Took the 7+ hr drive up to SMORR this past weekend. First thing to know is that they only take cash at the gate, and the closest town is 20 minutes away.
The park is fantastic. Very well maintained, great facilities (a freaking cafe??), most of the trails are really well marked, and the map they give you is actually usable. Trails are rated on a 1-6 scale. 3 was about our limit although we did do a couple of 4’s and a 5, and found some climbs on 3’s that we couldn’t do. Wetness is definitely a factor; if you go after a good rain you’re going to have trouble.
The main access roads are awesome and can get you to the back sections of the park pretty quickly. The main loop where most of the trails branch off of is a beautiful river trail which goes a good way around the park. Great scenery all over, would love to see the place when it’s green.
2 badge trails here, PeeWee Crossing and Guard Rail. PeeWee is quite easy, the most challenging part is a waterfall that you can bypass. Some off-camber stuff at the outset, and then mainly a river trail after that. Lots of adventures to be had off the side, although this is a pretty long trail. It probably earns a badge because it is representative of the whole park.
Guard Rail is definitely more challenging with a fairly tricky uphill exit (or downhill entry depending on your direction) that has been washed out to the point where the bypass wasn’t even doable going up. Going down was fun, but not a problem. The other entry/exit was also a decent test, one guy scraped his diff pretty hard on one section.
Overall a great park, lots of shallow water and virtually no mud. My favorite type of place.
The park is fantastic. Very well maintained, great facilities (a freaking cafe??), most of the trails are really well marked, and the map they give you is actually usable. Trails are rated on a 1-6 scale. 3 was about our limit although we did do a couple of 4’s and a 5, and found some climbs on 3’s that we couldn’t do. Wetness is definitely a factor; if you go after a good rain you’re going to have trouble.
The main access roads are awesome and can get you to the back sections of the park pretty quickly. The main loop where most of the trails branch off of is a beautiful river trail which goes a good way around the park. Great scenery all over, would love to see the place when it’s green.
2 badge trails here, PeeWee Crossing and Guard Rail. PeeWee is quite easy, the most challenging part is a waterfall that you can bypass. Some off-camber stuff at the outset, and then mainly a river trail after that. Lots of adventures to be had off the side, although this is a pretty long trail. It probably earns a badge because it is representative of the whole park.
Guard Rail is definitely more challenging with a fairly tricky uphill exit (or downhill entry depending on your direction) that has been washed out to the point where the bypass wasn’t even doable going up. Going down was fun, but not a problem. The other entry/exit was also a decent test, one guy scraped his diff pretty hard on one section.
Overall a great park, lots of shallow water and virtually no mud. My favorite type of place.
