hale mtn

[jrhall]

Didn't want to make official completely but just letting yall know.. this will prolly be the last year hale mtn will be open. With aop having events with big money payouts every weekend... this mom and pop park can't stay open with no riders. So if ya happen to see any events this year up there, enjoy it while ya can. If and when I hear for sure of their closing date, I will post up.

 

[bad80cj]

Thanks for the heads up JR. Sad to hear this. I always wanted to ride there. :'(

 

[zukiscott]

Yes this is sad to hear I,ve only wheeled and camped there once and enjoyed every aspect of the park but its 5.5 hours from my house.. I want to wheel there some more..maybe the volume will pick up for them.

My wheelin has been cut down a lot because of my 2 favorite and close to me parks shuttin down "MSORP and GAP Auburn" so another park anywhere closing is not good news.

 

[TacomaJD]

A lot of it has to do with how they market their rides......they basically don't! With turn outs like the Feb Jam is capable of producing at Hale Mtn, it's not AOP's fault or any other parks' fault that they can't keep the park open. Don't get me wrong, the times I've talked to them the few times that I've rode there, they all seem like super great people and have the perfect setup with that little pavilion area on top of the mtn. But ****, if nobody ever hears anything about the park then it's more likely to get looked over and plans be made to wheel somewhere else.
All wheelers need is a reason to get together. I put it to someone else like this, one time....

"Hey Joe, you wanna go wheeling this weekend? Me and a few guys are thinking about Hale Mtn, or somewhere like that."

"Well Dave, you know they are having that Halloween Ride (or insert any other titled ride here) over at Hawk Pride. Sounds like it'd be pretty fun."

Now which one do you think Dave, Joe, and the boys are going to attend? Events don't always have to be races or competitions, just an organized event, that gives a reason for several to gather there. The thing about going to an event, is you are likely going to see several others that you may know or know of, on the trails, and may even end up joining their wheeling group. Where as just saying "open weekend" it's gonna be low traffic and you are likely only gonna be wheeling with the folks you begin with in your group.

I like Hale Mtn, and have wanted to go several more times but usually end up going somewhere else when visiting Hale is in question, due to most everybody else I wheel with wanting to go somewhere else.

Plainly put, they are not involved enough in the wheeling community. You have to reach out to your customers, not the other way around. That's kinda like the douche at Hollytree just expecting to open a park and people pay to ride and cut down trees making trails for him while he does nothing to promote the park....except Hale owners are cool and not a douche. It's sad to see it go because it is a GREAT crawling park, but maybe if they put all the land up for sale, someone will buy it and try to keep it open. Another thing is the parking there. I'm sure JohnG and others with motorhomes would have wheeled there a bunch over the years, but have not due to lack of accomodations.

 

[John Galbreath Jr.]

Good job Josh. Perfect reply. It is easy to create a large ride. Just post up here and get it on the calendar. Then work the thread to keep it on top. Sure the HPO Halloween ride will be a great one and is has only been in the works for 2 or 3 weeks.

 

[TacomaJD]

Good job Josh. Perfect reply. It is easy to create a large ride. Just post up here and get it on the calendar. Then work the thread to keep it on top. Sure the HPO Halloween ride will be a great one and is has only been in the works for 2 or 3 weeks.

Rigging up something like Choccolocco has got where you can ride virtually anytime whether Trey is there or not is another thing to increase revenue. Sure it works off the honor system and you'd always have a few cunts that don't pay and ride anyway, but I think Trey has way more that actually pay. He has a good setup with that self pay gate fee deal.

It wouldn't take much to change a few things there, come out with a publicized article to the tune of "Big Things Changing For Hale Mtn" Now open every weekend. Improved parking and facilities. A few preplanned events already marked on our calendar, and others to be announced later. Night riding allowed! Food served Saturdays between the hours of 11 and 2pm. New Hale Mtn labeled merchandise now available via our new website and on site at the park.

You gotta keep up with times or you will be defeated by times. But now if this is more a story of they are just tired of all the upkeep and everything else that comes along with park ownership, then hopefully they can sell it to a deserving owner and it remain open, and I wouldn't blame them for selling in that case.

 

[wont work]

Same thing going on at Biscuit Mtn. It is in the same zip code as me and I don't know of half the rides they have and when they are open. To add, I am friends with the park, both owners wives, and one of the owners on FB but never know till the Friday or day of an event. It's a small park but enough hills to keep a guy busy for a day if he dosent take a rest and some are very serious. I would say a little smaller than AOP. With some good advertising they could have a great place and could host big events with the parking they have and being about 40 min from Tuscaloosa and the same from Birmingham. For example they have a big ride next wkend and I just learned about it today.

