Michigan Holly Oaks ORV Park added to Jeep Badge of Honor app
- Thread starter 03coloradowrangler
- Start date
Interesting to see that they are going to be using shotcrete to make things permanent, I've assumed this was just going to be 1 slime clay/mud mess.
I feel like a bit of a old man but its the quads, dirt bikes & side by sides ripping around blind corners or plain hauling ass in straightaways that drives me up the wall when going to these concentrated parks like this.. but then again, where else do these people really have to go to drive/ride without driving a few hours up north. I guess I can't complain.
I feel like a bit of a old man but its the quads, dirt bikes & side by sides ripping around blind corners or plain hauling ass in straightaways that drives me up the wall when going to these concentrated parks like this.. but then again, where else do these people really have to go to drive/ride without driving a few hours up north. I guess I can't complain.
Mr. Pink
TJ Enthusiast
you're not alone on that I am sick of almost being hit more times than I can count.
I agree with you. I used to be one of those guys, the thing is it's really hard to go as slow as a jeep on a quad or a dirt bike and not much fun if you try. It's definitely an issue.
https://www.facebook.com/groups/253...WHVtNgeez2baEEk8AZqkHarifszTcGxMM4&__tn__=C-R
A lot is happening over there....
A lot is happening over there....
May take a drive around the property after work this upcoming Friday evening just to look around down on the ground, not really interested in playing in the dirt though.. probably going to drive in, scope the place out and leave fairly quickly.. hoping its gonna be fairly desolate on a Friday evening. tickets sales are limited to 500/day. seems to be very busy with quads and dirt bikes though.
past Sunday the place was absolutely packed (drove by mt holly parking lot), yesterday (Sunday) the parking lot seemed fairly empty and tickets were still available late in the evening. today the place was packed and tickets were sold out at 11am. seems like Sunday is the busy day here.
word on the street via local neighbors.. the bar and the county campground users across the road aren't very pleased about the amount of dust this place is producing. I can confirm to the amount of dust blowing around too. passed this place on i75 southbound this morning and drove through a dust cloud around 11am, passed it northbound on dixie hwy and again another dust cloud. almost looks like smoke from a massive fire when your driving towards it on the nearby roads when a few miles away.
Did happen to notice that bottoms up bar (across dixie hwy from holly oaks entrance) seemed to have quite a few jeeps with the orange safety marker flags attached to the bumpers in the parking spaces though.. haven't seen the bar as busy as that since before "covid".. seems like its bringing in business.
past Sunday the place was absolutely packed (drove by mt holly parking lot), yesterday (Sunday) the parking lot seemed fairly empty and tickets were still available late in the evening. today the place was packed and tickets were sold out at 11am. seems like Sunday is the busy day here.
word on the street via local neighbors.. the bar and the county campground users across the road aren't very pleased about the amount of dust this place is producing. I can confirm to the amount of dust blowing around too. passed this place on i75 southbound this morning and drove through a dust cloud around 11am, passed it northbound on dixie hwy and again another dust cloud. almost looks like smoke from a massive fire when your driving towards it on the nearby roads when a few miles away.
Did happen to notice that bottoms up bar (across dixie hwy from holly oaks entrance) seemed to have quite a few jeeps with the orange safety marker flags attached to the bumpers in the parking spaces though.. haven't seen the bar as busy as that since before "covid".. seems like its bringing in business.
JeepExpeditions
New Member
So if I read the official website, you not only have to buy a $15 one day permit but also have to buy two state permits to be allowed entry for a total of $51.25 if you are only looking to do the trail for the Badge of Honor.
MDNR ORV Trail Sticker - $10.00
- ORV Sticker and ORV Trail stickers will be required for entry. We will NOT be selling them at the park at this time. If you don't have current stickers, you can purchase them at dozens of locations in/around Oakland County. Visit the DNR's website for a map of locations near you. The closest locations to the park are the Great Lakes Ace and Seven Lake Party Store in Holly.
