70Scout
Well-Known Member
What he (^) said
-
Help Support Hardline Crawlers :
Review of D'Town Snowbird-Tellico Offroad Park
- Thread starter BMan
- Start date
ctjkelley
98 XJ
Great job!! very good info here, i was wanting to sign up for the ride but wasn't sure what to expect. i have a 98' XJ with 4.5" Lift and 32's. this thread gives a lot of insight and hope for those of us who are not running buggies. Sounds like they did a good job of having something for pretty much everyone. Hope to make it to the next event. 
mdo817
Well-Known Member
- Joined
- Jan 17, 2011
- Messages
- 1,905
All right my review won't be near as in depth as Brian's (Bman), he hit a lot of stuff dead on. So a good bit of my thoughts are just repeating what he has stated. I know that this was just a "pre-ride" and notes were being taken on feed back given.
First and for most, truck and trailer parking, and areas to turn around in. They did some work before we got there, so once you go past the single wide trailer and head up the hill they have cleared some parking areas, as of now most of it is really soft dirt and quick to stick a 2 wheel drive tow pig. With some packing down and loads of gravel this will work, still need clear out a big enough area so that you can get turned around because as it is now, it is much like a lot of camp grounds for travel trailers, unload your rig and back into the parking areas.
Camping areas for tent camping seems really nice, as long as you don't have a need to take your tow pig, if you are like a lot of adventure type campers or tent camping out of your Jeep, they are well back in the property, secluded and enough fields so you would not have to set up right next to your neighbor. For someone like me that either uses a slide in camper, or pitches my tent on my trailer not near as good. This will be a fairly easy fix as the parking areas near the front of the property is worked on.
Trails - Here is the kicker, we have asked for rock, they have it, but as stated above at the moment there were 3 ledges to challenge Livingston and I, I know that the bowl area has plenty more rock under the over growth, my only concern would be if this is the only area that rock trails are allowed to be developed it would make for a rather large congestion if 15 or more rigs were in there at the same time, then you throw spectators in it would/could get worst. There are many valley's, ravens... that are full of rocks similar to some of the ones at Hale Mtn. with a few trees here and there removed they would make for some technical trails and take hours to get up some, problem being with most of these will be the possible storm water run off. Time will tell after they evaluate where the water goes coming down these will end up. For the stocker, mildly modified trail runners that just want to get out and ride for hours and hours, with the whole mountain feel and view going over to the Upper Tellico area will fill that need. Not sure what is up some of the spider trails over there (upper Tellico area), or if we are even allowed to explore them (they may go on to some other private land) but there are several that turn off the Tellico Rd.
Motorcycles, RZR's versus Jeeps - here would be one of my major complaints after this weekend. I can and could deal with the RZR's SxS buggies, but the bikes on the same narrow trails as the Jeeps present a danger and law suit waiting to happen. It is posted and told that this is not a high speed park, their idea and my idea of high speed must be different. Some bikes would pass you with little regard to safety, mainly theirs for obvious reasons. We encountered courteous riders and pure pricks, and I must say the trails would be better off if we had accidentally bumped a few over the side. This being aid and I know that bikes have been Big Mike's money maker, should go on opposite weekends as Jeeps and SxS's.
Over all thoughts - for my rig size up, it will need the dedication and monies thrown at it to develop stuff, for bikes, SxS's and nearly stockers it is a little peace of heaven. I am hoping that some things work out so we can get some longer trails that have a moderate amount of difficulty to traverse. I have an open mind and will wait patiently to see how this all works out, I will return if asked, even on non-ride weekends if they want some of us to come up and flag stuff like some of the guys on here did on the new side of DTown.
_________________
A few of our pics
First and for most, truck and trailer parking, and areas to turn around in. They did some work before we got there, so once you go past the single wide trailer and head up the hill they have cleared some parking areas, as of now most of it is really soft dirt and quick to stick a 2 wheel drive tow pig. With some packing down and loads of gravel this will work, still need clear out a big enough area so that you can get turned around because as it is now, it is much like a lot of camp grounds for travel trailers, unload your rig and back into the parking areas.
Camping areas for tent camping seems really nice, as long as you don't have a need to take your tow pig, if you are like a lot of adventure type campers or tent camping out of your Jeep, they are well back in the property, secluded and enough fields so you would not have to set up right next to your neighbor. For someone like me that either uses a slide in camper, or pitches my tent on my trailer not near as good. This will be a fairly easy fix as the parking areas near the front of the property is worked on.
