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Sam Houston NF

I have trouble differentiating the different types of roads as well when just reading about them here. The forest roads are not the trails, I guess? I guess the forest roads stay open when the trails close?

Can motorcycles go on the horse paths in Davy Crockett? I assume not, but just checking.


From what I see you got a mix of pea gravel service roads, county and state roads also and those seem to be the majority of the roads in the SH Forest. From what I have seen in the pics though the "Special Use" trails are trails specifically built for pedestrian, offroad vehicles like 4 wheelers and dirt bikes. Also I understand you have to have a $50 annual sticker to use a non- street legal vehicle in SH National Forest. The special use trails I have seen in photos look like they have wooden bridges and elevated walkways like you see at some parks for pedestrian only traffic to get you above the swampy areas, and could not support the weight on regular cars or trucks.

Those must be what is being talked about here, that would have gates over them. Most of all the roads I have ever seen and this is from Cold Springs near Cleveland on the 59 side are all gravel roads that may or may not be actual county roads but seem to be pretty well maintained and I see vehicular traffic on them, mostly pickup trucks, and hunting trucks. Honestly I would be fine going out there right now and just piddling down those roads seeing that I have pretty low miles and I don't want to get stuck in the mud, nor do I have knobby tires, and my bike is a true Duel Sport and is street legal.

My grandfather, who is long dead, had a map somone made long ago, that they sold at the local convenience store, and this was in the 80's before Googlemaps. Someone decided they were going to map all the gravel service roads. In his truck we would drive for miles down these roads. Some people call them logging roads, whatever, but never saw a county road sign, or anything. You had to memorize those roads or have a map or you would get lost.

I would love to ride out there for hours with my GPS on , and somehow overlay that on top of Google Maps.
 
"Also I understand you have to have a $50" you are close, $16 off road use sticker from state (get from parks and wildlife, or Cycle Shack in Conroe has them) and pay a 5 dollar fee at trailhead. The 5 dollars might not be necessary for a street legal bike on the trails. As far as the roads go, ride away, legal as a highway as long as you're plated. The off road trails are referred to as PMT, permanently marked trails or MUT, multi use trails. Nothing bigger than 48 or 50" wide, can't remember for sure. Stock atv's pass through no problem. It takes the special trail ready SXS to get in under the 50 inches.

Also to use a quad out there you have to have proof of completion of an atv safety course and obey all restrictions, ie: helmets, eye protection, and boots(not sure on boots but think so), proper age to ride(noted on the quad), and not riding double. No unlicensed vehicles are allowed on roads or shoulders, pretty much a Rangers biggest gripe. There is a sign that states not knowing rules is not an excuse to break them. They rarely write warning tickets, no sense of humor, lol.
 
NFWestSidePMT.jpg


OpenArea.jpg


First map is west side trails from Stubblefield and Kelly Pond, the second is balloon loop from Northwest or Stubblefield trailhead. When it dries out this are the trails currently open for use. 936-344-6205 x2 for status.
 
This is Eastside by Trade school which is temporarily closed.
Image 1-29-19 at 3.26 PM.jpg
 
"visitors on Tuesday and Wednesday. According
to officials, the only por tion of the forest that remains closed is the multiple- use trails, which remain closed due toflooding"

Copied from Huntsville Item
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Oh, how I miss riding there. What I don't miss are the battles to keep the place open and maintained.

I guess I should thank my bad spine that I can't ride dirt anymore and made me sell the bike. When SHNF is closed, it's just too far to drive to Barnwell and Red River. And someday, SHNF MUTs will likely be closed down forever. It's come so close so many times. And once a trail is closed, it takes an act of congress to open it again.
 
"visitors on Tuesday and Wednesday. According
to officials, the only portion of the forest that remains closed is the multiple- use trails, which remain closed due toflooding"

View attachment 207650
This reminds of when Obama had his temper tantrum in 2013 and shut everything down. Didn't have a clue that people actually live in the national forests or didn't care (amongst a laundry list of other things he did). I have a friend who lives off Little Loop Rd on the east side of SHNF, not far from the trailhead as the crow flies or as the deer runs. He was told to leave his property until the shutdown was over. He stood his ground and I joined him for 5 of those days in support. A nice little getaway for the time but there were no more hassles as the other residents on his road did the same thing and threatened to blow holes in anyone who tried to remove them from their homes. An interesting experience to say the least and one that many others in other states should have done the same.
 
