Ok, well, I almost didn't go, but....
I did!
I went with 3 mostly stock TJs and an XJ. Needless to say, I played Jeep Recovery Vehicle a good bit, lol. To be fair, within 5 minutes of being in the park, we played in mud and I lost, needing to be winched out by my buddy in one of the TJs. Somebody went through there with something larger than 35s...go figure.
It's a promising park. There's lots of land and has enough elevation change to rival and even surpass Gulches in S.C. as a 4x4 park in the relative area, but I don't know that the park management see it in the cards. The map is laughable; useless. Signs are awful and nearly nonexistent. We actually ended up on an ATV/dirtbike trail headed back to the lodge because it wasn't well marked. All we saw were signs that said "Lodge" until we were a 1/2 mile into the trail where we finally started seeing "ATV/Bike" signs on the trees. Their fault, not ours, IMO. They really couldn't get pissed at us and we didn't tear up the trail, so all was well. They didn't say anything.
Park 1:
Had some highlights and was fun but anything more modded than mine would probably get bored really quickly.
Zone 1: was the most difficult of Park 1 and had some fun hill climbs. There was one section that was certainly out of mine and our crew's ability but with more tread on my tires and a rear locker, I'd have gone for it.
Zone 2: eh, honestly don't remember anything worth mentioning.
Zone 3: Only one area worth mentioning that had some switchbacks that were fun and required some planning of tire position but still not very difficult; two of the Jeeps did it. I'll have video of it later and it did get the suspension flexing some. There was one open area with a couple big man made hills that were fun to climb to take pictures but nothing else worth mentioning.
Zone 4 of Park 1 I ran in 2wd the entire time. WTH? Not 4x4 park quality.
Park 2:
Where we started and was definitely the more fun and technical of the two parks. If there were zones like Park 1, I wasn't aware (again, lacking signs). This is the home of Slippery Nipple. It's the only trail at Durhamtown that really deserves a name at this point, but it is a doozy. With a steel front bumper, more armor and a rear locker, I'd definitely have tackled the Slippery Nipple but my truck wasn't ready today. I shall return if for nothing else but this trail. Hopefully next year.
The rest of Park 2 had some good climbs, some boulder climbs for the more built vehicles, some stuff that I would consider buggy only and some climbs that were fun for my truck but not necessarily difficult but beyond the abilities of the Jeeps I was with. There is a mud pit near the entrance. I wanted to avoid mud, but...I couldn't. Had to get winched out as my 35s didn't reach the bottom of the ruts. So within 5 minutes of being in the park, I was being recovered. Wasn't really an issue again.
There is another section behind the parking area that is an obstacle park. Lots of pipes to climb for those into it. The Jeeps didn't have the ground clearance, I had too much wheel base. Not for us but I could see how more built vehicles could enjoy it. If there was anybody else there, we may have seen somebody try it.
It was a 2hr drive to the park from my home and I'd say it was worth a day trip but camping and doing multiple days would be unnecessary. Two days would be too much as I feel like I hit everything today. Unlike Gulches that has me wanting to go back for more, this one just has me wanting to go back for the Slippery Nipple when I get a couple more mods. If they cut more trails, this place could be great, seriously. For now, it's day-trip worthy and nothing more. They also closed the trails down by 5 pm which kinda sucked. We got started by 11 and were pretty much done at 5 anyway; that should give you an idea of what's available.
With some effort by the management and, more likely, off road clubs, this park has the land and the opportunity to be something great in Georgia/S.C area. For now, it's a fun half-day for mildly built rigs. For heavily modded vehicles, plan for an hour of entertainment. We did see some pretty JKs stuck in some mud; they didn't want any help, lol. Other than them, we had the whole 4x4 parks to ourselves.
I'll probably try to get back out there in the spring just for a fun half day run again, but for a serious trip, I'll go back to Gulches. If your into dirt bikes, ATVs or UTVs, this place is definitely for you. It's really a well setup place for dirt bikes and there were seemingly a hundred dirt bike riders there.