Trails - Here is the kicker, we have asked for rock, they have it, but as stated above at the moment there were 3 ledges to challenge Livingston and I, I know that the bowl area has plenty more rock under the over growth, my only concern would be if this is the only area that rock trails are allowed to be developed it would make for a rather large congestion if 15 or more rigs were in there at the same time, then you throw spectators in it would/could get worst. There are many valley's, ravens... that are full of rocks similar to some of the ones at Hale Mtn. with a few trees here and there removed they would make for some technical trails and take hours to get up some, problem being with most of these will be the possible storm water run off. Time will tell after they evaluate where the water goes coming down these will end up. For the stocker, mildly modified trail runners that just want to get out and ride for hours and hours, with the whole mountain feel and view going over to the Upper Tellico area will fill that need. Not sure what is up some of the spider trails over there (upper Tellico area), or if we are even allowed to explore them (they may go on to some other private land) but there are several that turn off the Tellico Rd.
Motorcycles, RZR's versus Jeeps - here would be one of my major complaints after this weekend. I can and could deal with the RZR's SxS buggies, but the bikes on the same narrow trails as the Jeeps present a danger and law suit waiting to happen. It is posted and told that this is not a high speed park, their idea and my idea of high speed must be different. Some bikes would pass you with little regard to safety, mainly theirs for obvious reasons. We encountered courteous riders and pure pricks, and I must say the trails would be better off if we had accidentally bumped a few over the side. This being aid and I know that bikes have been Big Mike's money maker, should go on opposite weekends as Jeeps and SxS's.
Over all thoughts - for my rig size up, it will need the dedication and monies thrown at it to develop stuff, for bikes, SxS's and nearly stockers it is a little peace of heaven. I am hoping that some things work out so we can get some longer trails that have a moderate amount of difficulty to traverse. I have an open mind and will wait patiently to see how this all works out, I will return if asked, even on non-ride weekends if they want some of us to come up and flag stuff like some of the guys on here did on the new side of DTown.
_________________
A few of our pics
zukiscott
"MOST WILDEST"
AWESOME pics Mark 
xjcrawler
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- Jul 15, 2007
- Messages
- 908
MikeDDurhamtown said:
Just to get this straight, in the beginning people were told they could ride into the REAL Tellico but now you say there never was anything to ride on there? So you were just using the TELLICO name to sell tickets?
patooyee
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- Sep 27, 2008
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- 5,692
xjcrawler said:Just to get this straight, in the beginning people were told they could ride into the REAL Tellico but now you say there never was anything to ride on there? So you were just using the TELLICO name to sell tickets?
Maybe I missed something, but I did not see anywhere here that anyone said you could ride the original Tellico. But he does state that old trail 6 is on the land and you don't need tags to ride it. So wouldn't that be riding some of the original Tellico?
Either way, I don't even think they're selling tickets yet, and I did not interpret anything said to be a sales pitch. What did I miss?
xjcrawler
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patooyee said:
Just the way some things are stated in this thread http://midgaoffroad.com/smf/index.php?topic=2481.45 like reply # 53. And I referred to "selling tickets" as in getting people to come spend money. Why use the "Tellico" name if all you're riding on is "Snowbird"? To me that is a sales pitch.
TBItoy
Well-Known Member
xjcrawler said:
There are many thing/locations/businesses in the area with the "Tellico" name, because that is in the Tellico river basin and the whole area IS "Tellico", not just the former "Upper Tellico OHV Area"
Neal3000
Well-Known Member
That avatar scares me
BMan
Well-Known Member
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- May 5, 2009
- Messages
- 530
pachary said:
And here I was thinking it was your Cajun voodoo priest man Paul! :****: I guess I was wrong!
Seriously though isn't it Avenged Sevenfold aka A7X? 
I like there "Metallica" like sound! TBItoy said:
Agree Nik, I think I covered some aspects of that in my review or at least I told people on the ride more unfamiliar with the old "Upper Tellico FS OHV Area" the whole region was considered "Tellico". There has been a lot of miscommunication from both sides on what it is and the potential it has. IMO we have a tendency to compare and contrast it with what most of us knew as "Tellico". Also being marketed as "Tellico" could add to the confusion. For that reason it may suffer by comparison. These are a few of the main reasons I took the time to write the review (be it long) I was hoping to fairly portray what it is and what it could be in as accurate of a light as possible! I tried not to misrepresent anything. I hope I didn't! I have nothing invested in this endeavor other than hoping we have another decent place to wheel!
