High Centered @ Appleton Area Recreational Park (Minnesota)

[MNBigfoot]

Sweet. I've pretty much only been in the NW part of the state, which is pancake flat from the glaciers. I'm jealous of you for the fishing! It's all I do when I get up there outside of hang with family and drink beer, and those activities usually overlap.

Underground graphics actually has a topo map hood decal the goes from Bismark to Moorhead

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[KABQ]

Underground graphics actually has a topo map hood decal the goes from Bismark to Moorhead

That's awesome! But I can't make it out on my phone

 

[MadMan4BamaNATL]

Love the Allergies & open top learning. Maybe keep a bottle of antihistamine in the car! Not a wasted trip . . . Any first time at a new wilderness is a slow, careful exploration. And you were wise enough to not do some trails, and take your time. I had the same experience as a boater. The first time in new inlets and coves, or shoals, were always slow and careful. No point in ruining a prop or hitting a rock. A year later, I'm zipping right by.

Love this response!

So true. Hope the OP doesn’t feel too bad. He gave it a shot, assessed what he now needs to do differently, and overall, had some fun. I’d say the trip was a big win.

Glad he shared some insights and introspection as well; we can all benefit from his posts.

Very good thread.

 

[1st 75th ranger]

This past Sunday(8/20), I visited my dad in West Central Minnesota at the Forest City Stockade, which was having its annual Rendevue. The Appleton Area Recreational Area was just an hour West, so I headed there after lunch and visited with my dad and brother.

I've noticed that besides the Iron Range offroad park, none have well-documented entrances on maps, nor great signage on the roads to find them. I entered where the ATVs and motorcycles start because that's the one I could find. If I didn't have such bad allergies, I would have better spent time mapping out the entrances with pins on Google Maps. Then, see if I could update them on the map. (I can get stuff added to Waze.)

Overall, I enjoyed the Appleton location. It's over 20 miles of trails for ATVs, Motorcycles, and offroad vehicles like jeeps and Broncos. They have several "easy" trails that beginners or even an AWD vehicle with 4 or 5" of clearance might handle. I barely had time to scratch the surface of the place due to getting high-centered in one place and spending too much time messing around and getting loose.

They have several obstacles to try, and while airing down, I checked out a log climb to try. I thought I could make it. If someone was there to spot me, maybe I could. But due to my 2 door wheelbase, I had both front and rear trying to get up the ladder, and I couldn't make it. After I backed down, I saw what was in my way: the forward mounts for the rear suspension hung down a bit. They took out some chunks from some of the wood. Of course, I had three motorcycles stop up the hill to watch me fail in my big bad Bronco.

If I weren't just sneezing and sniffling all the time, I would have looked around for some rocks and maybe stacked some to get me over it. But I moved along. Lots of elevation changes at this park, some steep hills to go up and down, good mud here and there, with a large sandy area and a large muddy area. Everything you might want.

I spied some culverts to try and get them up with no problem, but trying to go down the other side, I miscalculated the space and ended up high-centered on the top. I also tried to be as smooth as possible, but I still bounced off the RCI steel skidplate, bending it a little.

The suspension was at full droop front and rear and just not getting any traction. Maybe 37's would solve this problem?

I have a recovery strap, soft shackles, and a cable come-a-long. But the come-a-long, I couldn't get the cable to unspool and was starting to be uncertain what I would do.
I knew some motorcycles were running around, which I could hear, but I hadn't seen any jeeps or other 4x4s. But thankfully, as I was pondering my silly fate, I spotted a Side By Side heading down a trail, so I ran and waved them down. A father and son at that park for the first time backed up. I put my strap on it, and they helped give it a little tug, and that's all it needed. (Two honks when I'm ready, one when they can stop)

I burned a lot of time dealing with that, so I drove around a little more, working my way back to where I came in to fill my tires (I aired down to 13-15psi) and head home. I did play in the mud a little, so the wheels and all are pretty dirty. I'll have to pull the wheels and skid plates off before winter to clean everything with a scrub brush.

Total travel - 365 miles, 20.5MPG, 7 hours 58 minutes runtime for the Bronco.

What did I learn?
#1 When you have allergies, driving a few hundred miles with no roof on a vehicle isn't a good idea.
#2 I really gotta go out with another vehicle. I just am too gunshy to try things when I'm on my own. There was a black-marked trail that I wanted to try, but I couldn't try it by myself.
#3 Appleton is worth another visit. It's 3 hours west for me, but it's a nice spot.