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I ride the Kisatchie most of the time and when I ckd last night it was still closed "pending funding"??? I just don't understand.
 
I snuck out there during the GOVT Shutdown. It was wet and a lot of parts are flooded. A few new trees have fallen over on some of the trails as well.
 
They had a survey day Sunday, by the pictures I saw it's still extremely wet, too wet to be fun, beside destroy the trails further.
 
Same in the Kisatchie. The last couple years non stop rain has really been rough. And the 4-wheelers have DESTROYED a couple creek crossings. Really getting ugly.
 
West Side (string/balloon) MUT survey & work day this Sunday.
Sunday, February 17, 2019
9:00 AM to 3:00 PM

Let's continue surveying the west side MUT. Survey, cut trees, clear face slappers and anything else we find. This work day will cover string & balloon(s). Please bring hand tools if you have them. If you are a sawyer you know what to bring. Our goal is to survey all of string and both balloons, we can divide with enough people. All are welcome. Meet at 208 lot, ready to survey at 9am. I strongly recommend as many people use the RAMBLR app as possible.
 
West Side (string/balloon) MUT survey & work day this Sunday.
Sunday, February 17, 2019
9:00 AM to 3:00 PM

Let's continue surveying the west side MUT. Survey, cut trees, clear face slappers and anything else we find. This work day will cover string & balloon(s). Please bring hand tools if you have them. If you are a sawyer you know what to bring. Our goal is to survey all of string and both balloons, we can divide with enough people. All are welcome. Meet at 208 lot, ready to survey at 9am. I strongly recommend as many people use the RAMBLR app as possible.

I couldn't make it this weekend, but in the future, is there anything I need to bring or do prior to coming out and lending you a hand? Any special tools you usually take or need?
 
Forest Service closes damaged roads
in Sam Houston National Forest


Sections of roads damaged by rain and flooding in the Sam Houston National Forest are closed until the U.S. Forest Service can make repairs.

On the west side of the forest, portions of Forest Service Roads 222, 233, 234, 209 and 271 are closed, according to Acting District Ranger Mary Hughes Frye.

As a result, there is no access for day-use or camping at Kelly’s Pond and the trailhead for the Multiple Use Trail is closed due to wet conditions.

“We will begin repairs on these roads as soon as the ground dries out enough to use heavy equipment,” Frye said. “We know this is frustrating for the public and it is frustrating for us as well. If we can get a few days of dry weather we will be out making repairs.”

Roads are closed to all traffic and are not safe for any vehicle.
 
Geez. i wish I knew about this yesterday morning. I tried going on Tanyard Rd in my Outback and was doing ok until I came upon a Chevy sedan stuck in the middle of the road at the bottom of a slight hill. No way around it so I had to reverse up the deeply rutted hill. That was a clencher moment.
if it ever dries out, I may try it again.
 
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Can't fix the roads or trails but still got time to burn, lol.
 
Kisatchie is closed also due to wet and downed trees from a tornado. The weather really has been tough for months now. The diff is that the Kisatchie will probably be opened very quickly.
 
I got out and did some riding Sunday. I did a bunch of dirt roads and some SHNF roads over on the East side of I-45. They were bump with a few BIG pot holes and cross ruts, but nothing that would warrant closing any roads. I rode some of the closed roads a few weeks ago before they were closed. Short of some kind of flash flood, I can't imagine they would have gotten much worse than they were, which didn't warrant closing in my opinion. They weren't any rougher than they've ever been in the last 15 years I've been riding them. Now, I did see quite a few downed trees that had been recently cut because they were laying across the roads, but that shouldn't take more than a few days to clear out given how few there were. I guess if they had a tornado in one spot that could have taken down a lot of trees and require a bit more time.

Sometimes it just seems like the people running things want the SHNF to stay closed as much as possible.
 
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