Pics from a ride last Sunday (1-9-05)

[sorny]

I'm not sure if this is the right place to post this or not. Might just be a forum for talking about GOING on rides. If not, sorry, let me know and I'll delete it.

Me and a buddy of mine (riding the KFX 400) decided to go a pretty easy trail on Chitwood Mountain in Winfield, TN. Not a really famous place unless you're from around here I guess. Pretty big place with tons of trails. It's got everything for any type of offroading. People take Jeeps, 4 wheelers, dune buggies and bikes through it. Theres big mud holes, huge hill climbs (from strip mining, logging) and just a nice trails. We picked a pretty easy sunday ride, took about 2-3 hours including a few minutes on a 2-lane paved road to get to the trail.

The first couple are at a clearing we stopped at where you can see from TN into southern KY. Although the pics aren't the sharpest, you could see at least 4 water towers for 4 towns up into KY.

http://web.infoave.net/~ljlt/img00001.jpg
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My bike needs a clutch and it was really muddy that day (had to get off and push up a muddy incline at one point) so I didn't tackle the hill in the last pics, but some atv's did. Pretty much straight up at the end.
Too bad we didn't get more action shots, but we enjoyed riding so much that we rarely stopped. Would've stayed out later but we didn't get started until like 1:00 that day.

 

[tnrider]

Winfield, TN - that is north of Oneida - right??? I've never been there - do you have directions to the ride site. or better yet, how about organizing a ride (when this darn cold weather breaks...) I am much closer to the windrock riding area - about 8-miles from my house.

oh, only the 01 photo link would load.

 

[sorny]

Wow, I didn't know anyone replied to this. I thought I checked it with the user control panel and it said no replies so I figured no one cared about Winfield, TN ;) I'm trying to fix the pictures but its something with the ftp server I'm uploading to. I might be able to fix you up some directions. There's probably 20 different ways to get to Chitwood mountain. Hell, you can even go in through Jellico, somehwere (if you know where that is, no where near Winfield really). Some trails are more truck/atv oriented so you're fighting to stay out of their ruts, but all in all its a pretty fun trip. Honestly, this was the first time I had even been up there. I drive a Jeep Wrangler but the suspension is at stock height so I can't make it up a lot of the places on Chitwood. Until I got my bike I just didn't have a vehicle that'd get to it.

The way I went on this ride would definately require a 4WD vehicle (pref. LWB) with a locker or two. Not necessarily a lift, just some good mud tires and some traction. A lot of it was hills that weren't too steep, but so muddy that you ran out of momentum before you got to the top.

There are a lot of people that organize rides here from out of town I think. I saw a group of 30-40 rock crawlers go past my house last fall. Looked like Alabama or Georgia tags. A lot of them were trailered in as there were extreme off road vehicles with tube frames and stuff. I probably wouldn't be good to organize anything since this is the only trail I've been on. My buddy knows a couple of them, but the place is huge. You could probably get lost easily out there or at least go out for miles on a dead end trail. If you want some maps, I could fix some up. Not of the riding site, but of the entrances.

A word of caution, ambulances and police can NOT reach 90% of the mountain. Each year theres a few injuries and a least one death it seems on the mountain and they have to use LifeStar (medical helicopter from Knoxville) or the ambulance parks at an entrance and someone with a four wheeler gives them a ride up. Just something to consider before really acting like an idiot up there on the hill climbs. Cell phones do not work in most of the places I'm told, not where I went anyways. Be a good idea if someone brought a little first aid kit to strap on a fender or something. A guy died last year on a dirt bike attempting a hill climb, but the guy did not wear a helmet and landed on a rock with his head. Sad, but what do you expect when you ride a bike up a crazy hillclimb with no helmet?

 

[sorny]

PICTURES FIXED!!!! (I think) ;) I'm behind a firewall at work so I can't really view them and test it out.

 

[High Lord Gomer]

Yep, they work!

I tried reducing one to 1/4 size (640x480) and then saving it at 75% quality and it dropped from 580K to about 100K. That really helps if you're limited in bandwidth or disk space on your hosting server.

 

[High Lord Gomer]

That last one is incredible! I would want more a whole bunch of running room to try that!

Hills like that always remind me of:

http://TheMXTrack.com/Gomer/uwe2a.jpg

 

[sorny]

Ah, that was the problem tho, NO RUN! Before you get to the bottom of the hill you had about 30ft or so (IIRC) MAX room to get a run. Before the 30ft is a mudhole (pretty deep) on a curve! So when you come out that your tires are muddy anyways. Way too much for me! So it was pretty much a dead start with a 30ft run in wet dirt :-p If you think that's a bad hill, then I wish I knew where to find some of those REALLY big hills (where everyone dies or gets hurt every year). The area is called "The Hole In The Earth." Dunno if it was made by strip mining or what, but it's pretty much a big bowl. Ride down into it and try to get out, very steep hills (supposedly) like a bunch are 90* straight up.

Also, I resized the pics, I think they're only around 50K now and 640x480!

 

[CR307]

??

So is this around Big South Fork area then? I am not familiar with area either tnrider!

