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hear

hear

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Prosper, TX
Was here back in December, but was on a 2.5" lift with 31" tires. Now I'm lifted 4" and have 33" tires, and have done the trails before, and was with my buddies who are much more experienced. The park is under new management, but they seem very much committed to improving what was already the best park in a many-hundred mile radius.

I've never taken any car/trail video before, so you get what you get. This is the initial descent on Rubicon Ridge (one of the 3 badge trails). The video does not do it justice, but it is really steep and long. Lots of loose rocks closer to the top, and then several good sized drops around the midway point. First time we did this it took us a long time to get all our jeeps down, with spotters, etc. This time I led, and got down in about 5 minutes (felt like 10 seconds), no spotters required.


The trail is pretty manageable after this, with 3 other harder sections, each with a bypass. The fork in the road is the 2nd challenging section, I regret not trying it this time. The 3rd & 4th section aren't on the video, but the 3rd one is deceiving. It does not look overly hard, but I couldn't overcome it, and neither could the TJ with the 5" long arm & front/rear ARBs, and neither could the Samurai with front/rear lunchbox lockers and zero f's to give. And boy let me tell you he tried! It was on this obstacle that I took some damage which has directly or indirectly resulted in trouble shifting into 4 low.

Also spent more time on the other half of the park which doesn't seem to get very much traffic at all. There are some really pretty & challenging trails with some steep up & downs, tight switchbacks, and off-camber stuff, sometimes all at the same time. (sorry for the poorly oriented video)


That brand new gladiator is Larry Bird because he's white and makes a lot of three pointers. He took some body damage on Fun Run, which had to hurt, but he took it like a champ.

There is still plenty of ground left uncovered even having spent 5 days out there so far. But I'm also discovering trails in & around Lake Ouachita that I hope to explore more in the fall.
 
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The new owners have been great so far and are really trying to make improvements. They just recently opened the park to 7 days a week, in the process of expanding camping areas, and are hiring employees. It seems to be an actual business now and not just a weekend hobby to make some extra income. Previous owners and mgt were great, but the new owners seem to really trying to make it into a destination.

Other side of the road doesn't get as much traffic, there are a few good trails over there, holtz hill comes to mind. Since it is more clay over there than rock, the trails get pretty rutted and you can get yourself into trouble (high centered, flopped on side, etc...) pretty quick in those rutted hills on smaller tires. Where as the normal side of the park is mostly rock and rocks can move and holes formed, but doesn't get rutted that bad.

I am heading over this weekend to do a little trail riding with my friends from Tipton 4x4 (Memphis area shop) on Saturday.
 
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gasiorv said:
I am heading over this weekend to do a little trail riding with my friends from Tipton 4x4 (Memphis area shop) on Saturday.
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I'll still be here this weekend, if I can manually shift into 4-low I could see heading out there (as I invite myself along)


On the other side, that first trail off to the right that runs along the road has more water/mud than anywhere else in the park, but I've also never been in the J or K section.

this will require some knowledge of the map, but right off the main entry road on that side, just a little past the flag poles, is K5, which looks to be one of the better paths to that side of the park. But the most bold wheeler in our group got about 50 yards up and noped his way back down... I think it's an issue with the map + an overgrown trail but I can't confirm. K5 is a 3 star and we've only found 1 other 3 star that was too hard for our rigs (C10 iirc), and we've not been able to do any of the 4 stars. The thing is, there's a 4 star trailhead just beyond the k5 trailhead, and we're wondering if the map is wrong, or if K5 is just overgrown due to lack of use and we never saw it. But if we can't do it, odds are it's a 4 star, which means something is whack in that section.

After talking to the new management person, the map is a concern for them. It's largely fantastic, but there are a few spots that could use attention. Apparently it's hand drawn, and the prior ownership really valued the hand drawn, "lewis & clark 'get lost in the woods'" sort of thing, which is fine and good, provided 'getting lost in the woods' cant result in me getting into real trouble. They do have some QR scans for Google map overlays, but I didn't learn about them until after we were done for the weekend.

I'm just happy they didn't buy the place with the intent to close it down and repurpose the land.
 
K6 (level 4) is doable, there is a drop off on a down hill that will catch your rear bumper or tank but other than that doable. The last time I was on K5 (last april or may), it was rutted out and I really struggled on 35's with the deep ruts on the climbs, had to pull winch cable a few times just for safety on a few of the rutted climbs. I honestly just don't like it over there. Same thing applies for Buckhorn North in the A section of the Map, it is rutted out clay, steep, and you can get yourself into trouble very fast (and it's rated as a Level 3).

We will be running all Level 4 and 5 trails this Saturday. I will be the smallest rig with everyone else on 40's or larger (yes one JK is on 43's). Not sure of your rig or your Give a F*%& factor, but if you want to party you are more than welcome to join. There will be another large group from Memphis (Midsouth Jeeps) going as well and they will be riding Level 1, 2, and 3 trails, so don't hesitate to show up, you should be able to find someone to ride with. Shifting it manually into 4low and then back into 2wd afterwards is easy, you can test it before heading to the park.
 
gasiorv said:
K6 (level 4) is doable, there is a drop off on a down hill that will catch your rear bumper or tank but other than that doable. The last time I was on K5 (last april or may), it was rutted out and I really struggled on 35's with the deep ruts on the climbs, had to pull winch cable a few times just for safety on a few of the rutted climbs. I honestly just don't like it over there. Same thing applies for Buckhorn North in the A section of the Map, it is rutted out clay, steep, and you can get yourself into trouble very fast (and it's rated as a Level 3).

