Tri-State Outdoor News

After my solo trip last month to the Brimstone Recreation Area in Huntsville, Tenn., I was ready for a little company on my next voyage, and boy did I get it. We had a total of 13 in our party, nine of whom were all staying in a 3-bedroom, 1-bath rental house. Besides waiting our turn for the bathroom, it worked out wonderfully. For our friends and family spring break trip there was only one logical destination, Evarts Kentucky, where they make you feel like you are part of their family. We were staying again with James White “Po’ Whiteboy” who is not only a great host but a pretty darn good guide as well. Our group consisted of four fathers with five children aged 10 to 14 and two adult couples. More »

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. More »

When it comes to off-roading, it can be fairly simple to develop an over-inflated opinion of our knowledge and skills when it comes to our riding techniques and practices. There are risks in being over confident as well as not having a clue and hitting the trail, which can rise up and hit back at any time.

There’s a lot more to think about than hitting the gas and hanging on. I know for myself, the times I have been injured while riding were purely because of misuse and poor judgement. I’m not saying you can’t have an accident riding exactly how you should, but most of the time, we cause our own problems by not paying attention. The real fact of the matter is that the sport we choose to participate in does pose a risk to our health and we need to realize that. More »

FROM THE INDIANA DEPARTMENT OF NATURAL RESOURCES

Indiana Conservation Officers are encouraging the safe and responsible use of Off Road Vehicles (ORV) through a free on-line safety course. “Today’s ORV Rider” promotes safe and responsible riding through a friendly, self directed on-line course. The course is designed so that the student can work at his or her own pace and at a time they choose.

“For a number of years we have seen a steady increase in our ORV accidents” said Colonel Michael Crider, Director for the DNR’S Law Enforcement Division. “We made a decision a number of months ago to address the problem by offering this course. With Christmas just around the corner, we find it a perfect time for families, who have just purchased a new ORV, to be aware that ORV riding is much more than just starting the machine and punching the throttle” Crider said. More »

This installment almost wrote itself in response to an e-mail that I received after the release of the November issue. As a writer, I love getting feedback and responses about the topics that I write about and would be taking about anyway.

The e-mail was from Tony Lance, vice president of the Redbird Management group. His reason for contacting me was in reference to something I had said in my last article. In that column I talked about me living in between Redbird Off-Road Area in near Dugger and Interlake near Lynville and how I would prefer to go to Interlake because “the size of the property was 10 times larger.” I stand corrected! In the past couple of years, Redbird has doubled its size with about the same acreage still waiting in reserves (that the state already owns). What I was reporting was old news. The last time I made the trip to Redbird a few years ago, I was not overly impressed with what was offered to me – an ATV guy. Redbird has had the reputation of only being a Jeep and Truck playground. As Tony explained, most if not all of the volunteer work that was being done on trail development was due to the Jeep community but over the last couple of years a lot of work has gone into designing more ATV and single-track trails. More »