We are planning a trip to WNF this weekend(8/17/02) and cannot get online with their website. We are coming from Ft.Wayne IN and would like to spend the night. Are their any suggestions on the best trailheads? Their are four of us(2 women) and are looking for a casual but long trail ride. Any suggestions would be appreciated.

 

Your best bet would be to go to the Dorr Run parking area. It is right off of US33 southeast of Logan and just before you get to Nelsonville. Just after US33 narrows down from a 4 lane divided highway to a regular 2 lane road, the road back to the parking area will be on the left.

 

STecate

You have come to the right place for help. I have two questions for you though. Are you going to camp and do you need directions? If you are going to camp, you have two basic options. You can stay at any of the WNF parking areas for free, however, there is no water or electric. We generally camp at Camp Ohio. It is a private camp ground in the Wayne National Forest. They have electric and flush toliets and showers. Not a five star campground, but nice never the less. They charge $9 per night per person. You can access the trails via Camp Ohio without trailering. To get to Camp Ohio: Take State Route 33 East out of Columbus. Just after Logan, you will exit SR 33 at SR 595. Take SR 595 north (left turn) for about 4.5 miles (be careful, road is very curvy). You will see a sign for CAMP OHIO and you will take a left at Gore Greendale road. Go about 1 mile and Camp Ohio is on the left. Just find a spot and the owner will come around and collect later. Real laid back campground with most of the people being riders. My wife and I and a group that we ride with will be down there this weekend. Most of them will be there on Friday night and I will be down there on Sat. morning. We are having a little cookout on Sat. night. You are welcome to stop in and enjoy a cold beverage of your choice with us. I ride a 400ex and my wife has a new Suzuki Ozark. My truck is a dark blue and gray dodge dakota quad cab pulling a white v nose trailer. You are more than welcome to ride with us. We usually split into a slower and faster groups for Saturday's rides. I will be leading the slower group on Saturday as my wife is not a speed rider. We will probably also go out on a nice speed ride later in the evening. If you have never been on a cool night ride, you will want to join us.

As for the trails, you will be in the Monday Creek riding area of the Athens section of WNF. The New Straitville trail loop is by far the easiest section. Dorr Run Trail head is more difficult with the Main corridor being somewhere in between. Long ridge is not connected to the other trail heads and is somewhat more tight and technical. The trails are marked fairly well, but you can get sidetracked pretty easily. I would not recommend going off the main trails, especially not knowing the area. I strongly recommend that you meet up with someone that knows the trails. Our first time down there we got lost and my wife ended up flipping your quad on a rough trail. Didn't make a great first Wayne ride. If you meet up with us, I guarantee you will get a good ride in. Not sure if they had any rain this week. Wayne goes from muddy to dusty pretty quick.

A big group of us that ride Wayne often often chat at ATV Time . Check under the Eastern rides section. Email me at the address listed in here or at jsigafoose@wcnet.org if you have more questions or post them in here.

 

Looks like magnum mud man has it covered. I was going to refer you to trx 450 who posts here. He can add any info that has'nt already been covered.

 

I am surprised that trx 450 didn't see this before I did. I think he is getting a little tired and slow in his old age [img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-happy.gif[/img] . (Just kidding Mike).

C-Bus - Are you camping with us this weekend?

 

Yeah, I'm scrounging some floor space from Buckeye for Saturday night. I don't want too miss out on the food and beer. I'll bring 2 cases of beer to help out. Any preferences on brand? Anything else I need to bring food wise? I'm the type that usually brings just an appetite! [img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-happy.gif[/img]

 

C-Bus

Looks like you will get to snuggle up with Buddy (you will see what I mean). Bring anything you want to eat or you can just bring beer. That is always a good add. Being the bachelor that you are, you could bring some chips or pretzels to go with the beer. Appetites never seem to go away around the campfire. I am not fussy on beer. I like beer in a bottle ( I work for a glass bottle maker), but I will stoop to drinking from cans. Bud light and miller lite always seem to be populare brands. See you Sat.

 

Hey, thanks for the help fella's. A couple more questions. What are the rules on exhaust? Are the trails fast enought for a FX400 or do I need to take my 400ex? There will be at least one cannondale in our group, if you see us, give us a shout. Thanks.

 

Stecate

The exhaust rules are simple. You must have spark arrestor. End of rules. I have seen several Cannondales on the trails. Most of the trails (except long ridge) are pretty fast if you are into aggressive riding. Wayne has a little of everything. Some real fast areas and other tighter, more technical areas. One word of caution, Saturdays are usually a little more crowded. Not bad, just don't go ***** to walls thinking you have the trail to yourself. Have you decided where you are staying? Ride safe and have a good time.

 

We will be at the Dorr trail, probably around noon. The women are opting for a hotel this time around. We are going to be 2 cannodales, 1 scrambler, and 1 Rubicon. If any of you see us, give us a shout. It'd be great to say hi and thanks!