We will be running all Level 4 and 5 trails this Saturday. I will be the smallest rig with everyone else on 40's or larger (yes one JK is on 43's). Not sure of your rig or your Give a F*%& factor, but if you want to party you are more than welcome to join. There will be another large group from Memphis (Midsouth Jeeps) going as well and they will be riding Level 1, 2, and 3 trails, so don't hesitate to show up, you should be able to find someone to ride with. Shifting it manually into 4low and then back into 2wd afterwards is easy, you can test it before heading to the park.
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I've never done any of the "hard stuff" on the A side, and I never put eyes on K5 beyond what I could see from the trailhead. The park is so big there is still tons of trails I've never run. A couple of guys in our group are on open diffs (including me), which really makes the 4's pretty hard. Our buddy in the Sami buggy wasn't able to get up the 4's that spur off Rubicon Ridge and we never attempted any 5's...his GaF factor is way lower than mine so sounds like my 33's & jeep I don't *really* want to heavily damage is not a good fit with your group! I should just drive out there and do a ride-a-long. :p

Speaking of rutted out, the most amusing thing about the place is the main trail up to the Overlook in the H section. Just before the top is a section that you'd only find on a 3 star trail, except it's supposed to be a main access trail. When I was on 31's it was slightly wet and I had to winch over it. On a main access trail. And the only other way down is an even trickier section on the back side. Stuff like that always gives me pause when I'm going into a new section.
 
A great little loop for you to see would be take AR1 out to Fun Run, do fun run, then hit Ultimate Adventure (Level 4) on the way back. Ultimate Adventure is a great trail and there are bypasses at the big boulder sections. Then shoot back down to AR1 towards park and hang a left onto F43 and then an immediate right onto F51, at top of F51 make a hard right, then a hard left onto F56, at the end of F56 take a right and then a left onto F57. Then make your way over to the loop and do Can Opener. Can Opener has a bypass that goes to the left at the top, so you should be able to do can opener with the bypass. Then do Rover's Ravine and Patriot come out onto AR2 make a left and take Donnie's Hill (To End/Top), then take C9 back down. If your group is leary of Ultimate Adventure and/or Can Opener, the rest of that loop is all good for you, it is mostly just tight twisty.

I will be at the park at 9am on Saturday, I have a Red Rubicon with a TN Flag sticker on the front and back. You are more than welcome to find me to say Hi. If you have your own group, go try that above loop then maybe we can hook up later and do a few trails together. If you are solo you can take a look at our rigs and then determine if you want to join us, I can find another group for you to hook up with, or there also may be an open seat in a Jeep that you can jump into. One way or another we will get you on some trails :)
 
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Probably a good idea that you didn't tag along, because we started the day on Slammer and ran all Lvl 4 and 5 trails all day. Great day but it was freakin HOT!!! Temp was over 100 deg and in the Jeep it was way hotter. Surprisingly my wife hung in there all day and never complained once.

Few youtube videos of what you would see on Level 4 and 5 trails. Remember that videos/pics don't due the size or the steepness any justice!!

Slammer (Level 5)
Very fun and doable on 35's Level 5, but I don't think I would take a Jeep with 33's on this trail, even if locked.

Can Opener (Level 4)
They knocked down the big step at the top and it is much easier now, probably a true Level 4 (no bypass required). Before with the step it was most likely a Level 5 which is why the bypass was forming. 33's could probably make this trail if you were locked.

Ravine (Level 4)
An Easy Level 4, I would take a Jeep with 33's down this trail, you could probably make it without lockers if it is dry, but lockers are probably required if it was wet.

Ingrid's Revenge (Level 5)
Bottom is soft, loose, large rock, very tough to pick your way through, then there is a very dangerous slate slab that is very easy to get turned sideways on and end up rolling down, in the video I get to the top and started to slide sideways and stopped the video. You don't see but it in the video but I just backed down and took a bypass, I hate that slab!! At the top there is a bowl that you have to climb out of, there is the LH line (I have never made the LH line, but not due to the lack of trying), and the RH line which is pretty hard on 35's but doable and the line that I took. The JK in the video took the LH line. Both 4 drs on 40's also made the LH line but it was not on the video. Overall there is NO way I would take a jeep on 33's on this trail.

We also ran:
Ultimate Adventure (very fun Level 4 trail, this is probably my favorite trail when linked with Four Fingers), 33's are possible.
Four Fingers (very fun trail), probably not for 33's but there are bypass's.
Greg's Rock (very fun Level 5 trail, not for 33's)
Shaffner's Hollow (very fun Level 5 trail, possible with 33's if you were locked with the bypass's).
Headbanger (fun Level 5, large, loose rock that would make it very hard on 33's due to clearance).
Baily's Boulder (too big for me, I just watched).
 
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About 5:15 in the slammer video had my butt puckered. Did it feel as close to flopping as it looks?
 
Thanks for sharing those! By the looks of things, I'm not terribly sad I didn't make it out there. :). We ended up floating the Ouachita with the kids anyway.

That tilt on Slammer looked legit.
 
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