IMO there is and was only one "Upper Tellico FS OHV Area". Does this have potential to be done well though and give us another decent place to wheel and possibly be the next Mecca in the area? I'm hoping so. So again back on topic. What constructive criticism and main messages does our wheeling community want Mike D to hear? Many other forums where the review is also posted up have provided some good input and feedbak. They shouldn't be the only voice of reason and ones that are heard though so keep the good stuff coming ya'll! Mike D may not be actively participating in this conversation unless directly asked something but I bet you he is lurking and sponging up everything we have to offer. :****:
MikeDDurhamtown
Member
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- Sep 23, 2013
- Messages
- 22
I am here when I can be here between being active military, working with DTown when I can working with Mothers Against Drunk Driving spending time with my family my time is limited. But I am here. I do listen to what everyone says. I understand some have great things some have bad things and then there are those that are just pissed off at the world and want everything to fail. 21 years in the Army has taught me a lot of things, one you can't please everyone. And everyone is either an expert and knows a better way to do it but yet has never done it before. Not saying that to get anyone butt hurt but that is the cold hard truth.
BMans report I believe is fair and balanced, I have no issues with what he said. I really have no issue with what anyone has said. All I can say is this, for those that want to come out and wheel Durhamtown/Tellico park I will welcome you when we set up the next ride. Those that believe its a waste of time and money and don't come I say you are the ones missing out. I have been wheeling for the past 15 years all over the place, yes I missed out on wheeling the old Tellico area, I have wheeled in Hawaii Germany KY Iraq Afghanistan Ga AL and a few other places, out of all of them I believe this place has what BMan said, it could become the new Mecca for wheelin. We have to operate within the limits that the land owners have given us. There are talks about cutting more trails, trimming out the trails that are already there as well to get rid of the pin stripers.
Be that as it may the name isn't going to change. While I was in Murphy I was able to talk to a lot of the locals, they welcome us with open arms. They didn't have an issue with the name either.
Again I welcome all comments, good bad or ugly. As I said a while back we want to hear your comments, we want to be able to give the wheeling community a place that everyone is welcome at, stock mid high and buggy built rigs. Out of all those that came out to ride last weekend everyone was asked to look at what the park could become, a few said its great as is, some said they would like to see a few more trails, and some said that they want to come out every weekend and wheel so they can uncover more rocks in the bowl area. No one said that they would never come back, all said they would love to come back and wheel again. Even a few said they want to place their name on the list for the next ride. But I do believe everyone is great full that a new area has open up. With so many closing down and as an old wheeler myself I am glad I can be apart of it.
Again I welcome everyone's input, I wish we could invite everyone on the next ride but until we show the land owners that the wheelin community will not destroy their land and trash the place out the next few rides will be invite only, we are hoping to be able to open the park next year to the public.
I would like to take time and thank all of those that did come out to our first ride, you all were great.
Mike D
BMans report I believe is fair and balanced, I have no issues with what he said. I really have no issue with what anyone has said. All I can say is this, for those that want to come out and wheel Durhamtown/Tellico park I will welcome you when we set up the next ride. Those that believe its a waste of time and money and don't come I say you are the ones missing out. I have been wheeling for the past 15 years all over the place, yes I missed out on wheeling the old Tellico area, I have wheeled in Hawaii Germany KY Iraq Afghanistan Ga AL and a few other places, out of all of them I believe this place has what BMan said, it could become the new Mecca for wheelin. We have to operate within the limits that the land owners have given us. There are talks about cutting more trails, trimming out the trails that are already there as well to get rid of the pin stripers.
Be that as it may the name isn't going to change. While I was in Murphy I was able to talk to a lot of the locals, they welcome us with open arms. They didn't have an issue with the name either.
Again I welcome all comments, good bad or ugly. As I said a while back we want to hear your comments, we want to be able to give the wheeling community a place that everyone is welcome at, stock mid high and buggy built rigs. Out of all those that came out to ride last weekend everyone was asked to look at what the park could become, a few said its great as is, some said they would like to see a few more trails, and some said that they want to come out every weekend and wheel so they can uncover more rocks in the bowl area. No one said that they would never come back, all said they would love to come back and wheel again. Even a few said they want to place their name on the list for the next ride. But I do believe everyone is great full that a new area has open up. With so many closing down and as an old wheeler myself I am glad I can be apart of it.
Again I welcome everyone's input, I wish we could invite everyone on the next ride but until we show the land owners that the wheelin community will not destroy their land and trash the place out the next few rides will be invite only, we are hoping to be able to open the park next year to the public.
I would like to take time and thank all of those that did come out to our first ride, you all were great.
Mike D
(until we show the land owners that the wheelin community will not destroy their land and trash the place out the next few rides will be invite only, we are hoping to be able to open the park next year to the public.)
