Tri-State Outdoor News

No, I am not talking about what the preacher was saying last Sunday. What I am telling you about is an Off-Road park located in Huntsville, Tennessee – the Brimstone Recreation Area.

Brimstone is a privately owned off-road playground sitting on approximately 20,000 acres in northeastern Tennessee with 400 miles of mostly challenging trails. That’s the “fire” part of it – the terrain will set your soul on fire. For almost 2 years I have been chomping at the bit to make the trip to Brimstone. I had ridden on both sides of this area in the past at Windrock to the south and Royal Blue to the north. But Brimstone’s forte is catering to the side-by-side crowd, so when I was making the trip it was going to be with my Teryx or not at all.

This trip started out like so many others with me sitting at my computer sometime in early February and seeing an ad on the Brimstone website (www.brimstonerecreation.com) for their “Winterfest” in early March. Because of the early event date, I opted to make my stay in the local hotel about 3 miles from the Brimstone headquarters and 5 miles from the trailhead. The thing that made my decision not the best one was the summer-like weather that had blown into the region that weekend with temps in the high 70’s and lows in the 60’s. Who would have ever guessed? Even though the town of Huntsville allows you to ride on the city streets, the Grand Vista Hotel sits on the highway on the outskirts of town causing you to haul to the trailhead where as the “Trails End Campground” is situated within the Brimstone boundaries allowing direct access to all of the more than 75 trails found inside. They offer not only RV site rentals, but also an 8-person cabin rental and 6-person RV rentals.

Brimstone is easy access with only 19 miles of very good state highway connecting it to Interstate 75. Sometimes in the mountains, those state roads can be an adventure in themselves, however, this was not the case as I rarely dropped below 55 mph. The office is right on the highway in the middle of town. This is where you obtain your trail pass, souvenirs, or actually rent an ATV or side-by-side for the day. The permits are sold in three different ways: daily $15, weekly $30, or yearly $60 with age 17 and under only $30 a year. You can also feel comfortable striking out on a tour of your own with the purchase of a park map. All the trails are very well marked and have been assigned names to help you remember which one you just got off of. The cost of rentals might seem a little high but after seeing the terrain that they are being operated on, it is probably a bargain not to tear up your machine. The rental price includes all taxes and a full tank of gas 4wd 360 cc-$142/day, 4wd 650 cc-$163/day, and a Rhino or Teryx-$223/day.

On to the ride. We lined up Friday morning behind the office for our guided ride for the day. Because this was a special event, they were offering this service at no charge. My friend from Clinton, TN. had met me to accompany me in my side-by-side. Our group consisted of about 25 people, several in Rhinos, RZRs, and Teryx’s. The first thing I noticed was that as soon as you get off of the green/easy trails, and even the moderate ones, had at least one section in them that I would not want to take my family on. The difficult/red trails required a lot of crawling and technical maneuvering. One thing I really liked was all of the creek and river crossings, there were more of these crossing than any other area I have ever been to. We had several flat tires and overheating problems caused by mud in the radiators, which made for some down time, but overall we moved along pretty well.

There was a lot of mud and mud holes to contend with and even though there are rocky sections, most of the trails have a loose base to them, causing traction concerns. I couldn’t believe when we got back to the staging area and saw we had only logged 42 miles for the day – if that tells you what kind of riding this is. That night, loads of more riders came piling in for Saturdays big ride. I never did hear the number of people that rode on Saturday, but I did hear it was a record amount for a single day. Due to the high volume, our group, which consisted of my buddy’s normal local riding group, took off for the far reaches of the park and adjacent to the New River WMA area. This day we had no flat tires, but still had some overheating issues. The lack of flats is testament to buying good 6 ply tires, which our group of nine all had. Our route was challenging to say the least, only covering 53 miles at a spirited pace. My machine and I were pushed to our limits but I loved every minute of it. We covered a lot of difficult trails, but Brimstone even has trails designated with a “Y” on the end of the trail number that were so extreme that my friend who rides there all the time kept me from going up. I asked a couple of people later what the “Y” designation meant but no one could come up with a good answer.

All in all, I had a great time on my two days of “Winterfest,” beating the odds on the weather with daytime highs of 78 degrees. Even though I didn’t find Brimstone to be as scenic as some of the other mountain retreats other than the water crossings, it did make up for it in compelling trails. The people of the Huntsville area were very friendly and helpful and added to my total experience. There is a franchised power sports across the street from the office for your “must have” parts or service. I even like their slogan “Trade your remote for ours,” which seems to say it all in just five words. So get off the couch and get out into the Wild!