 

[sorny]

Well, the mountain spans at least 2 counties that I know of, but most of it's in Scott County, which touches the KY/TN border. Scott County *is* one of the ways to get to the BSF, but this is the other end of the county, near KY. Winfield is the town the borders KY and the BSF is a little more West and South in the county. It's really kind of a hidden treasure and usually only locals know about it. Those rail buggies and rock crawlers were the first out of towners I've really seen go up there (but that doesn't mean they're the first). I just know it's not super popular. You're definately not going to run into 1,000 people up there at least (only 19,000 or so in the entire county).

 

[ellandoh]

may come down there

can you give me a good description of where an entrance is also is this a legal place to ride? i dont know the rules in tenn we are only allowed on orv areas here. im from michigan and was looking for a southern excursion , cant wait for weather around here. also is a sparky and mi orv going to be ok.
would also like to find an mx track nearby if possible for a saturday practice.

THANKS L+O

 

[Reesknight]

Dude, you just made me homesick!! I just moved to MO from there. I can actually see my house in that first picture. It would take me about 3 minutes to get to that spot where that pic was taken. "The Hole in the Earth" was an old strip pit that wasn't reclaimed that is several miles on back from where those pics were taken, but they went in a couple years ago and reclaimed it so its nothing like it used to be. Used to be there were high walls on all three sides when you went down into it and some pretty good climbs but now its only one one side and not near as steep as they were. I've climbed the hill in those pics hundreds of times and its actually one of the easier ones as compared to what used to be back in the 'Hole'. Most of the people I know would actually ride up it to the left of the main line in that last pic. There is definately some good riding up there but if your into tight woods single track, you won't find much of that. If you get the chance, go down into Capachine(sp?) creek and ride thru there. Several creek crossings and riding fast through those rocks can be challenging! Yes, you can go all the way to Jellico from up there. I used to have a TT600 years ago and would ride up there for hours, go to Jellico and get gas, then ride some more. The problem for me got to be that there was so much traffic up there on the weekends, it got too dangerous to ride at speed cause you never knew what was coming around the corner. Still a great place to ride and I'm missin it about now. Thanks for the pics!! :cool:

 

[Reesknight]

You're definately not going to run into 1,000 people up there at least (only 19,000 or so in the entire county).

Just wait till summer ;)

 

[sorny]

Wow, that's crazy that not only were you from Scott County, but your house in the picture we took! I bet it was great living THAT CLOSE to one of the ways to get up Chitwood! I haven't been in the summer but will be this summer for sure and I'd say you're right about seeing all of those people up there after thinking about it. I live on Buffalo Road, near the Oneida City Park so I see trailer after trailer going up with 2, 3, or 4 atv's going up at a time. And that's just up on my side. Hopefully I'll be providing more pictures this spring and summer as long as I don't get run over from all the 4 wheelers, dune buggies, and other bikes up there ;) Nice to talk to someone from Scott County too, didn't think that'd ever happen online.

 

[ellandoh]

help?????

any takers

can you give me a good description of where an entrance is also is this a legal place to ride? i dont know the rules in tenn we are only allowed on orv areas here. im from michigan and was looking for a southern excursion , cant wait for weather around here. also is a sparky and mi orv going to be ok.
would also like to find an mx track nearby if possible for a saturday practice.

THANKS L+O

 

[sorny]

Not sure if I can explain it really good. Also, theres lot of people that ride up there, but I dunno about the technicalities of it. It's owned by someone, sure, and its not a state sponsored OHV or whatever, but I've never heard of anyone having problems. Hey Reeseknight, could you give them details on how to get to that entrace? I might be able to, but see as how your house is in one of the pics... ;)

 

[Reesknight]

The entrance from where I lived is on Pine Grove Rd. You should be able to find that on Yahoo maps. Only problem with that is, I don't know of any public parking on that side. Seems like there a small parking space over on the Buffalo side, but I wouldn't know how to guide anyone into it thats not familiar with the area.

 

[sorny]

Yeah, those places like the parking on Buffalo wouldn't be on a map or anything. I was going to ride my bike from the house to the place we went in the pics, but i decided to load it up on the pickup and I parked at the Piney Grove Church (I think it was Piney Grove - kinda big brick church maybe 1/2-1.0 mile from the houses you can see in the pics. But I don't know how a bunch of vehicles would work there for all day. Parking one truck over on the side for a few hours is a lot different than filling the lot up all day.

 

[Reesknight]

Yes thats the church. There's usually a few vehicles parked in the gravel parking lot there on Saturdays but I'm not sure how they would feel about a bunch parked there and definately not on Sunday. :yikes: They used to allow people to unload at the city park just off the Highway but I'm not sure if they still do. I know there are ATV's and bikes that run the roads up there and the local PD doesn't mind as long your not on Hwy 27.

 

[sorny]

Yeah you can get away with a lot of stuff if its just a car or two, but if someone brings like a convoy of 30+ trucks and the cops know its all out of town people, they'll probably be hell to pay ;) Not like its deliverance or something and the cops are going to bust on out of towners, but you know what I'm saying Reesknight.

