Durhamtown Tellico??????? (1 Viewer)

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TeddyBoy

TeddyBoy

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Was gonna post in chat thread but thought it merited its own thread

Has anyone else seen this????

https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.574568672609682.1073741840.446518765414674&type=1

It's unclear to me exactly but it damned sure looks like Mike (Durhamtown owner) is preparing to purchase property and open an offroad park adjoining the north side of Tellico. If true, This is GREAT NEWS.

Details and additional information would be helpful if you know of anything.
 
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A little additional digging reveals that it's the Snowbird property, hope it goes through and they can make it worth riding.
 
I'd heard some chat about Snowbird but just assumed it wasn't the same - Why would one offroad park owner buy an already existing place? Only thing I can figure is that Mike might have more funds to back the development and the previous owner couldn't afford to or didn't know how to operate an ORV park properly. I, for one, thought the pricing scheme for Snowbird was ludicrous. Yes, the Tellico crowd is certainly chomping at the bit to get back into that area, but they're not going to pay 100 times the price to do it.

I think Mike needs to get hooked up with Crawford's Camp for starters. Even though Crawford's is not as close to the new property as to the old trails, I bet they'd benefit from the wheelers coming back to the area. Hell, for that matter, contact the mayor and/or city council of Murphy to see if they're willing to help. Could even get in contact with Rob Theurer too; I bet he'd have some good info on trails and geography and maybe even some good contacts. Could also help with who NOT to contact or what NOT to say in certain circles.

I messaged D'town on FB inquiring about an October ride to "the new place" that was mentioned but haven't heard back yet. I'm hopeful, but not holding my breath. I did my best to impose my own dates of Oct 5-9 since none had been mentioned yet.
 
I'm familiar with Snowbird. It has never been intended to be an "off road park" open to the public since Ive been up there, hence the pricing and membership requirements. Charge $5/truck like at Beasley and open it to the public and It would be overrun. I like being in there for a day and often not seeing anyone else. There is a lot more there than just wheeling. I haven't been up there since this spring. It's time for me to get back up there. If I lived closer I'd be there a few times a month.

If anything changed I could see some open ride dates that would allow the public access but I'm not holding my breath for a sale.
 
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Press Release for Durhamtown Tellico !!!!!!!!!!!!

On October 25th, 26th and 27th there will be a limited Inaugural ride at the new Durhamtown Tellico Park located in Murphy NC which is approximately 2 hours north of Atlanta.

About the Park
Durhamtown has partnered with landowners whose property adjoins the Original Tellico ORV and includes some of the private trails that were above the original ORV Park known as upper Tellico.

The facility will be managed, organized, and will not be a free for all riding park like the original ORV Park was operated. The disorganization resulted in the Park being closed by government officials due to damage of the natural ecosystems. All riders must stay on designated trails and these rules will be strictly enforced. Currently, there are approximated 4000 acres of mountainous trails and rock climbing.

Many trails will be 2-way, used with caution, and not a high speed facility! The areas consist of over 40 miles of existing trails. More are being added as the leaves fall to expose many old logging trails with many challenges. There are waterfalls and many mountain tops with 270 degree panoramic views. We have a 50 acre area that was clear cut 4 years ago with access to some very large and promising challenges including many large rock faces. The locals have called it:
“School Bus’s Granddaddy” For those of you that don’t know; School Bus is famously known Rock Crawl.

This area has many boulders ready to climb and more will be cleared when the leaves fall and we can see them more clearly. There is a 13 mile trail that travels along the ridge tops that begin on the main tract and end at Tellico’s old trail # 4. This trail is one of the most exciting trails I have ridden in a Side by Side.

This property consists of some of the most spectacular scenery in the Southeast and has been managed for 15 years as a trophy trout destination. We will continue to maintain the standards as planned. There are 5 trout ponds and 4 miles of managed streams; with one stream designated as a catch and release only for 18”-26” Rainbow Trout.
 
wheeling and trout fishing... this place has potential to be my new favorite.
 
Where exactly is this? I never made it to Tellico so I'm not sure of the locations its referring to. Either way it sounds like very good news and hopefully it will be open soon so we can check it out.

Sent from another Galaxy
 
Sam - The Little Snowbird property trailheads are about 30 minutes north of Murphy NC. The trails are mostly easy with a little scattered moderate stuff and one rock crawling section called "The Bowl." I led groups through there last year, anyone from stock rigs with little to no wheeling experience to some Big-Boy Jeeps on Fodies.. I'll be up there the last weekend in October with a friend who is a member to see what unfolds with the large group coming in. The place is massive, thousands of acres, with about 40-50+ miles of trails depending if you count for full size or all the things bikes can get down. Again, mostly easy stuff but it will be interesting to see what occurs as more traffic gets on the trails. I can see why Durhamtown is interested in the place. I don't ride bikes, ATVs or side-by-sides but I can see how it would be epic for those guys.
 
