Amicalola Falls state park

[KingKong]

So here's my take on SW Rd. I've been looking all over the **** place to find a decent wheeling spot. I watched a ton of 2000UZJ's youtube video's of Amicalola. Decided one day that I would go give Nimblewill Church Rd. and the forestry roads a try. Turns out they're not what they used to be. So I keep on web wheeling and discovered SW. Tons of video, some individuals, some clubs, all at the same place. Not until after I decided to give it a try did I learn of the questionable legality of the spot. However, according to Google Maps, all of the good stuff, the part of SW that you pick up heading east after traveling north on Ben West Rd. and dead-ending into SW, is still part of SW Rd. Hence, you are not trespassing, you are still on SW Rd. Now I have not traveled the entire road, and I don't know if the road ends before the trail does, but that is my reasoning for suggesting such a place.

 

[robustbambi]

Now... all that said, please forward your nanna's address so we can [go] wheelin' in her front yard

Address sent. She may even cook us some lunch if we ask Afterwards, we can get a dictionary and we can look up the defination of the term "devil's advocate", then you wouldn't need to attack any fellow Georgians haha, but you may be just a little too busy cleaning up other people's s***? I don't litter, buts it's great to know that if I did, there's someone there who's so eager to play garbageman and pick up after me.
Now... All that said, have an awesome day at nana's !!!

 

[Southeast Overland]

I've been involved with the county and Sheep Wallow Rd for probably over a year now. The road has been brought up several times over the past 4-5 years at county council meetings regarding closing. I'm currently working with a few people over at ExPo who have made a positive contact with the county and we are working towards building a relationship that will hopefully (hopefully) work towards keeping the road open.

It is a dynamic and complicated situation (which often happens when politics are involved) but basically the road is public - that is the road, and only the main road, not any off shoots / side roads/ hill climbs/ etc. You have to stay on the road right of way and that presents a problem because many people have strayed off the road right of way so often that it is difficult to tell what is legal and what is not.

...However, according to Google Maps, all of the good stuff, the part of SW that you pick up heading east after traveling north on Ben West Rd. and dead-ending into SW, is still part of SW Rd. Hence, you are not trespassing, you are still on SW Rd.

A word of caution here. Do NOT trust Google Maps, MapQuest, or any map you might obtain and think that because a road is shown on the map it is public / open, or even there. Besides Southeast Overland, I also manage a cartographic consulting firm and the mistake of believing something exists just because it is on a map can create many problems. It seems logical that if a road is shown on a map it is public but I've been involved in many cases where the opposite is true. Even a government map can be wrong.

 

[GXO]

Anderson Creek road was a road too. Guess what? People mistreated it and it is closed and gated. Guess that doesn't quite support the whole "if it is a road treat it like s***" mentality that a lot seem to ascribe to.

 

[TeddyBoy]

Address sent. She may even cook us some lunch if we ask Afterwards, we can get a dictionary and we can look up the defination of the term "devil's advocate", then you wouldn't need to attack any fellow Georgians haha, but you may be just a little too busy cleaning up other people's s***? I don't litter, buts it's great to know that if I did, there's someone there who's so eager to play garbageman and pick up after me.
Now... All that said, have an awesome day at nana's !!!

thanks for the the addy.. see ya there!.

I am not attacking any "one" person but rather more specifically I am being critical of the behaviors by others that have resulted in numerous trail closures and a bad reputation of what this sport has. We've only met once or twice and even then only for brief moments but I think you're relatively new to this whole thing so maybe just have not been exposed to the topic a lot. For that matter, I'm still pretty new (5 years) to it too and have some limited experience with but I have cut my teeth on a few things.

Frankly, I think the perception of off-roading is shallow minded when the reality is that a lot of us really do care and have work hard to change the perception in the form of discussions like this and volunteer efforts that rarely go seen by others. This is primarily done from within by educating other fellow wheelers of the repercussions and hopefully they too will act accordingly.

Irresponsible actions effects everyone in this sport regardless of who or where you are. I've been in this for a relatively short time and in that time have seen numerous tails closed for all the reasons listed. These are not the only ones of course but let's face it, if we were all better stewards to the properties we have access to then maybe, just maybe, we wouldn't have to drive 2 hrs to the nearest legal trail.

