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King Kong Hill

Joined
Jan 1, 2005
Messages
4,465
Reaction score
1,221
Location
Buda, TX
First Name
Rich
Last Name
Gibbens
When someone says "Big Bend" most folks likely think of Big Bend National Park. It's certainly understandable why Big Bend National Park gets so much attention - with over 800,000 acres of scenic desert and mountains, it certainly deserves all the attention it gets.

However, there is another park in the region, one that until now has been completely ignored by the dual sport adventure community - Big Bend Ranch State Park, aka The Ranch. The reason the dual sport community has ignored The Ranch is that up until just a few weeks ago the primitive roads (4-wheel drive roads) in The Ranch have been off-limits to motorcycles and ATVs. But the rules have changed and now street-legal motorcycles can ride those roads.

I had a few days off so I called Uncle and asked him if he wanted to do some exploring (Uncle lives in Terlingua, out in the Big Bend region). Then I invited my buddy DirtMaestro (Shawn) along for the ride. DirtMaestro is a motocross rider, not a dual sport rider, but was eager for some adventure. On Monday we loaded up and headed west to Uncle's place with the goal of exploring The Ranch. Come along with me and I'll show you what we found.

DirtMaestro
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Uncle
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Uncle's Place
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Odie, Uncle's pet coyote - Odie guards the place and howls at everything
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The view of the Chisos Mountains from Uncle's place
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The Mule Ears
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Oh come on.... you can't tease of a Ranch ride report and then not post any pics of it!!! That's just plain criminal!:giveup::mrgreen:
 
Before you can go exploring you've gotta eat. After all, breakfast is the most important meal of the day. The Chile Pepper Cafe took care of our needs.

The Chile Pepper Cafe
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The appealing ambiance of the Chile Pepper
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After breakfast we loaded up the bikes and headed west towards the entrance to The Ranch.

There is a $3 per person per day fee to enter The Ranch so we stopped at the Barton Warnock center in Lajitas to get our permits and to discuss the primitive roads in the park with the Rangers on duty. The new rule change allowing motorcycles on the primitive roads the park is not yet fully understood by all the park personnel so we were advised to go to the park HQ and speak with the main guy in charge, Ranger Rick. Off we went to verify that we could really ride the roads we had in mind.

The main road into the park is a class 1 unpaved road that any passenger car can handle. If it's dry any motorcycle can probably ride it too. Along the way you will pass Ojito Adentro. Where ever there is water, there is life. Ojito Adentro ("little spring within") contains a variety of life not found in the open desert, including cottonwood, willow, hackberry, and mesquite trees.
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We arrived at Sauceda Ranger Station (park HQ) and had a interesting conversation. There were 2 Rangers on duty in park HQ and one of them told us that we were not allowed to ride our motorcycles on any of the primitive roads. Not good. Right after he told us that, Ranger Rick walked in and told us we could ride all of the primitive roads in the park. Very good. Glad we got that settled.

There is no gas, diesel or groceries available in the park. You can, however, buy a soda from the vending machine in Sauceda or get a drink of water from their fountain.

Sauceda Ranger Station
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With all the necessary preliminary stuff out of the way, it was time to get serious about the dual sport riding.
 
Dang, you went back already? I may have to go back soon also, to check on the lot I'm buying.:rider:
 
I am with Primate ,Dang,you went back again already ?
YOU ARE ADDICTED TO DUAL SPORT RIDING AND NEED HELP :eek2::eek2:
Dang, you went back already? I may have to go back soon also, to check on the lot I'm buying.:rider:
 
As the wife, I second Rick's statement. He is addicted and he does need help. He may also be in need of a place to live soon too, any takers? I would be willing to make a trade for him and or the bikes.
 
Hmm, does he do dishes and vacuum? If not, he's not going to be welcome here either.
 
Uh Ohh!
You know an addiction is a disease and poor old Richard can't help it:zen:
He needs lots of Love and Support and maybe he will some day get over this addiction.
We here at TWT are trying to do our part, to see him through!:rider::rider::rider::mrgreen:
 
Oh yeah, you guys are a great support group, but I think a support group is supposed to help you stop, not get further addicted. :-P
 
Uh Ohh!
You know an addiction is a disease and poor old Richard can't help it:zen:
He needs lots of Love and Support and maybe he will some day get over this addiction.
We here at TWT are trying to do our part, to see him through!:rider::rider::rider::mrgreen:

Well said, bigdon.