Gotcha. Sounds a lot like the current Durhamtown setup. Lots of trails for bikes and side by sides.

Sent from another Galaxy
 
.

I'm Licking my Chops!!!!
:steer::steer::steer:​
 
Worth noting that the snowbird property has direct access to the upper Tellico OHV trails. If they were able to acquire or gain access to that land the upper trails of Tellico would be accessibly from Snowbird. If they do a new park with entry fees and strict regulations it could get us a few of the old school trails back.

Crossing my fingers.
 
DanKunz said:
Worth noting that the snowbird property has direct access to the upper Tellico OHV trails. If they were able to acquire or gain access to that land the upper trails of Tellico would be accessibly from Snowbird. If they do a new park with entry fees and strict regulations it could get us a few of the old school trails back.

Crossing my fingers.
Click to expand...

The old Tellico trails have been "obliterated" - that is USFS terminology. They are gone, graded over, kaput. The trails that Snowbird members can traverse through "old Tellico" into the Snowbird property are mostly Camry rated as I recall - that is they have been graded and graveled. Some sections have not but they are 2WD accessible as I recall.
 
Southeast Overland said:
The old Tellico trails have been "obliterated" - that is USFS terminology. They are gone, graded over, kaput. The trails that Snowbird members can traverse through "old Tellico" into the Snowbird property are mostly Camry rated as I recall - that is they have been graded and graveled. Some sections have not but they are 2WD accessible as I recall.
Click to expand...
The press release stated trail 4 is accessible. That was never a hard trail, but definitely needed 4wd (and an iron butt) to traverse. Most of the old "good" trails, as stated here, have long since been graded and are just grassy hills now.

Southeast Overland said:
I can see why Durhamtown is interested in the place. I don't ride bikes, ATVs or side-by-sides but I can see how it would be epic for those guys.
Click to expand...
The press release also stated very clearly that these are NOT high speed type trails. So I think they are actually looking at these trails a little more for "us" vice the mosquitos - e'hem, ATV/UTV's. That's just the feeling I get though since they already have a good thing going for that crowd down there at D'Town and Windrock already has a good hold on the northern mountains for that crowd. Seems like Mike knows he's losing a lot of potential business by not having more for the big guys and he wants to remedy that.

Southeast Overland said:
I just came over to post that. I might be out there with some locals to see what happens.
Click to expand...
I am a little upset that he posted up to email him about attendance yet I'd sent an email to him at that address three weeks ago - at the Park's request - asking about getting in on the initial ride and when it might be. I'd asked because I had last weekend off and had originally planned to go wheeling over that way anyway, yet he didn't, and still hasn't, returned my email.
 
try again Steve, he's plastered his email address on a few different boards so maybe yours got lost in the mix. Last I saw he had a handful of open slots available mostly for tagged rigs.

I agree that the primary focus will not be on the 4 wheeler crowd though he obviously is trying to coddle the SxS crowd to some degree.
 
4xsteve said:
The press release stated trail 4 is accessible. That was never a hard trail, but definitely needed 4wd (and an iron butt) to traverse. Most of the old "good" trails, as stated here, have long since been graded and are just grassy hills now.
Click to expand...

I was a member of Snowbird last year and have been through there. I remember lots of gravel and grading and very little of anything worth 4WD in that stretch until you hit the Snowbird property. It's very cool to be in there but I don't remember any hard or intermediate wheeling in that stretch.

4xsteve said:
The press release also stated very clearly that these are NOT high speed type trails. So I think they are actually looking at these trails a little more for "us" vice the mosquitos - e'hem, ATV/UTV's. That's just the feeling I get though since they already have a good thing going for that crowd down there at D'Town and Windrock already has a good hold on the northern mountains for that crowd. Seems like Mike knows he's losing a lot of potential business by not having more for the big guys and he wants to remedy that.
Click to expand...

I've wheeled Snowbird numerous times and the terrain just lends itself more to the smaller rigs, such as bikes, ATVs and side-by-sides. I love it out there, there are a bunch of nice spots, it is very scenic, but not much intermediate wheeling and the current hard spot is The Bowl. You can have some fun at The Bowl but from what I've seen being out there a dozen or so times it seems better suited for the smaller rigs, except The Bowl, if you are looking for wheeling. Now don't get me wrong, it is VERY much worth a trip or ten and I am really excited to see what happens when the place gets used a bit. From when I was out there it really made me want to get a side-by-side though. You don't have to haul booty in a side-by-side to have fun.
 
Any body we know get an invite??
 
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