Appleton Area Recreation Park

[huntmup]

Has anyone been to this park lately?

I here they doubled it's size.

Thinking about heading out there this saturday.

Thanks

Dan

[SomethingFishy*]

Never been there before. We may heading up to the Moose River trails in Outing,MN to ride this weekend. Our ATV club is going but I won't decide until Thursday or Friday.

[Dozer]

I havent been there latley but I went a couple years ago and wasnt impressed at all. Pretty small. Would be alright if you only had to drive around the corner but not much more than that.

[sparcebag]

I read in the Willmar paper awhile back thats it really alot larger and advanced trails.Havent been there tho.

[huntmup]

I am going to be in the Morton/Olivia area over the weekend and Appleton is the closest place to go.

My nephew wants to spend the day together and throw a little mud around with his 08, popo 500 befor he heads to IRAQ.

Dan

[huntmup]

Dozer, I talked to Mike Johnson from the DNR. He said they expanded the park in 2007, it is now twice the size. It has more mud & water holes, some technical and about 30 miles of trails.

Dan

[Dave S]

If the Appleton area has doubled in size, I would expect maybe 10 miles of trails combined. I've been there once and doubt if I'd drive the 2 hours to go back.

It's great for those who live within an hour, but I can get onto better/longer trails in the same time spent getting there.

Be sure to post back how it was and if possible, post some pics. It would be nice to see how it's changed over the past few years.

[Paul]

Was In Appelton last year at the convention. They did an fantastic Job with what they had to work with. They took and old park with limited room and put some amazing effort into a ATV on OHV park. I found the mud fun, the technical trails and challenge and the scenic trails just that scenic. Seeing as how you can not ride an ATV in the Ditch south of MN 10, Appelton is a great idea. It is worth the trip at least once. Then you can at least form your OWN opinion.

[Dozer]

Dozer, I talked to Mike Johnson from the DNR. He said they expanded the park in 2007, it is now twice the size. It has more mud & water holes, some technical and about 30 miles of trails.

Dan

If they doubled the size and you are in the area anyway it wouldnt be a bad place to go. Give us a report when you get back and let us know how it is!

[landscaper]

Give us a full report if you would...??

Are the trails UTV ready??? i would like to take my rhino up there some time

whats the trails up by Pine River MN??

ANyone been there?? worth it?

thanks

[huntmup]

My 19 year old nephew and I were out to do one thing, and that my friends, was to have FUN. Mission accomplished.

We did not care about scenery, if we wanted to see something different we would just go the other direction. Grabbing some air and finding mud was our goal.

As we were unloading in the parking lot, five wheelers pulled in for a break. These guys were covered from head to tow in mud. My nephew and I look at each other and just grinned. The guys were from the Brookings SD area and this was their third trip to the park this year. They said the last trip was a month ago and there was water every where.

The park has a little of everything: sand hills, wooded trails with hills, low ground with water, a track to grab lots of air, Motocross and ORV trails.

This is part of the Enduro and Ridge Runs track, lots of air to grab and the SD boys said in June it was full of water and a flippen blast.

Lots of low ground water.

and we did find mud

You can see I had 5 feet to go and I would have been out, so close

Our opinion on the park is we would do the 1 1/4 hour drive again.

If I was not staying out at the farm for the weekend, I would probably go north to ride for the day.

Dan

[Dave S]

Looks like you had a great time. Thanks for posting the pics.

There's no better way to promote our riding areas than to show people actual photos.

I was out there a few years ago and was honestly bored with it within a couple hours. Looks like they made some good improvements.

[SomethingFishy*]

We need good before and after shot of your wheeler before it's all cleaned up.

[mozy]

huntmup- I saw you heading south through Milan on HWY 7 after your ride(the 4 PIAAs give it away), looks like you guys found mud up there. I only live 10 minutes away and try get up there a few times a year and it's always a blast. They have definitely made improvements the last few years, when it first opened I was also bored after an hour or so, but now there is a lot more area to ride and a lot more mud. If you want mud you need to make a trip in April, the entire place is sloppy fun.

[landscaper]

UTV allowed there??

thanks

[Dave S]

According to the DNR site, Class I and Class II ATVs are allowed.

[huntmup]

Looks like you had a great time. Thanks for posting the pics.

There's no better way to promote our riding areas than to show people actual photos.

I was out there a few years ago and was honestly bored with it within a couple hours. Looks like they made some good improvements.

LEP7MM,

Yes, it was a ton of fun. I think next time I will take the grill along and make a day of it. Three hours of hitting it hard with a short break is to much for me. My 19 year old nephew could not even make the 1 1/4 hour drive home without his head bobbing.

Talking with Mike Johnson from the DNR he said they are open for suggestions to improvments on the park.

Dan

[huntmup]

We need good before and after shot of your wheeler before it's all cleaned up.

Fishy, here are the before pics.

Dan

[huntmup]

We need good before and after shot of your wheeler before it's all cleaned up.

And here are the after.

Dan

[huntmup]

mozy,

Give us a post the next time you head to the park. Maybe some of us can get together for a day of fun.

Dan

[huntmup]

Trails are marked with signs for class I, class II or both.

Dan

[SomethingFishy*]

That is a darn fine looking machine (clean and dirty). Looks like you may need to stiffen up your rear suspension or possiblly upgrade the springs, I had to when i added my BigHorns.

I also need to talk to you about your PIAA lights, they look like they could be exactly what I am looking for, price may be the determining factor. I think they would be nice so you can adjust them all individually. Although trees may have an adverse affect on them.

[huntmup]

That is a darn fine looking machine (clean and dirty). Looks like you may need to stiffen up your rear suspension or possiblly upgrade the springs, I had to when i added my BigHorns.

I also need to talk to you about your PIAA lights, they look like they could be exactly what I am looking for, price may be the determining factor. I think they would be nice so you can adjust them all individually. Although trees may have an adverse affect on them.

Thanks.

The rear suspension is maxxed out. I cought some huge hang time at the park and I tell ya after one jump there may have been more then mud on my popo. (no pun intended) Rear tire just nicked fender on that landing. My Bad.

I will send you an email and we can talk about the PIAA setup.

If you stick to climbing hills insted of trees the PIAAs will be just fine.

Dan

[mozy]

How does your electrical system hold up with the 4 PIAAs? I would think it would be quite taxing being that they're 35(?) watts a piece, and you have a winch. Looks great though and I'm sure it lights up like the sun.

[huntmup]

How does your electrical system hold up with the 4 PIAAs? I would think it would be quite taxing being that they're 35(?) watts a piece, and you have a winch. Looks great though and I'm sure it lights up like the sun.

I installed a set of Xtreme White Plus SMR Driving and a set of Xtreme White Plus SMR Fog lights. They are H3 55 watt = 110 watt XWP.

The driving lights are running off the high beam and the fog lights are off the low beam. I was not sure if the system could handle two sets simultaneously. But that would sure light up the world. Plus I wanted a set of each. They do look sweet

I installed the PIAA switches on the pod.