As for you, Gigi, get back to work and quit stirring up trouble here on the forums. :lol2:

Now, back to our story...
 
Well said, bigdon.

As for you, Gigi, get back to work and quit stirring up trouble here on the forums. :lol2:

Now, back to our story...

You are not the boss of me, I'll get back to work when I feel like it,

Don as for an intervention, I could invite the other wives and see how many of them want to include their husbands.
 
Well said, bigdon.

As for you, Gigi, get back to work and quit stirring up trouble here on the forums. :lol2:

Now, back to our story...

uh that was said 14 minutes ago...... some one is slacking a little:giveup::lol2:
 
Sorry Richard,
Hope we are still friends,:lol2: by the way want to go riding this weekend or the next or the next or the next ????????????
I AM ADDICTED TOO AND NEED A FIX :trust::trust::rofl:
Rick M
As the wife, I second Rick's statement. He is addicted and he does need help. He may also be in need of a place to live soon too, any takers? I would be willing to make a trade for him and or the bikes.
 
You are not the boss of me, I'll get back to work when I feel like it,

Don as for an intervention, I could invite the other wives and see how many of them want to include their husbands.

Now Gigi I'm trying to help you (hehehe) and you are starting to step on toes!:lol2:

Richard after that statement about her going back to work, you may need a few " Yes Dear" lessons!:rofl:
 
Now Gigi I'm trying to help you (hehehe) and you are starting to step on toes!:lol2:

Richard after that statement about her going back to work, you may need a few " Yes Dear" lessons!:rofl:

If you don't want them stepped on get them the heck out of the way, I do not play nice. :box:

I do like the suggestion of the "Yes Dear" lesson
 
And I clicked on this thread expecting to see some new pictures or a good story . The preceding post do not apply to me or Roger . SEYA
 
Let's Get Serious

With all the prelims out of the way, we were finally able to do what we came here to do - find out what kind of dual sport roads The Ranch has to offer the dual sport community.

My map recon of The Ranch revealed 2 things. First, there aren't a lot of different dual sport roads to choose from and second they tend to be dead-end roads. They take you to some scenic overlook or camping spot, with one way in and one way out. That's okay and all, but I prefer not to have to backtrack if I can help it.

There are just 3 dual sport loops that can be ridden, either each loop by itself or all 3 loops joined together as 1 big loop. We elected to skip the dead-end roads and run the 3 loops as 1 big loop. It was a good choice.

We started off on the Llano Loop, west of the Sauceda Ranger Station. Of all the dual sport riding we did in The Ranch this loop was my least favorite. I don't think I would bother riding it again. It was easy, short, mostly flat and not all that scenic. Next time I will skip it and head straight for the good stuff.

At the end of Llano Loop we turned left and headed south on Madrid Falls Rd. This was much more to my liking. The road was noticeably tougher and had some elevation changes and better scenery. The park lists it as a "2 wheel drive, high clearance" road. In the dual sport rating scheme it was class 2, bordering on class 3.

DirtMaestro navigating Madrid Falls Rd
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Uncle on Madrid Rd, crossing one of many dry creek beds on the dual sport roads in The Ranch
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I dorked up this pic and the next one (wrong settings on my camera) and was able to salvage it with a little photoshop elements work.
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The intersection of Madrid Rd and Javalin Rd
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Things continued to get better as we turned west on Javalin Rd, which is the eastern part of the Rancherias Loop. A few miles west Javalin Rd turned into Rancheria Rd / Rancheria Loop trail. Rancheria Rd and trail are the same thing - the trail is the road and vice versa. The road appears to be completely unmaintained and was, by far, the toughest public road I've ever ridden. It was mostly class 3 with a short class 4 section. Very tough.

Rancherias Rd/Trail has lots of steep hills with loose rocks and deep ruts. Bring your A-game and a dirt bike as this road is no picnic, especially THE HILL OF DEATH
 
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