so, I'm throwing this out there hoping the Twin Cities group isn't dead.... Mike (Rowan611) and I were trying to get some people together to meet up at the Apple Valley off road park. No dates are set but hopefully in a few weeks or so we can try to get something organized. Last time Mike and I attempted to go we had a snow storm that BLASTED thru... We ended up somewhere else and nearly arrested and our trucks impounded... so to avoid that again we said we would stick to the park next time...

if anyone is interested please speak up... if not, i'll be forced to go with a few jeeps and fj's... let's revive this subforum and get something going!!

Hi All,

I'm in Duluth and have interest in getting the truck off road.

Ron, I'll be checking out your mapped options next week. The family will be at a cabin up by Pequaywan Lake. Looks like I will get some new custom pin striping.

Just a thought: Consideration should be given to the OHV Park in Gilbert, MN. I haven't been to either Gilbert or Appleton, but Gilbert is over an hour closer to the cities and the park is 1200 acres, compared to 330 acres in Appleton. Also you don't have to go to a foreign country.

Roger

that's what we need!! someone local that knows what he's talking about. i just moved here so i shouldn't be responsible for finding the location.. ha ha... i'm up to go anywhere that we can arrange a day trip. anyone been to gilbert or appleton that has any feedback? i like the idea of gilbert being a lot larger of an area.

I'm in for sure. These next few weekends are a no go though....probably wouldn't have the time until mid August. That's assuming I get my fence built over these next 2 weekends.

I wouldn't mind going someplace bigger and closer.

The Gilbert OHV park (Iron Range) isn't any closer; however, it is a lot bigger. Plus, it's north, which is a beautiful area of the state. And, we would drive right by Gordy's Hi-Hat; a must stop for awesome burgers and fries.

I don't know what they mean by "registered for off road use"; maybe that's for ATV's? Anybody have thoughts on that?

Is that seriously a place? I hope it's short for Racoon Rapids.

Nope. It's a suburb of Minneapolis.

Clicky

Yeah I thought you meant Coon Rapids, IA as we have one here too. Seems like a pretty common name I guess for midwest small towns?!? To add to this thread I bought my truck in Minnetonka and drove it up and around Walker Lake 10 mile lake area. Lots of fun little sideroads and low maintenance roads of the main hwy trough there.

I used to live in Chanhassen and spend a few weeks a year in the cities because all of my family lives there. I envy you! Kentucky has nothing on Minnesota. I don't see too many T4Rs when I'm up... sounds like we need to spread the word!

so the location is still to be determined but what is everyone's thought's for the last weekend in August? I believe that August 31st is a Saturday. Who is interested is a day trip from the Twin Cities area?? Let's get something organized!

Might be able to make that work. Would like to go for sure.

Love to do it. The date looks good at this point. Of course it would be easier for me, and tougher for most others, if it were in the northland. But I would try to make it to a "southern" gather. If we get a group going, I'm sure the Iron Range Off Road park would be on the calendar at some point.

On a side note:
I've been exploring some forrest service roads north of Duluth while on vacation. Will post when I am home and can upload pics. What's cool is the Dept of Agriculture puts out maps specifically for OHV use routes. So far it's been nothing that will get you stuck or break stuff. But they get you into the deep deep woods. And that's cool.

Roger

anyone have thoughts for the weekend of the 31st?? man, this twin cities subforum is super dead!! those guys in Cali. and even in the northeast sure do know how to get a few Runners together... here we have 3 possible.. i'm still interested if you guys are rowan611 and deadmoney44. if so i think we should start narrowing down the date, time, and place. does saturday the 31st work better or sunday the 1st? sunday would work better for me, but i'll go on saturday if that's better for everyone else.

i was also wondering about gilbert off road park. i've heard some of the trails are pretty intense and not so much for daily drivers. not sure if that's true or not but a few guys at work thought i was crazy for wanting to take my daily driver there. i'm wondering if there are normal trails there that branch out to black diamond stuff if you want to go on them?? either way, let's figure out some stuff sooner than later!

david

Slightly off topic, I stayed at Coon Rapids for a couple of weeks back in February 1995 - loved it there too, really cold but oddly a T-shirt+coat was enough to keep warm - Mississippi was frozen solid below the dam & boy what a dam that is.

Rented a Buick Skylark & headed off to see the lakes, saw guy's camped out there on the lakes fishing, also snowmobile racing there too.....snowmobiles were used a lot down both sides of the highway - I remember driving passed a large prison on the way to Christ knows where, stopping at a roadside café that resembled something out of the 'Blues Brothers' movie.

I stayed at the Country Suites Hotel (Northtown) where I picked up a weird addiction/craving for Jalapeño Poppers from the adjoining 'Tequilaberry's California Restaurant'.

Like I said, really loved the time I spent there - must go back some time soon.

.

Easy now, your going to make me want to take a trip down there

Back on the grid after a month with no cell service, no land line and one TV channel. WiFi at a local restaurant / bar did come in handy and keep us "connected".

Was not a "wheeling" trip by any stretch, but I did get out and explore some forrest service roads in the area.

As you get further from the main gravel roads, the trails get more interesting and more fun.














My 4Runner