Completed: Turkey Bay OHV Park

[Conner299]

Finally, I was able to get my a$$ out onto a trail. The wife and I went down this weekend. The plan was to stay till tomorrow, but things have a way of changing. We left early Saturday morning, and ended up getting to the park around 12:30. After some leg stretching, and some preliminary camp set-up, we decided to hit some trails. I can definitely say it was an eye-opener. If I were to keep doing trails, upgrades would definitely be needed... More on that later. Tires, armor, and sliders, for sure. We ended up going out, for about an hour. The wife was in tears, saying she didn't want to die, at one point. I was laughing , but the pucker-factor was definitely there. There were a couple of steep ascents, we slid on a little. One had a nice little plateau, about 2/3 thirds up, we got stuck on for a hot minute. The place was definitely soupy! Descents, with a bit of sliding here and there, are what mostly put her on edge. Well, the wife put the kaibash on trail-riding in the TB, permanently! So... We headed back to camp.

After hanging out at the campsite for a few, I sauntered over to our "neighbors", to say hi. They ended up turning out to be really cool people. They took us out in their Wrangler, and let us hang out at their campfire that night. We were out on the trails, with them, for probably about three hours. So, we at least got to see all of the primary trails that are in the park, and the weekend wasn't a total waste. Ron, the guy we were riding with and his wife Cathy, said they had never seen the trails that soupy and rutted out, in spots. And they have been going to Turkey Bay, for 11 years. After the wife nixed ever taking the TB out on the trails again, she did at least say we could get an Offroad Toy! She really liked the Wrangler, so that may be the direction were heading in. All in all, it was a fun weekend. Here's some video...

[boog2006]

Sorry I couldn't make it out, but glad y'all still had a good time.

[HARDTRAILZ]

Sucks you cant wheel the TB, but looks like I really need to get down there and hit some trails.

[dvanbramer88]

There were a couple of steep ascents, we slid on a little. One had a nice little plateau, about 2/3 thirds up, we got stuck on for a hot minute. The place was definitely soupy! Descents, with a bit of sliding here and there, are what mostly put her on edge.

More details on the sliding? Was it one of those where the mud/clay is really slick and the hill is slightly off camber and you actually start sliding to the side of the trail? Or do you mean wheel slip and sliding backwards; (on the climbs?) What about on the descents? Do you mean you slid forward with your foot on the brake? On these steeper hills, what gear and transfercase range were you in?

With steep slick descents like that, as long as their not to rocky or rough, you can put it in 4LO first gear and roll down the hill without touching the brake and never exceed 7 or 8 mph. It's kinda scary the first time you do it, but it works. Sliding can be bad and uncontrollable. Static friction (tires rolling) is almost always higher than kinetic (skidding/sliding) friction. Sometimes when you're sliding, you can't stop sliding, and the steering tires might not have enough friction to be effective either. The "sheer" friction of the surface you're wheeling on is also a factor.

You may or may not know all of this, just throwing it out there.


Otherwise looks like you guys had fun. I watched your video, looks like some pretty alright trails you guys got there.

[JorDaneeKey]

In your wife's defense, sometimes being the passenger can be a bit more nerve-wracking. You're at the complete mercy of driver and forces of nature, and there's not one thing you can do about it, which can be a bit harder to swallow.

I'm glad you guys went out again at least, and it sounds like she had more fun the second time around, at least enough to agree to an offroad toy.

[Conner299]

More details on the sliding? Was it one of those where the mud/clay is really slick and the hill is slightly off camber and you actually start sliding to the side of the trail? Or do you mean wheel slip and sliding backwards; (on the climbs?) What about on the descents? Do you mean you slid forward with your foot on the brake? On these steeper hills, what gear and transfercase range were you in?

With steep slick descents like that, as long as their not to rocky or rough, you can put it in 4LO first gear and roll down the hill without touching the brake and never exceed 7 or 8 mph. It's kinda scary the first time you do it, but it works. Sliding can be bad and uncontrollable. Static friction (tires rolling) is almost always higher than kinetic (skidding/sliding) friction. Sometimes when you're sliding, you can't stop sliding, and the steering tires might not have enough friction to be effective either. The "sheer" friction of the surface you're wheeling on is also a factor.

You may or may not know all of this, just throwing it out there.


Otherwise looks like you guys had fun. I watched your video, looks like some pretty alright trails you guys got there.

The sliding was mainly just due to the slickness of the mud, while going uphill. Going down hill wasn't a big deal. Anytime, downhill, I would start to slide, I just eased off the brakes and pointed her back to where she needed to go. I was in 4lo and 1st the whole way, and never got above 8mph for the time we were out there.