Went to Wayne Natl Forest yesterday (Sat.) It was cold wet and miserable. The trails were slimy, the jumps all came complete with water holes, and there were chunks of ice floating in some of them.

Despite all that, we had a blast! The trails were somewhat rutted in places but well thought out. All the tight turns were banked so you could power around them. There were warning signs to tell you of upcoming bridges over streams (which was good because they were 50" wide so you needed to be careful). Except for one hill there wasn't anything that gave us problems, but that is not to say it wasn't challenging. The place that gave us problems was a section of trail that was almost all boulders. The mud coated them so they were slippery. We came down it slowly and with no real problem except for one huge rock that made about a 2 foot off camber from right to left side of the atv. I had to catch myself against a tree when my front left and back right tire were the only ones touching the ground. But that was not that big of a deal. Coming back up the same hill that same spot was a nightmare! We knew it would be hard but my brother assured us we could do it. I gladly relinquished the lead to him and he charged on up. The next thing I knew he had looped over backwards with the machine crashing down right on top of him. Fortuneately he land in a crevasse so the full weight didn't hit him. His new helmet earned its keep though as his head had hit down hard enough to crack his skull if he hadn't been wearing it. We quickly got his Trail Blazer off him (it was still running, upside down!) and carefully set it against a tree to keep it from going over a cliff. Then we brought the Honda 300 4X4 up to winch it up past the spot he had wrecked. Well the cable came loose on the winch and we were in trouble. We had to get up the hill to get back to the truck. Except that we had just crossed 278, which was the road we had driven in on. It was still cold wet and an hour before dark, so I made an executive decision that we would take the road back. It only took us 10 minutes and fortuneatly we didn't encounter any rangers or police. The people we saw didn't seem surprised or bothered as many of them smiled and waved. We were glad to get back and get warm and dry again. Despite the way our day ended, we really did enjoy ourselves and will be going back next weekend.

 

BK,
We were there on Friday and rode, had planned on riding Saturday but decided against it. Where did you guys ride? We rode at Door Run on the main loop. It was about 14 miles long. We had a great time and also intend on going back. This was our second time at Wayne. If you are going to go back, this weekend probably isn't a good time to go. Gun season starts tomorrow and is a week long. The forrest open for Hunters and I believe closed to the general public for just riding. You might want to call before you make the trip. Talk to ya later.

Sam

 

BK

Glad to hear you enjoyed your trip. I know exactly the hill on the Main Corridor that you had so much trouble on. There is an easy way around that. I always take the easy route with my wife. No need to have a mishap and get her scared. When you cross 278, hang a right and go about 100 yards and you will see a road to the left. Hang a left and go about a mile and you will see a trail (fairly well used). Take another left and you will end up back on the main corridor. I would not go riding next weekend (Dec 2 - 3). This is Ohio's deer gun season and the Wayne National forest is open to hunting. No need to put yourself in a bad situation. If you do go, please wear orange. Ride safe. Hunt hard.

 

Hey..I THINK I know what hill you guys are talking about. We ride the M.C. down to the Snake Hollow area and have attempted to hit Dorr Run from there but there is only one trail and it is boulder-infested and NASTY. We turned around.
MagnumMudMan..I'm going to print those directions out so we can get around that hill!!!!!
We haven't been on the Dorr Run trails YET!! Those were the plans for this past Saturday until we saw the weather forecast...it was ugly.
BK..I'm glad to hear you had fun!!! We LOVE WNF!!! Next spring we need to ALL get there and ride together.

Later...Sher

 

Sher

The directions I gave to get around that hill are coming from Dorr Run on the Main Corridor. The first time I did that hill was at night. Talk about fun. To get around that hill coming from the Main corridor parking lot, about 200 yards prior to the hill you will go down into a small ravine and see a trail to the left. It is an oil line access road. The last time I was there there was a small tree laying across the trail, but you will see where everyone is going around it. Follow this trail until it dead ends into a stone road. Take a right on the stone road (becomes paved right before you get to St Rt 278). When you hit 278, take a right and follow along the edge of the road for about 100 yards and you are back on the trail. Follow my link in my signature and follow to the pictures. In the Wayne National Forest pictures (August 2000), one of the break pictures (ride break #4) was were this trail comes in. Hope this helps. BTW, cool pictures.

 

Why is Wayne open for riding and allow hunting at the same time? In Marienville, PA, Allegheny Nat. Forest, they close the trails during hunting season and open up on Dec. 20 or so. Or are the trails closed for hunting season? Don't get me wrong, I have nothing against hunting but would prefer not to ride if people are hunting.

 

I wouldn't have wanted to tackle that stretch at night! Were you on a 4X4? I think we could have made it okay if it hadn't been so wet and slimy. What happened was he couldn't get enough traction (on the Trail Blazer) to get past the one big boulder the first time. He backed up and hit it again and his wheels were spinning. When they suddenly got traction it was loop time! It didn't help matters that he was tired and not standing over the bars plus having 40 pounds on the rear rack (which hangs out way back on T-Blazer). We are definitely going back again but I guess we will skip next weekend. It is good to know the detour if we need it.

 

BK

I did that hill at night on my wifes trail boss. The thing that made it less difficult for us was it was not wet out, I didn't have any gear on the machine, and I was following a guy that was pretty experienced on this hill. I just followed his line. We both had to get off the machines and shift them around a little to get them straightened out. Sorry to hear about your brothers flip, hope he is all right and learned a little something. I know I learn real quickly when an error causes some pain or money

 

I took that very hill, but it wasnt slimy and i had a guy spot me at that one bad spot, other then that i felt it was a welcome chalange, btw I watched two guys 1 on a 300 ex and antoher guy on a 400 ex take that very hill, and i thought if they could do it that i should be able to do it on my king

 

Hey Rob, where abouts do you live in Cleveland??
I live in Mayfield shouldnt be to far away from you. I have a yellow 400ex, we ride wayne alot, but mostly ride mx style. Later.... Scott