the local gov. about trail clean-up. They are very aware of what goes on and will probably close most of those trails due to huge amounts of trash (cars, tires, household) dumped by locals, drug dealing, meth labs, erosion and most of all is the fording of the river just below the falls. The other problem is is juristrction and trail maintenance. Most of the trail past the river crossing is county owned and they have to figure out where this starts and when it becomes UFS again.

 

[varova87]

does all of this stuff threated private land? I know I go to Windrock all the time, which is privately owned by a Coal Company. They are raking in the money off of gas wells right now. If its private land, can the conservationist crowd force them to do anything?

 

[antichrist]

Absolutely it affects private land! If for no other reason than the more public lands closed, the more demand there will be on private land, and the more restrictions the land owner will put in place to control crowds.