Looking for information regarding the poker run being held in Heilwood, PA May 20th at the Dog Hollow Speedway. CPATVA.ORG has the barebones information regarding the ride. Tri-County ATV Recreation and Rescue Association is organizing the poker run. Has anyone done this ride before or is this the first time for the event? What type of terrain is it, how many miles is the trail, how many people usually attend, etc.. Looking for as much information as possible regarding this event.

 

THE TRI-COUNTY ATV RECREATION & RESCUE ASSOCIATION, INC. ANNUAL POKER RUN ON MAY 20, 2001

REGISTRATION STARTS:11:00 AM
POKER RUN STARTS: 12:00 PM
TRAIL CLOSES AT: 5:00 PM CHARGE: $10.00/ ADDITIONAL RIDER: $5.00.
FOOD AND REFRESHMENT WILL BE AVAILABLE ALL DAY

RULES
1.ALL RIDERS MUST SIGN WAIVER
2.RIDERS UNDER 16 MUST HAVE A PARENT/GUARDIAN SIGN A WAIVER
3.HELMETS ARE REQUIRED AT REGISTRATION 4. NO ALCOHOL PERMITTED
5. CLUB PERSONNEL WILL MAKE FINAL RUN AT 5:00 P.M. TO MAKE SURE ALL RIDERS ARE OFF THE TRAIL

LOCATION
DOG HOLLOW SPEEDWAY, HEILWOOD, PA

DIRECTIONS
422 TO STRONGSTOWN. TURN RIGHT ONTO RT.403
NORTH AT THE BLINKING LIGHT . FOLLOW SIGNS

Spoke with Doug McKinley, President of Tri-County ATV, this afternoon. The ride is 22-25 miles long with a variety of terrain - hill climbs, mud holes, and chicken routes. The ride is on private property. This is the second Poker Run that the organization has done. Doug said there will be several ATV vendors on site. Parking is at the Dog Hollow Race Track with registration and start area across the street. The poker run is about 15 miles east of Indiana, PA. If you have any other questions, you can contact Doug at 814.749.7100. He was extremely friendly on the phone. This sounds like a great ride!

 

Riding conditions should be perfect for the poker run. Thunder showers on Friday to muddy everything up and 70 degree temperature on Sunday!

 

My husband & I drove the 3 1/2 hours to ride in this Poker Run & we had a great time. There were a little under 400 people that registered. We met a lot of great people & everyone seems to be enjoying themselves. They were young kids riding their mini-quads to seniors riding their 4x4's A very wide variety of trails. We will defiantly return next year.

 

I spent this past weekend in Marienville riding the Tour de Forest and the Heilwood Poker Run near the Dog Hollow Speedway. After a relaxing, mellow ride through the Forest on Saturday, I was eagerly anticipating some "real" riding in Heilwood on Sunday. Fortunately, I was not disappointed. The Tri-County ATV Recreation and Rescue Association should be commended for organizing a great poker run.

Getting there was very easy - it is only 4 miles north of 422 - and there was more than enough parking at the speedway allowing for very easy loading and unloading. The speedway charged $1 to park. Volunteers were throughout the parking area offering assistance and instruction. After registering, which only took about 3 minutes, we went straight to the starting area. There I met Doug McKinley, president of the association, who was the official starter. Doug assured us that we would enjoy the trail and he was absolutely right!

The terrain of the ride consisted of a little bit of everything except road riding thankfully. I had enough of that after Merienville. There were several mud holes. Most of them had ways around or easier routes through. We had to wait about 5 minutes to get through one mud hole area due to congestion. The trail had lots of creek crossings, and smaller hill climbs spread out over about 20 miles. Almost all of the ride was in the woods with a very small amount in open areas. Those areas tended to be a bit dusty due to the lack of recent rain. There were also 2-3 road crossings but the club members made sure that no vehicles were approaching. We did the ride in about 3 hours. We, of course, took several refreshment breaks along the way. The poker stops were quick and well marked. You were permitted to ride the trail more than once but you had to be off by 5:00pm.

When we were loading up to leave, we were approached by one of the members of the ATV association. He asked us if we enjoyed our ride and what they could do to improve the event. All nine in our group were extremely happy with the organization and quality of the ride and emphatically let him know. He said there were about 350 riders. Our first question was "When is the next one?". He informed us that it would be in October. The club is also considering having one in July. In addition, they are working on gaining access to some additional property which would lengthen the ride about 5 miles.

Lengthening of the trail would be a nice addition but I never felt as if the ride was too short. All in all it was an excellent event for only $10. I can't wait for the next one.

I am unable to go to the Rumble on the Ridge next week, but most likely will be attending the poker run in Mill Run the following Sunday.