Clayton is a small town in SE Oklahoma, and in the area is some of the best wheeling in the US. There are lots of different places to go there.
There are the "classic" Clayton trails that some folks will be running on Friday. I believe you have to pay at Jess's campground to get access to those. The White Trash group are camping there. There are also a couple of private land areas that you pay to access - Frieling's and Green Acres. Those are cool as they have the trails pretty well marked and you don't have to worry about if you've accidentally wandered onto some land you shouldn't have. You could also get on WMA roads and wander around for days. You could take primitive roads all the way to Arkansas if you wanted to.
I think Frielings offers more easy to moderate trails. Both Frielings and Green Acres have stuff that only the gnarliest buggies can do. A moderately built rig can do the "3's" and some "4's" at both places.
There will be people all over town. Some camping at the state park (beautiful area), Jess', and there are a few motels in town.
Here is a description someone posted several years ago describing the town of Clayton.
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Things first timers need to know about Clayton.
1. Clayton is a town that could be in 1950's America. Everybody in town is friendly, and most people will wave at ya.
2. Clayton has some hard assed cops...if your registration or inspection is up, they will ticket you. They also are tough on the speed limit downtown (20mph). From time to time, they do set up insurance roadblocks, be polite, and they will be polite to you, be a jerk, expect to see the inside of the local jail.
3. When wheeling, if you see a horseback rider, or a group of them, pull off the side of the trail, turn your jeeps off and be nice. These guys have caused some of the trails up there to be "off limits" to events. They carry alot of weight, and we don't need to piss them off any more than we have in the past.
4. The main grocery store in town has everything needed for your weekend stay, and are some of the nicest people in town. They also have an air compressor for airing your tires back up.
5. There are Three full service restaraunts in town, great breakfasts at all three, the corner restaraunt has all you can eat Catfish on Friday night. All three can get a little smokey, as most in town smoke (See #1)
6. The Pizza place on the main drag has great Pizza, and the lady that owns the place will treat you to tales about locals and the goings on around town. She even offered to put up a group of us one time because we couldn't find motel room....good Baptists do this, she said.
7. Beer in OK is 3.2% alchohol if bought at convience stores or grocery stores, and is sold cold. Beer at the Liquor store is full strength, but it can only be sold warm.
7 (a) Open container laws are some of the toughest in the nation....they can ticket you for open container of alcohol for having an empty beer can in your Jeep, also, they are tough on DUI in town, espicially on the weekends.
8. Between the Horse Back Riders, the Bass Fishermen and the "Jeepers", we account for about half of the Clayton Economy...they know this and are nice, but they also are weary of city folk.
9. Three Stage Trail is an obsticle most will want to try, or at least visit and watch other idiots try the first ledge...as it's the most famous landmark in the area.
10. There are certain trails that belong to the WMA, we will not be running them as a group, but beware if you venture out on your own. You need a specific permit to run these areas, and if caught with out a permit, you will be fined $100 per person in the vehicle on the spot....you don't have the cash, they can impound your vehicle.
11. For those that break often as I do, the closest decent parts store is in McCalester, about a 45 minute drive. The O'Reileys there stocks alot of Jeep parts.
12. There is limited cell phone service in Clayton, and almost none on the trails until you get to the tops of the Mountains/Hills.
13. The bugs there are big as Semi Trucks, bring your repellant....and check yourself for ticks after the weekend.