Unfortunately, that statement is going to be your biggest hurdle. I hope that you are able to devise a plan that benefits both the landowners, yourself, and the wheelers as the old Tellico OHV was a great place to ride. If the place is big enough I say make two parks in one, make the bowl area a place for the buggies and the crowds that accompany them and the trail system for the people who like to crawl/ride. Something else that was suggested that makes alot of sense would be to alternate open weekends for the bike/atv crowd vs the 4wd/utv crowd. I know right now the rides are on a invited basis to gather input on the place but nothing was worse than riding the old OHV trail system and having somebody on a bike/atv trying to buzz around you will crawling something.
Unfortunately, that statement is going to be your biggest hurdle. I hope that you are able to devise a plan that benefits both the landowners, yourself, and the wheelers as the old Tellico OHV was a great place to ride. If the place is big enough I say make two parks in one, make the bowl area a place for the buggies and the crowds that accompany them and the trail system for the people who like to crawl/ride. Something else that was suggested that makes alot of sense would be to alternate open weekends for the bike/atv crowd vs the 4wd/utv crowd. I know right now the rides are on a invited basis to gather input on the place but nothing was worse than riding the old OHV trail system and having somebody on a bike/atv trying to buzz around you will crawling something.
patooyee
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- Sep 27, 2008
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- 5,692
People who have been specifically invited to a limited engagement pre-opening with the understanding that the park will not open to the public if they trash it are not the ones who are going to trash it. Its the anonymous ones once the park has opened that are going to do it. I don't think you have to be a psychologist to understand that.
And I hate to say this, but every single event I have been to with spectators recently has been trashed. The last SRRS at HPO was ****ing disgraceful. I'm sure someone from SRRS went back and cleaned up after the spectators but the amount of trash, beer cans, etc left behind the tape lines after the rigs were done running just made my heart sink. I collected up what I could carry but didn't come equipped with a dump truck and trash bags to get it all. :-[ So if you're going to do anything with spectators and events on that kind of scale I think you should be prepared to be disappointed and not expect the same results as the limited engagement events you are doing now. (Sadly.)
When its just rigs and drivers I would hope and expect that results are better. Especially at Tellico, we would all take bags with us and load them up while we wheeled and bring them back to camp.
And I hate to say this, but every single event I have been to with spectators recently has been trashed. The last SRRS at HPO was ****ing disgraceful. I'm sure someone from SRRS went back and cleaned up after the spectators but the amount of trash, beer cans, etc left behind the tape lines after the rigs were done running just made my heart sink. I collected up what I could carry but didn't come equipped with a dump truck and trash bags to get it all. :-[ So if you're going to do anything with spectators and events on that kind of scale I think you should be prepared to be disappointed and not expect the same results as the limited engagement events you are doing now. (Sadly.)
When its just rigs and drivers I would hope and expect that results are better. Especially at Tellico, we would all take bags with us and load them up while we wheeled and bring them back to camp.
BMan
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- May 5, 2009
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- 530
^^^^ Good input ya'll. Trash is always a concern as are fees charged for entry. So for events like those mentioned that draw a messier crowd is it deemed by our community more acceptable to charge more for the event so the extra cost of a clean up crew can be covered? I know I always come out with
more trash than I go in with but I'm guessing policing ourselves on this one isn't doable. What other options are there?
As for trails would the model used at the D'Town in Union Point work? Separate trails areas similar to how Coal Creek is setup? Some roads/trails obviously would be shared like the those going up the mountain. Thoughts?
more trash than I go in with but I'm guessing policing ourselves on this one isn't doable. What other options are there?
As for trails would the model used at the D'Town in Union Point work? Separate trails areas similar to how Coal Creek is setup? Some roads/trails obviously would be shared like the those going up the mountain. Thoughts?
wizzo
Well-Known Member
BMan said:
parks aren't charging more for these events b/c you are drawing in such large crowds, it pays for itself. is it unfortunate that it happens, yes.
muddinmetal
Guntersville, AL
The SRRS type events always have a trash infestation. I don't believe it has anything to do with the quantity of people, but the quality of people that attend these events. Casual "fans" looking for a good time instead of the appreciative, glad we have a place to wheel, type . if you get caught littering at any offroad park you should be forced to pickup 1 full bag of trash while wearing a bright safety yellow "I don't give a sh*t about the offroad community!" t-shirt, or get kicked the hell out!
Look at the last couple rides at Gray Rock: Fall for All, TONS of people, almost no trash. SRRS: TONS of people, trash every freakin' where
uke:
Look at the last couple rides at Gray Rock: Fall for All, TONS of people, almost no trash. SRRS: TONS of people, trash every freakin' where
uke:
