DG Rider
Member: Triple Clutch Club
Lifetime Member
Wildcat Off Road in East Bernstadt, KY features "over 100 miles" of trails of beautiful KY scenery. And the best part about this ride was that it was far, far away from Wildcat.
My time in the wilderness has ended, and I have returned to the land of endless trails. AS Dan Deirdorf said when Joe Montana came out for the 2nd half of MNF back in 1992, all is right in the world again.
I'm not too far from Florence, and some of the famous trails over there. Namely Box Canyon, Coke Ovens, Martinez Cabin, and others. So that area was my return ride to AZ.
I got my late start and then stumbled around trying to find the staging area...and wasting time in doing so. Ended up staging out price road (and too far from the real trails), which essentially turns into box canyon...if you're looking. After several miles of graded dirt/wash roads at higher speed (by 500 standards), i finally hit the box canyon, and boy was it cool...and i can see why its so popular.
Tall walls mean shadows and cool temps (was about 85ish anyway) and absolute silence when stopped. The thing is so narrow in places that a full size truck takes up the whole bottom...
Along the way, it opens and closes a few times, and in typical AZ fashion, has trails going all over the place in the open sections. I just had to sit for a bit.
It was actually cool riding through here, as the walls reflect the rather distinctive sound of the 500's exhaust.
Though there were toy haulers parked near the entrance, i saw only a CanAm X3 and a Teryx all day, A testament to the vastness of the riding in the area.
One thing saw plenty of was stunning desert scenery...
Once out of the Box Canyon, there are several roads leading off. I confess I don't know where most of them go, so I simply stayed on BC road/trail. I soon found a high vista with a nice view of the area.
Consulting my topo app, i could see that the trail eventually led to the famous Coke ovens. I already knew that they were on private property and could no longer be accessed, but i decided to proceed, since they sit near the Gila River.
But then, the trail took a turn for the worse; The next mile or so was simply barren rock surface, complete with POUNDING steps and holes. Not the hot setup for a 500. The machine had little trouble with the terrain, but my back eventually said no more, and i turned and headed back. It was so much pitching back and forth that coolant sloshed out of the overflow bottle! To be fair, i don't know that anything other than a long travel sport machine would be a smooth ride here...but this terrain brought out the absolute worst trait of the 500. More on the 500 in a bit.
Once back to smoother trails, i headed down some side trails when i came to a rare gate and closed signs. I immediately know that this was the Martinez Cabin trail, which was closed back in 2013 about 1 mile before the cabin itself. So...just a pic looking up the canyon...
Various off-road sites had been writing that this trail would probably be closed "soon" for years before it actually happened. Judging from the vegetation and location of a residence/mill there, there must be a bit of water and wetlands...or maybe just to protect the structures (vandalism is one reason you can no longer access the Coke Ovens as well). I'd love to hike up to it soon.
So i managed to find the most painful trail, and one that was closed. One more attempt found some old cow pens and some structures. I always wonder just how long they have been around...
As i said before, i got started late, so by this time, the shadows were getting long, and the need to get back loomed large. I also wanted to spend a few minutes in Box Canyon again. So the headlight pointed for the truck. It's so good to be able to do this again!
The 500: Outside of the brutal stretch i mentioned above, it did alright. A bunch of you just got back from western rides, so you know 1st hand that the trails tend to be smoother and faster here, and the smoother part, at least, plays well with the 500. It definitely could use taller gearing...but then again, so could the 700.
As it was, weaving through the tight canyon with the ability to short-shift and just chug along...i found myself thinking for really, the 1st time...that, you know? This thing is OK. It was a good choice for this trail.
My time in the wilderness has ended, and I have returned to the land of endless trails. AS Dan Deirdorf said when Joe Montana came out for the 2nd half of MNF back in 1992, all is right in the world again.
I'm not too far from Florence, and some of the famous trails over there. Namely Box Canyon, Coke Ovens, Martinez Cabin, and others. So that area was my return ride to AZ.
I got my late start and then stumbled around trying to find the staging area...and wasting time in doing so. Ended up staging out price road (and too far from the real trails), which essentially turns into box canyon...if you're looking. After several miles of graded dirt/wash roads at higher speed (by 500 standards), i finally hit the box canyon, and boy was it cool...and i can see why its so popular.
Tall walls mean shadows and cool temps (was about 85ish anyway) and absolute silence when stopped. The thing is so narrow in places that a full size truck takes up the whole bottom...
Along the way, it opens and closes a few times, and in typical AZ fashion, has trails going all over the place in the open sections. I just had to sit for a bit.
It was actually cool riding through here, as the walls reflect the rather distinctive sound of the 500's exhaust.
Though there were toy haulers parked near the entrance, i saw only a CanAm X3 and a Teryx all day, A testament to the vastness of the riding in the area.
One thing saw plenty of was stunning desert scenery...
Once out of the Box Canyon, there are several roads leading off. I confess I don't know where most of them go, so I simply stayed on BC road/trail. I soon found a high vista with a nice view of the area.
Consulting my topo app, i could see that the trail eventually led to the famous Coke ovens. I already knew that they were on private property and could no longer be accessed, but i decided to proceed, since they sit near the Gila River.
But then, the trail took a turn for the worse; The next mile or so was simply barren rock surface, complete with POUNDING steps and holes. Not the hot setup for a 500. The machine had little trouble with the terrain, but my back eventually said no more, and i turned and headed back. It was so much pitching back and forth that coolant sloshed out of the overflow bottle! To be fair, i don't know that anything other than a long travel sport machine would be a smooth ride here...but this terrain brought out the absolute worst trait of the 500. More on the 500 in a bit.
Once back to smoother trails, i headed down some side trails when i came to a rare gate and closed signs. I immediately know that this was the Martinez Cabin trail, which was closed back in 2013 about 1 mile before the cabin itself. So...just a pic looking up the canyon...
Various off-road sites had been writing that this trail would probably be closed "soon" for years before it actually happened. Judging from the vegetation and location of a residence/mill there, there must be a bit of water and wetlands...or maybe just to protect the structures (vandalism is one reason you can no longer access the Coke Ovens as well). I'd love to hike up to it soon.
So i managed to find the most painful trail, and one that was closed. One more attempt found some old cow pens and some structures. I always wonder just how long they have been around...
As i said before, i got started late, so by this time, the shadows were getting long, and the need to get back loomed large. I also wanted to spend a few minutes in Box Canyon again. So the headlight pointed for the truck. It's so good to be able to do this again!
The 500: Outside of the brutal stretch i mentioned above, it did alright. A bunch of you just got back from western rides, so you know 1st hand that the trails tend to be smoother and faster here, and the smoother part, at least, plays well with the 500. It definitely could use taller gearing...but then again, so could the 700.
As it was, weaving through the tight canyon with the ability to short-shift and just chug along...i found myself thinking for really, the 1st time...that, you know? This thing is OK. It was a good choice for this trail.
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