 

[jrhall]

Im not placing the blame solely on aop. . . I think it's more times have change, I don't keep up with the offroad scene that much anymore.. lost what passion I had for it. I use to help orchestrate rides up there. Their son died that helped run the place. They're old and ms.peggy isn't in the best of health. They tried to have something for labor day and had 2 folks on atvs. They can't justify keeping it open for riding. They're not selling it by no means. They'll keep their land but there won't be anymore riding.

I've seen it first hand however, rides scheduled for an array of parks, and aop is having some race, comp, money payout... the racers are not the ones paying the bills, but the **** ton of spectators. It's hard to compete with folks who throw some race on the same hills weekend after weekend... i.e. settc Morris mtn deal

 

[TacomaJD]

Yeah I knew about the son's passing, tough deal there bc it sounded like he did a lot for the park. I wish them the best, the main thing is for them to do what will make them happy. It would suck to lose another place to ride, just like MSORP and The GAP, but people's outlooks, priorities, and other aspects of their personal lives are always changing....and with that change, comes change that will affect others (us wheelers). Just part of the cycle.

 

[CHASMAN9]

This sucks, good park, great trails, but low interest due to other parks growing with the sport has greatly affected the commitment to this park. I totally understand about the owners interest or lack of due to the passing of their son. BUT, the lack of conveniences, accessibility, promotion and up keep, have been the downfall of this once great park, not the fact that AOP is having a race. "Build it and they will come" applies greatly here. In it's day, Hale mountain had it going on. They offer GREAT trails for all levels of riding and have even held successful comps there in the past, but you don't go to a park because you feel sorry for the owner. JR, you have always been the reason I make the trip up there brother. You have always been a close friend of mine and have hated every moment that you have digressed from the sport, but I understood when you took your leave to pursue your career interest...
I know first hand how hard it is to maintain my little piece of property I live on, but could not fathom how difficult it would be to keep up a public park. The sport has evolved greatly to the racing side but IMO will inevitably enhance the sport. Trail riding is still there ( I need to resort to that or put training wheels on my buggy), but is being overshadowed by these events. I have always enjoyed trail riding with John G and all you other boneheads, and will continue to do so in the future as my time permits, till then

ps. JR, "the racers are not the ones paying the bills, but the **** ton of spectators"' I call bullshit. we pay way more on our entrance fees and repair bills at a comp and without sponsorship (nobody loves me enough) lol

 

[TacomaJD]

Repair bills? How is that park revenue related? Racers may pay more for entry fees, but there's also 10-20 times more spectators attending those races that pay a smaller fee, but ultimately I would guess total to be much more than racer gate fees? Then there's always their consumption of concessions if they are available or any other park offered product they may purchase while there (camp fees, rv hookup, supplies, etc). They aren't carrying the full weight of the park's revenue for races, but I know charging $20 a head to get in whether you are riding or driving for non racers, like I paid the last SRRS race I attended at Choccolocco, that **** adds up to a fawkload of money! But that was last year, gate fees may be different now? I try to avoid the races. Too much of a cluster fawk of dumbass trail blocking cocksuckers lol.

 

[CHASMAN9]

Repair bills? How is that park revenue related? Racers may pay more for entry fees, but there's also 10-20 times more spectators attending those races that pay a smaller fee, but ultimately I would guess total to be much more than racer gate fees? Then there's always their consumption of concessions if they are available or any other park offered product they may purchase while there (camp fees, rv hookup, supplies, etc). They aren't carrying the full weight of the park's revenue for races, but I know charging $20 a head to get in whether you are riding or driving for non racers, like I paid the last SRRS race I attended at Choccolocco, that **** adds up to a fawkload of money! But that was last year, gate fees may be different now? I try to avoid the races. Too much of a cluster fawk of dumbass trail blocking cocksuckers lol.

My point was not that our repair bills benefit the park what so ever, but it is something that we incur willfully as we abuse ourselves and equipment so the spectators can get there monies worth of entertainment. Yes, this is by our choice and we do take pride in what we do, but whether it's entertaining or not, we try to give you your monies worth.
The point here is that another park is going under and that is painful to watch as a racer and a trail rider. I've enjoyed the times I've gone there and would still attend and support them when time allows me too. I agree that it sucks sitting in a clusterfucktrailjam for hours waiting, that is why I decided to go to the other side to see what it's like to compete, but this is not about me or the other racers, it's about a park struggling to keep its trails open and the possible reasons why it is suffering. I'm not in this to degrade a park but to point out some of what I feel are the reasons why it is struggling in hopes that other parks can learn from this so we don't lose any more. Race or ride, we are all in this for the fun of it. Let's enjoy the ones we have and help the ones we can.

 

[TacomaJD]

Re:

I see what you're saying.