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- Joined
- Mar 1, 2003
- Messages
- 2,882
- Reaction score
- 2
- Location
- Upstate SC
- First Name
- Albert
- Last Name
- Schilling
Sorry, no pics, even if I had a camera I wouldn't have been able to pull it out without it getting soaked.
So I tagged along with MikeN up to Branson MO for a car thing. We loaded up a couple sport bikes and I tossed my KTM as well. Today I went off on the KTM in search of some off road fun. Not sure if I found it, seems more like off road **** actually.
The destination was the Chadwick ORV trails in Mark Twain National Forest. Located just south of Chadwick MO.
I left the hotel under overcast skys and according to the weather ONLY a 80% chance of rain.
I stopped off at Kay's Country Store to pick up a day permit and top off on fuel. Found the closest trail head which was Camp Ridge. Of course, about this time, it started raining. Having spent a lot of time at Red River and Rocky Ridge I've grown accustomed to riding on rocky terrain. This place takes that to a whole new level. There is nothing but rocks here. Take a bunch of rocks, a bunch of rain and a dirt bike with DOT knobbies. Makes for a bad combo let me tell you. There is 12 square miles of [SIZE=-1]intertwining[/SIZE] trails that are fairly well marked. They are broken up into 3 difficulty levels and the trails are numbered. The thing is, the difficulty can change as you ride a particular number. You have to watch for the trail designations or you might get in over your head. I was trying to stay on the intermediate difficulty trails, but occasionally ended up on the hard ones. I managed to biff the KTM pretty hard a couple times but didn't break anything. Some of the hill climbs were pretty hard, a couple times I had to take a couple runs. The crappy tire was spinning all over the place. There were some spots where they've actually laid out paving stones to make some of the trails a little easier.
I was actually getting cold, and the rain just wasn't letting off. I finally called it quits after a couple hours and retreated back to the hotel. I really want to try and come back out here. The camping areas I came up on as I was leaving looked nice, and I imagine the place gets pretty busy when it isn't raining so much. Of course, the area is great with Branson 25 miles south. This would be the perfect place to stage a dirt/street weekend.
So I tagged along with MikeN up to Branson MO for a car thing. We loaded up a couple sport bikes and I tossed my KTM as well. Today I went off on the KTM in search of some off road fun. Not sure if I found it, seems more like off road **** actually.
The destination was the Chadwick ORV trails in Mark Twain National Forest. Located just south of Chadwick MO.I left the hotel under overcast skys and according to the weather ONLY a 80% chance of rain.
I stopped off at Kay's Country Store to pick up a day permit and top off on fuel. Found the closest trail head which was Camp Ridge. Of course, about this time, it started raining. Having spent a lot of time at Red River and Rocky Ridge I've grown accustomed to riding on rocky terrain. This place takes that to a whole new level. There is nothing but rocks here. Take a bunch of rocks, a bunch of rain and a dirt bike with DOT knobbies. Makes for a bad combo let me tell you. There is 12 square miles of [SIZE=-1]intertwining[/SIZE] trails that are fairly well marked. They are broken up into 3 difficulty levels and the trails are numbered. The thing is, the difficulty can change as you ride a particular number. You have to watch for the trail designations or you might get in over your head. I was trying to stay on the intermediate difficulty trails, but occasionally ended up on the hard ones. I managed to biff the KTM pretty hard a couple times but didn't break anything. Some of the hill climbs were pretty hard, a couple times I had to take a couple runs. The crappy tire was spinning all over the place. There were some spots where they've actually laid out paving stones to make some of the trails a little easier. I was actually getting cold, and the rain just wasn't letting off. I finally called it quits after a couple hours and retreated back to the hotel. I really want to try and come back out here. The camping areas I came up on as I was leaving looked nice, and I imagine the place gets pretty busy when it isn't raining so much. Of course, the area is great with Branson 25 miles south. This would be the perfect place to stage a dirt/street weekend.
