New Park.... this is great news!!!

[Ghost]

This is near the old Callantee Park. I hope it happens. Will be a nice middle of the road area for the SEC to meet.

Doe Mountain Recreation Area is slated to open in April 2013 according to Johnson County, TN May Larry Potter who I just spoke with on the phone.

Doe Mountain is an 8,600 acre property that has been acquired by the state of TN and will be managed by Johnson County for outdoor recreation. OHV access, hiking, mountain biking, horseback riding and more will be offered on the mountain.

The Doe Mountain Recreation Board Of Authority has been created and a charter, bylaws, officers, logo, seal, website all approved. Mapping of the mountain is being done now in preparation for a spring 2013 opening.

The terrain is similar to the Callalantee OHV property that used to be an OHV park outside of Mountain City, TN.

A visitor center similar to the Black Mountain OHV park in Evarts, KY is planned and permits will be on a daily or yearly basis. At least two access points are planned with the main visitor center being off of Highway 67 (Doe Valley Rd) and a secondary entrance off of Highway 167.

http://www.thetomahawk.com/Detail.php?Cat=LOCALNEWS&ID=59810

 

[Cottontail]

Nice. I never rode Callalantee, but this park is going to be about 2000 acres larger than Harlan.

Looking forward to learning more about this.

Is this a land use thing that the SEC could be involved in sponsoring, or assisting with? Let's get in on the ground floor.

 

[Ghost]

Nice. I never rode Callalantee, but this park is going to be about 2000 acres larger than Harlan.

Looking forward to learning more about this.

Is this a land use thing that the SEC could be involved in sponsoring, or assisting with? Let's get in on the ground floor.

Larger then Callantee too. It has always been my opnion that we need to reserve our efforts for Public land. This is more of a private venture IMHO.

 

[katuah]

This is in no way a private venture.

"[In June 2012] The Nature Conservancy and the state of Tennessee completed an $8.8 million deal that puts Doe Mountain's 8,600 acres into state ownership with the understanding that the land will be managed both for multiple-use recreation as well as natural resource protection."

http://www.knoxnews.com/news/2012/jun/04/nature-conservancy-and-state-charting-new-path/?print=1

Supposedly 17 miles of existing "Jeep trails."

 

[87manche]

this is fawesome.

 

[Cnickgo]

"Acquired by the State of Tn and managed by Johnson County". I'd say public.

This is great news, I am excited to see how this land goes. Wheeling at Callalantee was awesome, they just didn't have sufficient facilities. It is a good middle location for the SEC to gather.

I will definitely be looking into what can do for this new trail system. At the very least, a trail adoption system like URE should be considered.

 

[UNCC_99XJ]

I'm very interested in seeing what this place has to offer once they're open.

Mark this one down in the record books guys...the day where it was announced an ORV park will be OPENING instead of closing! arty:

 

[The Hard Struggler]

Never wheeled callalantee, hope to see this place in person!

Great news to hear of a new place to wheel, but I don't put much faith in anything 'state' run.
It will only take one group to offer 'The State' a better deal, or fuss because our tires look to mean and it all goes swirling.

 

[Cnickgo]

Never wheeled callalantee, hope to see this place in person!

Great news to hear of a new place to wheel, but I don't put much faith in anything 'state' run.
It will only take one group to offer 'The State' a better deal, or fuss because our tires look to mean and it all goes swirling.

This is why it's crucial to get the right people involved from the start. Any new public land deserves the best we can offer to have half a chance of staying open. We have examples of well run and maintained trails such as Harlan and URE, and we have examples of poorly handled such as Tellico.

Note... I don't want to bring up a big argument or whining about Tellico, simply stating there were mistakes made on our (ohv users) end that we can learn from.

 

[Ghost]

I found this on NC4x4 and its still in the planning starting stages. There is another website that was linked in and they are saying just ATV's and UTV's. So IDK if it's something we will get to ride or not. Anything like Harlan in NC or TN I will try and go to on a regular basis. 7 - 8 hours to KY is a once a year trip.... what I would not give for a Tellico now.... So glad I made that trip every summer.

 

[Ghost]

More stuff posted:

http://www.doemountaintrails.com/article.php?id=60

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kfYuNjumWTI&feature=player_embedded

Might not be what we want but I'm all for "new" places to ride.