 

[ellandoh]

thanx a ton fellas

your help is greatly appreciated. snowing here in detroit again goin shackwacky :coocoo: here and will be comin down for the 3-18-05 weekend just a couple :aj: cr250's in 1 truck. anyone wants to join in the ride that would be great we'll meet at this said church possibly. will know more when i find out about getting work off fri or mon for drive. Oh ya are there any mx tracks open in this area you fellas recommend. ps you guys recommend campin or hotel, weather ok at night???
hoppin bars, ladies to steer clear of, all advice is welcome. really like to hit a track for a day though.

Yeah, those places like the parking on Buffalo wouldn't be on a map or anything. I was going to ride my bike from the house to the place we went in the pics, but i decided to load it up on the pickup and I parked at the Piney Grove Church (I think it was Piney Grove - kinda big brick church maybe 1/2-1.0 mile from the houses you can see in the pics. But I don't know how a bunch of vehicles would work there for all day. Parking one truck over on the side for a few hours is a lot different than filling the lot up all day.

 

[ellandoh]

here is a map

attached is a map of the exact address the church is on. could i get a little more help, i cant find buffalo st or have an idea where to go from church. i imagine towards 27 from previous posts or is it gonna be obvious once i get there. maybe i should roll the windows down when i get to the state line and listen for sorny's bike to be replanting sod :yikes: thanks again fellas

L+O

 

[sorny]

your help is greatly appreciated. snowing here in detroit again goin shackwacky :coocoo: here and will be comin down for the 3-18-05 weekend just a couple :aj: cr250's in 1 truck. anyone wants to join in the ride that would be great we'll meet at this said church possibly. will know more when i find out about getting work off fri or mon for drive. Oh ya are there any mx tracks open in this area you fellas recommend. ps you guys recommend campin or hotel, weather ok at night???
hoppin bars, ladies to steer clear of, all advice is welcome. really like to hit a track for a day though.

There are no MX tracks locally. Closest would be Wartburg or somewhere out there, about 45 minutes south.

I saw the Map on the next page and I know where it all is, but the little road you go on may not be on it. Maybe Reesknight can open it in ms paint and draw it in for you. Here's some info on motels. Theres a small hotel that WAS a Holiday Inn Expres, but someone bought it out and changed it. It's in Huntsville, which is about 15 minutes from Winfield (south on 27). There's also a nice little motel in North Oneida only about 8 minutes (if that) from Winfield, also on 27 called Tobe's Motel. You can camp anywhere you want on Chitwood I would think, but I'd recommend the hotels. They're no more than $50 a night I would think. Maybe less, but you might want to call. Check out www.scottcounty.com for info on lodging and everything. For bars and stuff... well.. this IS a redneck town. Most of the bars are in Winfield and there's probably certain ones you should stay clear off unless you like trouble ;) But most of them are cool. They're all redneck or cowboy type bars, so don't dress unusual or draw attention to yourself. I'm sure you've seen worse in Detroit, just a different kind of bar.

I think one truck and some bikes would be ok at the church, just park the furthest away from the church house. The gravel lot is really pretty big. I'm a very very amatuer rider (no more than 10 hours total because of an accident during the summer) so I could ride with you, but I might bring the guy who rode the 4 wheeler in the pics so you could go at your own pace if you wanted.

You couldn't find Buffalo because it's Buffalo Rd, not St. It's a long road so you probably couldn't judge much from it. I'd say your best bet with a single truck is starting off at that church.

I'll check this thread in a day or two and see what Reesknight says about the map. I think it shows everything but the road you turn off on to go up Chitwood. He knows what I'm talking about. What's that area of Chitwood called? I forget, Camp something. I hear it said all the time and forget.

 

[crazy_man]

that hill is about vertical, my name is crazy man :aj: but even i have my limits

 

[Reesknight]

The green line is where you'll come in off the highway. The red line is the way to the mountain. About 200 yards from that last left is when you'll start heading up. Just stay on the main road when you get going up the mountain. Hopefully Sorny can meet you at the top and show you around some. I don't know of anywhere on that side of the mtn that you can camp so the motels he suggested would be your best bet. If you stay at Tobe's, there's a bar a couple miles from there that's pretty cool, nothing fancy and full of rednecks but better than the ones on the state line :ohmy: Just ask anyone where 'The Roost' is and they can tell you. Have fun and good luck. :cool:
As far as MX tracks, there used to be one in Jamestown but I'm not sure its open any more. The closest one would be on Watt Rd. in Knoxville, about 1.5 hours.

 

[sorny]

Yeah the Roost is an ok bar. Not too redneck, but you still want to kind of watch it. Please don't take offense to this as I don't think like this but if you're not white you might want to watch it. Most peope in The Roost would be fine, most are younger, but I've seen some true rednecks (ie: people looking for a fight, NOT hillbillies) that wouldn't let you get your first drink down. Not like you can't go through town, but put some beer in some of these guys and well... you can imagine. Also, I might be able to go up there and meet you in Winfield, but I probably won't be able to show you much on Chitwood. I've never been but a couple of miles into it and it's a huge huge place.