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 Most of the 4x4 community has heard the rumors and talk of a new off road park opening in a small town very near to the Chicago area, Marseilles IL.
After more than a year of meetings in Springfield for DNR grants, and meetings with the residents and town board in Marseilles, the park is finally a reality. A lot of the thanks has to go to local enthusiasts who showed up in force weekend after weekend for trail and fence building.
Illinois, and Indiana has quickly become an area with real choices as to where to enjoy the off road hobby. From the Redbird OHV area, to the old favorite the Badlands in Attica, Lake Geneva, Rockport Off Road Park, and of course the place that this is all about... The Cliffs Insane Terrain in Marseilles.
April 4th, a group of GLJT members were invited out for a tour before the park officially opened. At 9am the group had arrived. Pulling into the park, the first thing to catch my sight was the HUGE brand new parking lot that was cleared. Plenty of room for tow rigs and trailers a plenty. My first time out to the property the area that is now a parking lot was thick brush, and sticker bushes. The office is in the lot nearer to the street out front, and on the side of the entrance gate. After airing down and getting trail ready the group lined up to get on the new trails. We were expertly led by Tom Wimberly (park trailmaster), Zach Kohl, and John Knox. From what we can see these guys have been a very important part of the puzzle to get this park built.
For anyone who might be a bit curious as to what the park is like, I can only describe it as ... tight! The trails were purposely cut very tight against trees, and drop-offs with the thinking that it will only widen after time. Even in my short wheelbase YJ I had to hook rear tires on trees and spin the front end around to make turns.
The place is very hilly, and very heavily wooded with a lot of natural ravines, a long wide creek, steep climbs, and steep drop-offs. There are trails there to challenge pretty much anyone. The tougher trails have extreme off camber angles, deep mud, log climbs and deep water crossings. Who knows, after some vehicle traffic some of that rock we kept seeing might surface to crawl on. Most of what we saw was very comparable to what orange trail was at the badlands when it first opened up to OHV's, other than ATV's and dirtbikes.
The more mild trails are mostly on top of the taller hills providing an excellent view of the woods, with similar terrain, but not as wild.
Since the ground had not seen much vehicle traffic yet it was very soft. It didn't take much at all to put a polish on a slight hill climb to make it nearly impassable. This part was indeed very bogger and locker friendly.
The grand opening weekend was April 16, 17, and 18th. For the first few weeks The Cliffs will be open on Friday-Sunday only. Admission is $22 per vehicle and $5 per passenger. Flags are required (and will be available). Wheelbase limit is 110 inches, with a tire size limit of 39.5. (I hate to tell ya, but the extended cab long bed ford on 44's simply will not fit.)
All in all the club had a great day on the trails in a new place. It was very nice to wheel on land where you didn't know what was coming around the next corner. New challenges kept coming. Even though we didn't conquer all of them, we sure had fun trying.
For finding out exactly where this place is, try this. Type this into whatever online map service you may use.
E 2625th Rd & E Us Highway 6, Marseilles, IL 61341 US
Or if you're too lazy It's a thirty minute drive west from where I55N and I80W cross eachother. We'll see you there!
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Posted on Wednesday, April 21 @ 19:01:00 CDT by truth |
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Average Score: 4.38
Votes: 18
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