I've been involved with the county and Sheep Wallow Rd for probably over a year now. The road has been brought up several times over the past 4-5 years at county council meetings regarding closing. I'm currently working with a few people over at ExPo who have made a positive contact with the county and we are working towards building a relationship that will hopefully (hopefully) work towards keeping the road open.

It is a dynamic and complicated situation (which often happens when politics are involved) but basically the road is public - that is the road, and only the main road, not any off shoots / side roads/ hill climbs/ etc. You have to stay on the road right of way and that presents a problem because many people have strayed off the road right of way so often that it is difficult to tell what is legal and what is not.

A word of caution here. Do NOT trust Google Maps, MapQuest, or any map you might obtain and think that because a road is shown on the map it is public / open, or even there. Besides Southeast Overland, I also manage a cartographic consulting firm and the mistake of believing something exists just because it is on a map can create many problems. It seems logical that if a road is shown on a map it is public but I've been involved in many cases where the opposite is true. Even a government map can be wrong.

Steve always has good info on this topic!!!

 

[KingKong]

It is a dynamic and complicated situation (which often happens when politics are involved) but basically the road is public - that is the road, and only the main road, not any off shoots / side roads/ hill climbs/ etc. You have to stay on the road right of way and that presents a problem because many people have strayed off the road right of way so often that it is difficult to tell what is legal and what is not.

Exactly what I'm trying to get at. If you stay on the road, then there shouldn't be a problem right (even if it is hard to tell what is the road)?

A word of caution here. Do NOT trust Google Maps, MapQuest, or any map you might obtain and think that because a road is shown on the map it is public / open, or even there. Besides Southeast Overland, I also manage a cartographic consulting firm and the mistake of believing something exists just because it is on a map can create many problems. It seems logical that if a road is shown on a map it is public but I've been involved in many cases where the opposite is true. Even a government map can be wrong.

Good to know. I checked the GDOT map of Lumpkin County, and it has Sheep Wallow listed as a rural local road connecting Mill Creek Rd. to Frank Christian Rd. So there is a legitimate road once the pavement ends?

but you may be just a little too busy cleaning up other people's ****?

Next time we go out I'll bring a trailer and we can clean up.

 

[robustbambi]

Next time we go out I'll bring a trailer and we can clean up.

I can get into playing garbageman for that...

 

[Southeast Overland]

Exactly what I'm trying to get at. If you stay on the road, then there shouldn't be a problem right (even if it is hard to tell what is the road)?

Incorrect. The original/legal Sheep Wallow Rd right of way is now hard to locate due to people driving outside the original road right of way to miss mud, get in mud, etc. You might 'think' you are on the legal road and be wrong. Driver beware. Will you get written a ticket? Maybe not. Can I guarantee that? Absolutely not.

Good to know. I checked the GDOT map of Lumpkin County, and it has Sheep Wallow listed as a rural local road connecting Mill Creek Rd. to Frank Christian Rd. So there is a legitimate road once the pavement ends?

There is a legitimate, legal, road right of way out there - but - depending on who you run into they might not agree.

The only way to be sure you are in the right/legal spot is to have a GIS (mapping file) of the legal, road centerline. Even at that I'd prefer to make the mapping file myself from as-built data. Then you need to retrace that line. I have a professional grade GPS unit that is accurate to less than a meter and at times less than 4 inches. I need to get it out there to see where the original/legal right of way is but I don't see that fitting into my calendar in the near future.

 

[Hugh Heifer]

I think in the case of SW Road, drivers have a defense if they are ticketed since it is open and on a county map. After reading all this, I do not think I would want to chance it. KingKong's comment about chancing an encounter with the police is what set of the diatribe.

Steve (and others), are the police patrolling a ticketing drivers on SW road? If so, what for? Sounds like an interesting Community Oriented Policing Project to take on if you were a motivated patrolman in the area. (COP Projects are undertaken to improve community relations while engineering a way out of a common enforcement problem. Many departments require officers to get involved in such projects.)

Regardless, I would like to believe this thread is a good example of the way most of us here on Mud and in the organized clubs think when it comes to land use issues.

 

[Southeast Overland]

Steve (and others), are the police patrolling a ticketing drivers on SW road? If so, what for?

Not that I know of. From a discussion with a county official, review of years of council minutes, and my consulting background, the biggest threat that I see is the road being closed and the land becoming private. That is why I'm trying to work with a few over on ExPo to work with the county and put a positive foot forward for wheelers.