November 27, 2016
We run a small group out of DFW(Dallas/Fort Worth, Texas) called the North American Soft Roaders. For the past couple of years, we try to put together a day trip called the Soft Roaders Turkey Meet. This trip is for those who were unable to go on a backcountry trip for the weekend like some of the guys that went to Big Bend (I’m so jealous!) this past weekend.
https://www.facebook.com/northamericansoftroaders
We met at a Bucee’s in Terrell, TX. If anyone knows who Jamie Foxx is, he’s from there, a small town east of Dallas. Bucee’s is also known for its clean restrooms and numerous gas pumps. Our meeting time was 8:00AM Sunday morning. I wasn’t able to make the meeting time so I met with everyone at our destination.
Our destination was Gilmer, Texas. Gilmer is about two hours east of our meeting spot in Terrell. We use time as a measure of distance, it takes some getting used to if you’re not from around here.
Our destination was Barnwell Mountain Recreation Area, a Texas OHV Park.
BMRA sits on top of a plateau and the trails run off the sides of the plateau, making for some technical trails in some areas.
I think the majority of us aired down to around 18-20 psi for the trails.
We held a brief driver’s meeting before heading off into the trails.
Some video footage of the trails we did provided by Kevin.
Our plan for the day was to try all the level 2 trails at the park since some of us have not been there before. The trails are rated from 1 to 4, 4 being the hardest. At the entrance of the first trail, Patrick punctured a sidewall in his Xterra. Since my CB wasn’t working, I didn’t find out about the incident until we were almost finished with the first trail. Since we started so late we decided to have lunch after the first trail.
Video footage from Josue’s Cherokee Trailhawk. We had two actual softroaders in the group with us. Josue’s lifted Cherokee Trailhawk and Chris’s lifted Renegade Trailhawk.
Right before lunch, Andrew managed to get his Taco stuck in the rock garden and had to get rescued.
After lunch, we gathered up to tackle another trail that was rated a 2.
We took a trail called Solihull that had some steep climbs and a steep exit that was a lot of fun.
William was our trail leader for the day. He had the most familiarity with the trails, and it’s always good to have someone that knows where they’re going to lead the group.
After finishing Solihull, a few of us had to leave early to head back to DFW. Patrick returned with a new set of mud terrain tires, so half the group went to tackle some more trails while the rest of us prepared to head home. Before we left the park, I remembered an area close to the pavilion that had a picture opportunity. I called it the Lumps. We gathered there and took a half group shot before heading home. The Jeep/Toyota stagger was unintentional.
Some video footage from the other group that stayed to do some trails.
BMRA is an impressive park. Compared to our local OHV park, this one is four times the size. The facilities were clean, they offer camping and RV sites with showers.
Since we only did a day trip, we did not have time to explore a lot of the park. I think a camping trip is in order sometime in the future. Driving through this park reminded me more of an adventure trail than it did a wheeling area, but I think that’s what the 3's and 4's are for.
This trip keeps up with my theme of the off-road training centers for Overland and Backcountry travel. I hope you enjoyed the pictures and videos.