"THE CLIFFS" Insane Terrain 9-26-09

**B2CARPEN** · 09-29-2009, 10:04 AM

Cliffs Insane Terrain

I went with a small group down to The Cliffs off-road terrain park in Marseilles IL last Saturday and had an AWESOME time! The park is located in Northern IL about a couple hours west from Chicago and contains over 300 acres of forest, cliffs, creeks, and obstacles (rock piles, tires, logs, ect). The trails vary from easy, moderate, to extreme and can definitely put your wheeling skills to the test. It rained all day Friday so the park was nice and muddy which made even the easiest trails challenging and fun! We got there a little after 10 AM, registered our rigs, and hit the trails by 11 AM.

Our group consisted of 4 rigs (Jon, Drew, Bill, and myself) with 4 passengers... by far the best group I have ever wheeled with and I look forward to many more wheeling trips with these guys soon again!

Jon's rig - Green YJ w/ 4.5" RE suspension and winch
Bill's rig (and Tim) - Green TJ w/ 4" full traction suspension and winch
Drew's rig - Red LJ Rubicon w/ stock suspension
My Rig - Silver TJ w/ RC 3.25" suspension and RC 1.25" BL

This park was absolutely amazing and I took some pics throughout the day to show off later on... so I hope you enjoy them

Additional pictures taken by Dina and Drew's daughter Angela... they did an amazing job!!

EDIT: The trail report is now complete with all pictures taken from that day

**B2CARPEN** · 09-29-2009, 10:05 AM

Starting off nice and clean... but not for long That's Jon up front in his YJ and Drew in his stock red rubi LJ

It wasn't long before we had to pull out the winch! That's Justin tightening the line to my rig

Not too far down the trail we got held up by a large group in front of us

Drew decided to try and find away around the hold up... lucky guy has lockers!

On the move again but still behind the huge group that was slowing us down. We eventually got around them by taking a detour through some side trails.. Jon took the lead!

**B2CARPEN** · 09-29-2009, 10:07 AM

We decided to head towards the creek on the other side of the park which was by far some of the most scenic trails we hit all day! That's Bill and Jon up ahead w/ Drew following close behind

Then I jumped up in front of the group and took us back to land.

Tight squeeze between some trees!!

Jon flexing out his rig... he's got one "trail ready" YJ that's for sure!

I'm up infront of the pack a little ways... these trails are just amazing! Here's some pics of me wheelin in the mud

**B2CARPEN** · 09-29-2009, 10:09 AM

The group is back together again... still got more terrain to explore

And then it wasn't long before I got stuck... good thing we had two rigs with winches!

After I was recovered we moved on towards some steeper terrain

**B2CARPEN** · 09-29-2009, 10:18 AM

I have to say that Drew did an amazing job wheeling his stock rubi through these trails but I did catch him slip... literally! It's ok Drew... you're still cool in my book

Here's Bill's rig all tied up helping Jon and Justin out of a tight spot. He's a master at recovery and put his skills to the test today that's for sure!

It seemed like Jon was looking for something more challenging... well he found it!

Time to break out the shovel!

Come on!!! Almost out!! You know you are giving it your all when you are smoking the tires on the branches and mud LOL!

Jon's warn winch was UNBELIEVABLE... pulled him right out of that mess with some help from the group. Warn is the only way to go!

**B2CARPEN** · 09-29-2009, 10:21 AM

Drew's 1st recovery!... Jon's 4th time stuck LOL

After pulling back into the lot, I found some rocks to flex on... nothing too crazy since I still need some skids underneath

And that about wraps up the report! It seems we had a lot of pics but after looking back there's just so much more that we didn't capture. It was hard for us and our spotters to take these photos since the trails were a little slick and keeping us focused. I plan on making a run to the Cliffs again soon hopefully with the same group of great guys! I'll be sure to complete a report with how that goes as well.

Thanks for looking!

creepycrawly · 09-29-2009, 10:45 AM

Nice pictures man. A little muddy for my taste, but it looks like you all enjoyed yourselves! Thanks for sharing.

**B2CARPEN** · 09-29-2009, 10:46 AM

More pics will be added to the above posts shortly as soon as I get them from the other guys in the group so keep coming back to check for updates!

Thanks for looking

**B2CARPEN** · 09-29-2009, 10:51 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by creepycrawly

Nice pictures man. A little muddy for my taste, but it looks like you all enjoyed yourselves! Thanks for sharing.

Thanks

It was very muddy since it rained pretty hard the day before but that's what made it fun! It was only scetchy when we hit the narrow cliffs and were slipping around trying to climb up and down some of the trails but nothing too difficult. I definately spent all day Sunday cleaning off the underneath which wasn't as much fun LOL.

Capricorn · 09-29-2009, 01:40 PM

Awesome pics Brad!

**Polecat** · 09-29-2009, 02:17 PM

Nice pics. That mud looks thicker than wet concrete.

Toms87 · 09-29-2009, 02:27 PM

Those are exactly the kind of trails I like. I'd probably try to avoid wet days but a little mud I'm cool with.

**B2CARPEN** · 09-29-2009, 02:49 PM

Thanks guys! I'm glad these pics turned out ok. I will be taking plenty more on the next run

**Filthy-Beast** · 09-29-2009, 09:25 PM

Thanks doing this report. It sure was a great time.

The trails were a little muddy but not real bad. I can't wait to go again, hopefully I'll have my TT with Rockmen skids on, I hate that shovel it took hours to get all the mud and clay out it.

My daughter's favorite pic is the of me on my butt in the mud

**B2CARPEN** · 09-29-2009, 09:33 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Red-Rubi-LJ

Thanks for doing this report. It sure was a great time.

The trails were a little muddy but not real bad. I can't wait to go again, hopefully I'll have my TT with Rockmen skids on, I hate that shovel it took hours to get all the mud and clay out it.

My daughter's favorite pic is the of me on my butt in the mud

Hey NP Drew! I had a great time too and hope we can make another run to the cliffs again sometime soon! I'm hoping for the 17th or 24th of Oct so keep those days open. Your rubi will be amazing once you get those mods done... I can't wait to see it!

PM me a link to your pics and I'll make sure to get them edited and posted up in here. BTW - that's my fav pics as well HAHA!! Sorry but I had to throw that one in here