MDNR ORV Trail Sticker - $10.00
JeepExpeditions
New Member
So if I read the official website, you not only have to buy a $15 one day permit but also have to buy two state permits to be allowed entry for a total of $51.25 if you are only looking to do the trail for the Badge of Honor.
MDNR ORV Trail Sticker - $10.00
- ORV Sticker and ORV Trail stickers will be required for entry. We will NOT be selling them at the park at this time. If you don't have current stickers, you can purchase them at dozens of locations in/around Oakland County. Visit the DNR's website for a map of locations near you. The closest locations to the park are the Great Lakes Ace and Seven Lake Party Store in Holly.
MDNR ORV Trail Sticker - $10.00
The stickers get you to Silver Lake and Drummond. Agree, that's a lot just for the Holly Badge
JeepExpeditions
New Member
Silver Lakes isn't a "badge" trail and if I remember right when I was there two years ago for the Jeep Invasion I don't think I had to buy any DNR permits. I was up at Drummond I think 3 or 4 years ago and did the badge trail but don't remember again buying any DNR permits.
Oh well, if that it what it takes to do the trail to get that badge on my Jeep so be it.
Oh well, if that it what it takes to do the trail to get that badge on my Jeep so be it.
mounds orv park (roughly 45 min north) requires orv and trail permit for access too, something to do with the park accepting funding from the state so they require both state permits for access... on top of the park use fee too.
the trail permit is fairly new, it came around within the past few years and caused off roading fees to jump from $26 to $36 and began being required for certain uses as well. I find it all very confusing honestly. basically, I buy both every year so if I end up being pulled over somewhere driving on something requiring it ill have my ass covered.
access to silver lake orv driving does require orv & trail permit to use
maybe you got lucky getting in without.
honestly the portion of the trail run for Drummonds badge of honor is 99.9 percent passable in 2wd... unless you go up or down the steps... but id assume you could likely do the steps in 2wd if you had plenty of patience, time, tall tires, high clearance and dont mind making a run at them bouncing around trying to get back up.
as for the orv routes (mainly in the northern half of michigan.. you do not need a orv/trail pass if your vehicle is legally plated to operate on normal roads & the route is passable in 2wd. once you require 4wd to continue on the orv route you have to have the orv & trail pass to continue... which is why I just bite the bullet and buy the 2 passes.
https://www.michigan.gov/dnr/0,4570,7-350-79119_79148_80313-424063--,00.html
current drama going on at holly oaks is complaints of noise which has caused the park to close the north east portion of the park to quads and dirt bikes only allowing side by sides and full size vehicles. dirt bikes and quads are being sent to the areas at the rear of the park closer to I75 to attempt to tame the noise levels down until the park can come up with a way to muffle noise and or second phase of the park opens after mining shuts down which will open a area further from Dixie Highway and surrounding neighbors.
the trail permit is fairly new, it came around within the past few years and caused off roading fees to jump from $26 to $36 and began being required for certain uses as well. I find it all very confusing honestly. basically, I buy both every year so if I end up being pulled over somewhere driving on something requiring it ill have my ass covered.
access to silver lake orv driving does require orv & trail permit to use
maybe you got lucky getting in without.honestly the portion of the trail run for Drummonds badge of honor is 99.9 percent passable in 2wd... unless you go up or down the steps... but id assume you could likely do the steps in 2wd if you had plenty of patience, time, tall tires, high clearance and dont mind making a run at them bouncing around trying to get back up.
as for the orv routes (mainly in the northern half of michigan.. you do not need a orv/trail pass if your vehicle is legally plated to operate on normal roads & the route is passable in 2wd. once you require 4wd to continue on the orv route you have to have the orv & trail pass to continue... which is why I just bite the bullet and buy the 2 passes.
https://www.michigan.gov/dnr/0,4570,7-350-79119_79148_80313-424063--,00.html
current drama going on at holly oaks is complaints of noise which has caused the park to close the north east portion of the park to quads and dirt bikes only allowing side by sides and full size vehicles. dirt bikes and quads are being sent to the areas at the rear of the park closer to I75 to attempt to tame the noise levels down until the park can come up with a way to muffle noise and or second phase of the park opens after mining shuts down which will open a area further from Dixie Highway and surrounding neighbors.