I recorded some of my journey and shared it here. I expect getting out 3 more times this summer/fall. Maybe Appleton when the leaves change.

looks like fun
went mudding this am thick black sticky stuff and got stuck
half way thru goo i bogged down to bottom of bronco
weird i thought stuck and alone going to be messy ...then i looked down and saw i was in 2 wheel drive lol since i was bottomed out i locked back and front as well and crawled out
yep always better to trail hop with buddies

 

[mike8675309]

I was going to ask how you got high centered in MN, but it turns out someone had to build a hill for that to happen


Disclaimer: I have a bunch of family in Moorehead and I love Minnesota other than the bugs and humidity. I even love the winters (since I'm only there for a week or so at a time).

As someone mentioned, some serious things are up in the NE side of the state. Gilbert has the Iron Range location, and it's all rock, crushed and otherwise. Most of the trails are covered in the leftovers from all the work done with the taconite mines up in that area. They have a few spots of large boulders you wouldn't want to try without a spotter. This picture doesn't do it justice. you can go up this hill if you want, but right around the corner after that first hill is a chute you can drive down that is just full of rocks. Reminded me of something I saw in the New Hampshire off -roadeo but with rust-colored and jagged rocks.

I was searching AirBNB places up in that part of the state to figure out a budget so if I go up there I can hang around for a long weekend, or even a week.

Here is a video of some guys in a Jeep going down the Mesabi Mountain ORV Trail in Eveleth, MN, part of the Superior National Forest. That might be fun once I have my winch.

 

[mike8675309]

Underground graphics actually has a topo map hood decal the goes from Bismark to Moorhead

I couldn't find that on their site. I did find this generic topo they have.

 

[Snacktime]

Lol that transmission skid plate looks like it will be fun to pull off!

 

[mike8675309]

Lol that transmission skid plate looks like it will be fun to pull off!

I pull the front plate when I change the oil. It's not bad. Bolts will likely be a little extra tight.
The trick will be getting it back on. Oh, and reshaping the 3/16" steel without a torch. I might have to take it to a shop.

 

[TonkaTruck]

I couldn't find that on their site. I did find this generic topo they have.

Ha. Think about his photo, it’s less funny if he has to explain it!

 

[lakesinai]

looks like fun
went mudding this am thick black sticky stuff and got stuck
half way thru goo i bogged down to bottom of bronco
weird i thought stuck and alone going to be messy ...then i looked down and saw i was in 2 wheel drive lol since i was bottomed out i locked back and front as well and crawled out
yep always better to trail hop with buddies

Yup. Done that on the beach!

 

[atx_chance]

They’re time intensive to start but I got allergy shots while I was waiting on my bronco. Now I go once every 6 weeks and am allergy free. I used to take daily Zyrtec and nasonex - plus a pre-emptive Benadryl whenever I knew I’d see a cat.

I would not enjoy my bronco the same without allergy shots!

 

[mike8675309]

Finally got a wash today, shining in the sun.

 

[KABQ]

As someone mentioned, some serious things are up in the NE side of the state. Gilbert has the Iron Range location, and it's all rock, crushed and otherwise. Most of the trails are covered in the leftovers from all the work done with the taconite mines up in that area. They have a few spots of large boulders you wouldn't want to try without a spotter. This picture doesn't do it justice. you can go up this hill if you want, but right around the corner after that first hill is a chute you can drive down that is just full of rocks. Reminded me of something I saw in the New Hampshire off -roadeo but with rust-colored and jagged rocks.

I was searching AirBNB places up in that part of the state to figure out a budget so if I go up there I can hang around for a long weekend, or even a week.

Here is a video of some guys in a Jeep going down the Mesabi Mountain ORV Trail in Eveleth, MN, part of the Superior National Forest. That might be fun once I have my winch.

But if it's mine tailings, isn't that man-made too? I don't mean to minimize Minnesota at all! We just have a different perspective out west.

When I say Minnesota is flat I mean relative to what I'm used to. This is a picture from the street in front of my house, where I have almost 6,000 ft of elevation change just a few miles away.

 

[Snacktime]

But if it's mine tailings, isn't that man-made too? I don't mean to minimize Minnesota at all! We just have a different perspective out west.

When I say Minnesota is flat I mean relative to what I'm used to. This is a picture from the street in front of my house, where I have almost 6,000 ft of elevation change just a few miles away.

Biggest mistake of my life was moving to Iowa, should have just lived 30 minutes north in Minnesota. Skoal

 

[colintrax]

If you're on Facebook look up the Minnesota Trail Lizards group. Can find people to go wheeling with on there.

I'm also 3 hours east of Appleton. Haven't made it yet but I need to go check it out.

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