Father's Day Trip: Badlands

[Jeffro95]

On Saturday June 14th I took my twin 7-year old girls on their first offroad trip. The wife went along too. We went to the Badlands in Attica Indiana....my favorite offroad spot. I say favorite, but in reallity it's the only spot around here, besides the Ciffs, and I haven't been there yet.

I was concerned about the parks conditions, with all the storms and flooding that has hit the midwest of late. I e-mailed the park and they said things were good.

I didn't know for sure I'd be making the trip until late Friday night, as I was watching the forecast. Turns out things were great come Saturday morning.

We headed out at 8am, with the sun shining and the temperature in the high 60's. I had to run with the soft top on, and windows closed. Oh, I filled up with gas before leaving at a cost of $4.12 per gallon, for regular. The trip started south bound on I-39.

The girls had their portable DVD player hooked up, and their Nintendo DS's with them, so they were set for the 3 1/2 hour trip.

Once we hit El Paso, IL, I rolled up the back window and unzipped the driver and passenger side windows. There was a slight tail wind pushing me along, so that helped with gas mileage. We stayed off the interstate and headed east on Hwy 24, which took us into Indiana, all the way to Kentland, which is at Hwy 41. I filled up in Kentland, at a cost of $4.19 per gallon...like $60. From Kentland it's about 40 miles south on 41 to Attica.

We arrrived at the park at 12:30pm, Indiana time. After registering we parked in the upper lot to air down, remove the door uppers, and rear windows. I air down to 10psi, in case you're wondering. I brought along my pvc brace I made to support my trail cover (keeps rain from puddling), and put the upper door halves on top of that and the rollbar. A couple of zipties held the uppers in place all day.


Here's the wife (Tracey) and kids (Ashlynn and Mallory), ready to go!

The path we at Jeeps Gone Wild usually take from the upper lot to the lower lot was now closed. A brand new fence had been put up, so now the road was the only way down, bummer.

We made our way to the quarry and found it pretty much empty. We saw a couple of other Jeeps, but nothing more. Conditions were good. It was pretty much dry, just a few puddles here and there. I was actually surprised.

I played around in the quarry for quite awhile. I took the girls up some nice hills, rock faces. There was some screaming. I couldn't find anyone to hit the trails with, so I decided the creek was going to pretty much be it.

I headed off into the woods, and to creek.


A view from the rocks, over looking the creek.


Me and the kids after a trip down the creek.

After having made it down the creek I decided to go right back up it. The water was moving a little faster than my last trip to the park, and was a little deeper, but still posed no real threats. It's a nice safe, fun trail. The girls loved it.


This is where you climb out of the creek when coming back. As you can see it's dry.


This gives you an idea of what the "puddles" looked like.


This one does the same.

I didn't get too many pictures, since I was driving, and there was nobody else to shoot, it kind of limited the picture taking. We got some video, which is posted in my profile. The kids had a part in filming some of it, so watch at your own risk. Part 4 shows me taking them up some of the rocks in the quarry.


We took a family shot before leaving the quarry.

We had lunch after coming back up the creek. We tried out the food stand in the lower lot. Fries and hotdogs. The regular fries are much better than the curly fries, IMO. After lunch we went back to the quarry, hitting a few side trails on the way. Ashlynn was ready to go home, but Mallory wanted to stay until 9pm. Me too. I decided to compromise. I took one last trip into the woods, and back down the creek.

We ran into a few Jeepers on the way to the creek, one of which had some pretty nasty suspension problems going on on his XJ. They were going to have to winch him out. It looked like it was going to take awhile. I couldn't stick around and help because the girls were getting restless. We made our way back down the creek, meeting a few more Jeepers along the way. Once out of the creek we called it a day.

Nothing like driving 3 1/2 hours to the park, spending 3 1/2 hours in the park, then driving another 3 1/2 hours home. It was worth it though, the girls loved it. Next time I take them it's going to be an over nighter...I'll just have to find a hotel with a pool to make them happy.

You guys from Jeeps Gone Wild should have joined me, that way I could have stayed until 9pm, since I would have been able to hit some more trails.

On the way home I fueld up in El Paso, at $3.96 per gallon. It was about $120 in fuel for the day, plus admission ($35), lunch ($20), t-shirt's ($75), memories...priceless.

Later!

[scrogg]

Nice trip report. It's great to see more families out playing in the Jeep.

Keep 'em coming.

[JpBill]

Looks like a lot of fun. Great pictures! Keep them coming.

[Camo Deere]

Great pics, looked like a lot of fun. Glad to see you had a great father's day.

[grogie]

Thanks for the report and what a way to spend Father's Day! Looked like a nice day with your family. It is tough hanging out in the Badlands by yourself, as I've gotten stuck several times doing just that! Once it took an XJ with a winch to free me...

Anyway, thanks for the photos too.

[conifers4]

Family wheeling, gotta love it! Great pics! Thanks for sharing

[GhostCav]

Thats awesome, that pic say's it all. Great to see wheeling being something for the whole family to enjoy & spend time together doing.

[CBlakeNS]

Looks enjoyable!

[Acidcold]

Can't wait till the 5th! Rig is all welded and ready to mud, hope it all holds together to make it back home in my jeep not a tow truck! Looks like you guys had a great time jeff!! see ya in a few weeks.

[TheEddie]

Looks like you guys had a blast. I hope this weather keeps up. Its been sunny 75-80 here for a week..

[Jeffro95]

Thanks for the kind words everyone. We did have a blast. I wish I had more pics to share, but when I kicked the wife out of the Jeep she was using the video camera...lol.

[HikerXJ]

(Chiming in rather late, I know)

The videos are fantastic! I guess only a parent of small kids can truly appreciate that (mine is 5 and he exhibits much of the same craziness as your daughters).

I'm taking him on his first outing this October at the French Lick Jeep Jamboree. Assuming he (and the XJ) survives, the Badlands will be next on our list. Maybe we can follow you around sometime (I'm all about family friendly wheeling).

[Jeffro95]

Originally Posted by HikerGPS

(Chiming in rather late, I know)

The videos are fantastic! I guess only a parent of small kids can truly appreciate that (mine is 5 and he exhibits much of the same craziness as your daughters).

Yep, those vids are pretty much a mom and dad thing. Good memories..they're keepers. The video camera wasn't...took it back the next day, got a better one.

Originally Posted by HikerGPS

I'm taking him on his first outing this October at the French Lick Jeep Jamboree. Assuming he (and the XJ) survives, the Badlands will be next on our list. Maybe we can follow you around sometime (I'm all about family friendly wheeling).

As for wheeling...the more the merrier....always welcome. I hope to get the kids back out there for my clubs Halloween ride.

[dwilliamsceg]

Nice trip, good looking jeep, and beautiful family!

[Jeffro95]

Originally Posted by dwilliamsceg

Nice trip, good looking jeep, and beautiful family!

Why thank you.