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Took the family for a short ride (about 30 miles) on Sunday. We got a later start than usual, and it is also nearly a 2 hour drive from the house, so we didn't actually hit the trails until about 1:00......but my main goal was to test the new diff' and tranny to see if any problems surfaced. The both performed flawlessly and I'm glad to say it is now MUCH quieter than before.....even with a questionable lower chain and noisey pinion bearing in the tranny. It actually continued getting quieter as I drove it more.
For those of you that aren't familiar with Pickett, it is east of Jamestown, TN.....just west of Big South Fork NRA.......about 50 miles west of Royal Blue. I haven't been there in a long time (nearly 15 years) and had forgotten how good some of the trails are. I would estimate that there is a little over 100 miles of trails there. The trails are mostly easy to moderate on mainly sandy soil with several small to medium size mudholes.....but also a few large/deep ones :shock: . There are a few extreme sections due to the sandstone ledges scattered throughout the rugged mountainous terrain of the Cumberland plateau area. The trails are mostly on state forest land with some going onto private property (unless it's marked as private or closed, it's fair game), no permit is required, and all are open to anything from foot travel, to mountain bikes, to rockcrawlers unless marked otherwise. Most trails are a little narrow for Jeeps, but we have done that in the past. Actually, my last trip there was in a Scout equipped with 44's. The trails are not marked or mapped, so you're on your own in that regard unless you have somebody with you that knows the area or has maps that you can download into your GPS.
We were by ourselves and testing a questionable tranny, so we just turned around when we encountered the rough spots and didn't stray TOO far from the truck, but still had a great time and plan to go back next weekend with WRATV club thanks to an invitation from Phil (pwm). I won't have the kids with me on that trip and will have several people to help if there are any issues, so I'm looking forward to conquering some of the more difficult sections and getting a bunch of pic's to post.
To get there......
(1) From I-40 east/west, get off at the Crossville exit and take HWY 127 north and go right (east) on HWY 154. At the fork of 154 and 297, stay on 154 to the left. Then see paragraph 3.
(2) From I-75 north/south, get off at the Oneida/Royal Blue exit and go west on HWY 63. Go right (north) on HWY 27 north into Oneida. Go left (west) on HWY 297 which is a VERY curvy road through Big South Fork NRA.....that will take you to the fork of 154/297 and you'll then take a right on 154.....then see paragraph 3. For those of you with large RV's, vehicles with long trailers (etc...) looking to take a less curvy road....from the junction of HWY 63 and HWY 27, go left (south) on HWY 27 and into Elgin and then go right (west) on HWY 52......which will take you over to Jamestown and you can use the directions above.
(3) Regardless if which directions you use from above, once you reach the fork of 154 and 297 and have taken 154 north, look for a green "TN division of forestry" sign on the left about 2 miles past the fork. That is Black House Mountain road and should be marked with a white sign with read writing (if the rednacks haven't ripped it down). Turn left on BHM road and go about 4 miles to the fork of "BHM" and "Store 14" road.....stay to the left on BHM. Go about another mile or so and the trailhead starts at a fork to the right.
Here are a couple of pic's. I'll post more later after I get them downloaded.
This is just one of numerous rock formations and natural bridges/arches in the area.
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Here's the boy all tuckered out after a long day of riding.
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For those of you that aren't familiar with Pickett, it is east of Jamestown, TN.....just west of Big South Fork NRA.......about 50 miles west of Royal Blue. I haven't been there in a long time (nearly 15 years) and had forgotten how good some of the trails are. I would estimate that there is a little over 100 miles of trails there. The trails are mostly easy to moderate on mainly sandy soil with several small to medium size mudholes.....but also a few large/deep ones :shock: . There are a few extreme sections due to the sandstone ledges scattered throughout the rugged mountainous terrain of the Cumberland plateau area. The trails are mostly on state forest land with some going onto private property (unless it's marked as private or closed, it's fair game), no permit is required, and all are open to anything from foot travel, to mountain bikes, to rockcrawlers unless marked otherwise. Most trails are a little narrow for Jeeps, but we have done that in the past. Actually, my last trip there was in a Scout equipped with 44's. The trails are not marked or mapped, so you're on your own in that regard unless you have somebody with you that knows the area or has maps that you can download into your GPS.
We were by ourselves and testing a questionable tranny, so we just turned around when we encountered the rough spots and didn't stray TOO far from the truck, but still had a great time and plan to go back next weekend with WRATV club thanks to an invitation from Phil (pwm). I won't have the kids with me on that trip and will have several people to help if there are any issues, so I'm looking forward to conquering some of the more difficult sections and getting a bunch of pic's to post.
To get there......
(1) From I-40 east/west, get off at the Crossville exit and take HWY 127 north and go right (east) on HWY 154. At the fork of 154 and 297, stay on 154 to the left. Then see paragraph 3.
(2) From I-75 north/south, get off at the Oneida/Royal Blue exit and go west on HWY 63. Go right (north) on HWY 27 north into Oneida. Go left (west) on HWY 297 which is a VERY curvy road through Big South Fork NRA.....that will take you to the fork of 154/297 and you'll then take a right on 154.....then see paragraph 3. For those of you with large RV's, vehicles with long trailers (etc...) looking to take a less curvy road....from the junction of HWY 63 and HWY 27, go left (south) on HWY 27 and into Elgin and then go right (west) on HWY 52......which will take you over to Jamestown and you can use the directions above.
(3) Regardless if which directions you use from above, once you reach the fork of 154 and 297 and have taken 154 north, look for a green "TN division of forestry" sign on the left about 2 miles past the fork. That is Black House Mountain road and should be marked with a white sign with read writing (if the rednacks haven't ripped it down). Turn left on BHM road and go about 4 miles to the fork of "BHM" and "Store 14" road.....stay to the left on BHM. Go about another mile or so and the trailhead starts at a fork to the right.
Here are a couple of pic's. I'll post more later after I get them downloaded.
This is just one of numerous rock formations and natural bridges/arches in the area.
Here's the boy all tuckered out after a long day of riding.