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JeepExpeditions
New Member
Thanks for the clarification on the permits. I'll suck it up and pay the price so I can do the trail and get the badge when I get there next spring.
I guess I am spoiled living in AZ where we have 10s of thousands of miles of trails that don't require a couple of permits, or any permits just to drive on them.
I guess I am spoiled living in AZ where we have 10s of thousands of miles of trails that don't require a couple of permits, or any permits just to drive on them.
Made my visit and brought along my dad (lives down the road from here) after work tonight, maybe 30 other people were out there not including the 3 Oakland County sheriff vehicles watching from high ground points in the park & blocking entrance access through a gate to the small area along I-75 closed to quads and dirt bikes. there were 2 county cops parked to the left of me where I took this photo.
There were a few single direction loops up through a few trees and brush and back down another hillside, some multi direction trails with blind hills and corners, a few short 20-30' long runs where you could drive over some 1-2' diameter rocks and logs, some sewer tile pipes to drive on, a few hill runs as seen in the photo above, fenced off dirt track and a fenced off dirt track with a gate allowing only vehicles wide enough to pass to continue, a few other things but nothing really notable. the massive bolder pathway for serious purpose built machines was closed off and the imitation Moab was laughable at best.
The imitation Moab hill had 5 or 6 routes up it.. 4 totally passable in anything you take out there stock ie. pt cruiser lol and was nothing comparable to actual Moab except possibly 2 runs at the rear which did remind me of what I seen while in Moab but were maybe a 25' run in length at most. to put the size of this imitation Moab in a size perspective... it was roughly as wide and 3/4 in length as a football field and maybe 25' tall in height at the top in perspective to the flat ground surrounding it.
the park was fairly quiet tonight with the 2-7 pm hours on this week day comparable to 10-7pm on a weekend, pretty much had the place to myself but couldn't imagine enjoying myself if the place were any busier like it typically is on a weekend. I didn't have a flag on my jeep but honestly it would be really wise to bring one as they currently suggest.. seems like there will be inevitable accidents sooner than later.
in summary, it was neat to see what the park was down at ground level after years in talk and watching development in progress... but I dont see the need to go again. if you go to mounds frequently and enjoy it there, this is by far better than mounds... but in the end, its just another gravel pit with a few things to play on.
as of right now, there's no "trail" and im assuming the badge is just for visiting the park... which is about 40 minutes from Chrysler headquarters in auburn hills. at least Drummond Island has the marble head route drawn out you can say you accomplished.
everything here in michigan for vehicle access is in the northern portion of the state and the southern half is just too congested to support any routes to drive on. sure there's plenty of orv trails maintained at 50" in width here I can comfortably fit and drive on with the jeep but legally I can't drive them..only the "maintained at 72" routes".. which are basically no different than driving on a typical dirt road anywhere else around here, and there's less 72" routes than there are 50" trails.
you are spoiled, but then again the country is very vast out that way. I feel spoiled when I do my annual trip to the west side of Colorado just past vail every year. just the simple back roads out there are quite striking and eye opening. even during my drive to Moab... there is literally nothing but dirt and a few sparse weeds/half dead looking shrubs for hours once you cross the Colorado/utah border.
JeepExpeditions
New Member
Sometimes I wonder why Jeep chooses places/trails like this for the program. Very disapointed here in AZ with the literally 10s of thousands of trails on public lands that they chose two that can be done in any stock Subaru, even seen a few Honda Accords on the one coming out of Sedona (Schnebley Hill Road) I took my 2wd 2018 Cherokee on the new Table Mesa badge trail. Neither are Badge of Honor worthy
I suspect placement of this park is in relation of Chrysler being able to make a quick road "sales" trip for investors or to show off jeep to people of interest for business. other off road parks within the us id suspect likely because there really isn't anything and people were disappointed in the ability to participate in the program and made it more family friendly for them.
in other news jeep mailed me the badge for holly. It just shows the property line of the park in its current size.
in other news jeep mailed me the badge for holly. It just shows the property line of the park in its current size.