Brito
Well-Known Member
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- #1
As a newbie to off-roading I’ve only taken my RR off road a few times, and only to one off road park with challenging trails. My first foray into trails was at Hidden Falls Adventure Park in Marble Falls, Texas. It was fun and challenging, but probably not the best environment for inexperienced 4-wheelers like myself. This was mostly due to my lack of experience and confidence in the vehicle’s capabilities. After reading a review here about Hot Springs Off-Road Park my wife and I booked a VRBO on Lake Hamilton and headed to Arkansas. We booked the same guide service I read about on this forum. Donnie Jeep met us at the park at 10:00 AM for a half day tour with his wife, Natasha. I had already deflated my tires to 20 psi, so we were able to start driving the trails right at 10:00. Don has walkie-talkies programmed with private channels so we were in constant contact without yelling or stopping unless we wanted to.
My RR is almost mechanically bone stock. I have the Ford flash tune, RCI aluminum skid plates, and I’ve relocated the trailer plug with the Adventure Labs RR kit. Everything else is stock. I don’t (yet) have a skid for my gas tank or the rear differential.
We started the day at “the playground”, which is basically two steep mounds of packed dirt and a stand of trees at the top of a rock slope between 15 and 19 degrees. We worked on checking the angle of attack, clearances, and checking to see when and if the lockers were needed. I was immediately impressed that 1) the lockers weren’t needed, even on the slab of quartz, 2) my RR fit (albeit tightly) between the post oaks at the top and 3) my turn radius was not too different than Don’s shorter wheelbase Jeep.
After the playground we took to the trails. In a nutshell the RR was able to easily handle all the two-diamond trails, including the Snake Trail, Compass Canyon, and others. I chose to bypass one three-diamond trail named Bilstein. Don was sure the RR could make it, but since I didn’t have rock sliders installed I didn’t want to chance the narrow, rock slab bottom chute. If anyone has navigated that trail without rock sliders, I’d like to know how it went for you! Other than that one trail we followed Don’s jeep turn for turn. There was one switchback I had to three-point turn that the Jeep made without backing. I really can’t overstate how sure footed and just plain impressive the performance of the stock RR is. It just did everything I asked it to do. We did use the lockers on some steep loose rock slopes, and the RR just goes! With a couple more skid plates and rock sliders I’m confident the three-diamond trails would be navigable. With 35s and a winch I’m pretty sure it could climb Mount Everest. Okay, maybe not, but like I said- it’s impressive.
I can’t recommend Hot Springs enough. The employees at the store were helpful and friendly, the store is well stocked with things you might have missed or forgotten. The bathrooms were clean (the wife was happy about that) and the air station worked great too. The trails are very clearly marked, and easy to see. I was a little sad that a couple of the Jeep Badge of Honor trails were removed from the BOH program as they added new and more difficult trails, but that’s not why we went anyway.
While we were on the trails we saw deer, squirrel, and birds of all sorts as well as amazing scenic overlooks like an area known as “the swing”.
Lastly, I have to say that Don and Natasha’s guide service was outstanding. They shot photos every step of the way (as you can see), and couldn’t have been more friendly and patient. You can tell Don knows that place like the back of his hand. When we go back I feel certain I could go out solo with tons more confidence now that I know the RR’s limitations or lack thereof, but honestly I will probably hire Don again since we only did a half day this time and I know he can show me a lot more we just didn’t have enough time to get to.
One last note- we went after a rain the previous day. The weather was warm and overcast, and we went on a week day. We had the park almost to ourselves except for a Jeep team from Florida and a couple of motorcycles. I highly recommend going during the week if you get the chance. I could tell with three lanes for incoming vehicles that they get busy on the weekends! I would recommend Donnie Jeep and Hot Springs Off-Road Park to anyone from beginner to veteran trail wheelers if you haven’t been. I know we’ll be going back!
My RR is almost mechanically bone stock. I have the Ford flash tune, RCI aluminum skid plates, and I’ve relocated the trailer plug with the Adventure Labs RR kit. Everything else is stock. I don’t (yet) have a skid for my gas tank or the rear differential.
We started the day at “the playground”, which is basically two steep mounds of packed dirt and a stand of trees at the top of a rock slope between 15 and 19 degrees. We worked on checking the angle of attack, clearances, and checking to see when and if the lockers were needed. I was immediately impressed that 1) the lockers weren’t needed, even on the slab of quartz, 2) my RR fit (albeit tightly) between the post oaks at the top and 3) my turn radius was not too different than Don’s shorter wheelbase Jeep.
After the playground we took to the trails. In a nutshell the RR was able to easily handle all the two-diamond trails, including the Snake Trail, Compass Canyon, and others. I chose to bypass one three-diamond trail named Bilstein. Don was sure the RR could make it, but since I didn’t have rock sliders installed I didn’t want to chance the narrow, rock slab bottom chute. If anyone has navigated that trail without rock sliders, I’d like to know how it went for you! Other than that one trail we followed Don’s jeep turn for turn. There was one switchback I had to three-point turn that the Jeep made without backing. I really can’t overstate how sure footed and just plain impressive the performance of the stock RR is. It just did everything I asked it to do. We did use the lockers on some steep loose rock slopes, and the RR just goes! With a couple more skid plates and rock sliders I’m confident the three-diamond trails would be navigable. With 35s and a winch I’m pretty sure it could climb Mount Everest. Okay, maybe not, but like I said- it’s impressive.
I can’t recommend Hot Springs enough. The employees at the store were helpful and friendly, the store is well stocked with things you might have missed or forgotten. The bathrooms were clean (the wife was happy about that) and the air station worked great too. The trails are very clearly marked, and easy to see. I was a little sad that a couple of the Jeep Badge of Honor trails were removed from the BOH program as they added new and more difficult trails, but that’s not why we went anyway.
While we were on the trails we saw deer, squirrel, and birds of all sorts as well as amazing scenic overlooks like an area known as “the swing”.
Lastly, I have to say that Don and Natasha’s guide service was outstanding. They shot photos every step of the way (as you can see), and couldn’t have been more friendly and patient. You can tell Don knows that place like the back of his hand. When we go back I feel certain I could go out solo with tons more confidence now that I know the RR’s limitations or lack thereof, but honestly I will probably hire Don again since we only did a half day this time and I know he can show me a lot more we just didn’t have enough time to get to.
One last note- we went after a rain the previous day. The weather was warm and overcast, and we went on a week day. We had the park almost to ourselves except for a Jeep team from Florida and a couple of motorcycles. I highly recommend going during the week if you get the chance. I could tell with three lanes for incoming vehicles that they get busy on the weekends! I would recommend Donnie Jeep and Hot Springs Off-Road Park to anyone from beginner to veteran trail wheelers if you haven’t been. I know we’ll be going back!
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