Trail Runs - Sleepy Hole & Bennetts Creek - Suffolk VA

[Ramination]

Anybody want to do a trail run this weekend? Sleepy Hole Park in Suffolk about 10 minutes north of 58 has some decent hiking trails, make for some decent trail runs. Not a lot of rock, more like...well a trail run. Roots and hills, dirt, beach, sand, and a bit of mud!

I usually go out there by myself at least once a week and on the weekend, when my junk aint broke! Post up here if you'd like to partake. I am also going to check out a different park a few minutes away from there tonight, will report back if its any good.

Park Address:
4700 Sleepy Hole Rd, Suffolk, VA 23435


Plenty of parking, dogs welcome. I live about 15 minutes away, so breakage can be fixed and is encouraged

Pictures from last run







my lab usually guides the trail run.



EDIT: Please excuse Tapatalk's lack of ability to host pictures, I will try to get them sorted out.

[Ramination]

As mentioned in the first post, last night I went and checked out another park for RC goodness.

Location:
Bennetts Creek Park
1000 Bennetts Creek Park Rd.
Suffolk, VA 23435

By the time I got there I only had ~45 minutes due to the dwindling daylight hours, however I found that there are some AWESOME hill climbs here. The park is home to a disc golf course, so the main trail is beat down pretty good but lots of rough terrain. I only made it through 4 of the 18 holes, so there is a lot of unexplored terrain here. The "trail" runs around and through the golf course from what I can tell, with plenty of off-shoots for RC fun. The course is bordered by a creek (hence the name) so there are great banks to climb on and into the mud, if ya like

There is one hill in particular that is right off the side of the trail, its about a 1 foot vertical drop into a very long and steep hill that leads to a wall of trees, then mud and then the creek. I decided that if I could launch off the trail and land on the down slope it'd be pretty cool...and it was except I forgot how strong my drag brake is set, so as soon as I let off the throttle upon landing (to slow down before trees and creek) the rig went into endo mode...flipping what I counted was about 8 times before somehow bouncing past every tree and landing upside down in the mud at the bottom. Wish I had video, it was hilarious. 'Bout busted my ass climbing down the hill too, steep and slippery. Once I retrieved my rig, drove it to the top and launched it again, successfully this time.

Only got one picture, camera phone doesn't take pictures very well when its getting dark.



The park is behind a large neighborhood and has a boat ramp. Big field, dogs welcome. It is open sunrise to sunset, I assume mid-day would be the worst time for this location due to the disc golfers. When I got out there around 6:15 last night I saw 2 groups finishing up a game, so it wasn't too bad. As I was leaving (just after sunset) a cop was coming in to make sure everyone was out, for whatever thats worth.

I plan to head back out here this weekend, if anyone is interested.

[Ramination]

Went back to Bennetts Creek over the weekend. Found a dandy of a hill (pics below) that provided crawling goodness. Multiple lines up it from straight vertical to lines that an open differentailed rig could make...ok thats a lie, open diffs probably wouldn't get you off the beach but it has lines for everyone. Best to drive from the bottom of the hill, if you get on it hard and the tires grab your going over backwards and the water gets deep fast!

The dirt is good, roots plenty and a nice variety of off camber terrain.

Here are some pics of the days wheeling:

I am standing on the edge of the water, on the sand looking up at one side of the hill.







And two from a new HDR app on my phone








I'll be going back here for sure. I highly suggest bringing a scaler out here, although it'd be neat to see a comp rig on some of the steeper climbs. Shoot me a PM if your interested in meeting up, if I can't make it out I can still at least tell you where to find these spots.

[crawlVA]

hey man, i live down off 258 in Smithfield, im currently in the process of buying my first scaler(scx10). once it comes im definitely looking to come out

thanks, Justin

[Hoyta]

I'm down- I am in the process of building another scaler, and I have the plow boy Wraith being built for me
-Adam

[Ramination]

Great! Should be some fun runs. Let me know when you guys get things ready to go, I have a lot of travel for work in the upcoming weeks, but I should be home most weekends. I'm off to Michigan tomorrow through next week, Georgia the week after that and then Wisconsin the week after that...hope my rig is up for some travel!

Also, in the first picture on my above post, the one where my rig is sitting on top of the hill. Between my rig and the bench is a very very steep climb, I never ended up making the climb that day the pics were taken...not enough traction to crawl but too much traction to go southern buggy style (WOT). Well, the last time I went out was after some rain last week, it made the hill a bit slick but it allowed me to hammer down on the throttle...made it up and over the top of the climb once, out of five tries. The other four times I had to catch my tumbling rig before it bounced into the water. Being a bit slicker my tires didn't bite and send me over backwards however the climb isn't smooth, few decent sized craters coupled with wheels spinning mad made for an exciting climb! Ended up tearing up my side panels I made, blowing them off the body and denting them pretty good. oops All good though, this rig wasn't built for show

Anyway, I think we can get some real good follow the leader, or races up the hills/trails, or whatever going at either of these two parks. Not against going somewhere else either, these are just the best I have found so far.

[Ramination]

And another note. The Bennetts Creek place, the one with the disc golf course (and big hill) is very busy on the weekends mid-day from what I've seen. Early morning there are some golfers, not too many though, they are the more serious ones. Around 11:30-noon it gets very busy, almost no parking. People walking the trails, biking, golfing, geocaching, etc. Evening time it calms again, mostly teenagers golfing who don't give a hoot.

Sleepy hole is never busy unless there is something going on there (organized dog walk, horseshoe tournament, etc) so, if we do a run and make a day of it I'd recommend doing Sleepy Hole mid-day and Bennetts first thing in the morning, or in the afternoon depending on what time we meet. The parks aren't far apart (especially as the crow flies), takes 8 minutes or so to drive from one to the other due to the creek. Not too bad.

[crawlVA]

sounds good man, im really wanting to start a youtube channel specifically for crawling and scaling, so i should have a camera soon, so the more people that come out the better.

[Ramination]

Still going out here from time to time if anyones interested.

Sent from my DROIDX using Tapatalk

[blg041407]

Out on a morning run with Ram. Making the best of the rain.











I got one pic of Ram. I'm sure he will posting some pics soon.




Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[Ramination]

No trail pics from me, all mine were from the mudding and hillclimbing. Here's what I got.











We had a great run, slingers worked awesome and aside from my body constantly falling off (mud got the best of my tape Haha) and losing one bolt both rigs did great!

Sent from my DROIDX using Tapatalk

[daddyduck]

holy crap! i got to get down there!

[blg041407]

We will be posting more about when and where we are going so keep a check to know if we have something going on.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[Ramination]

yea what he said! What kind of rig for you have daddyduck?

Sent from my DROIDX using Tapatalk

[daddyduck]

i think this lost a few of our replys. i want to try sunday to hit these up if weather permits.(i would do mud but dont have the money for that right now.)

[blg041407]

Weather is suppose to be good Saturday and Sunday (mostly clear 50's). As soon as we figure out what works for everyone Ram or myself will post the plan . Looking forward to the weekend!

[daddyduck]

sweet. ill get my rigs ready

[blg041407]

The plan is to meet at sleep hole park around 10:15 Sunday.

[daddyduck]

Originally Posted by blg041407

The plan is to meet at sleep hole park around 10:15 Sunday.

cool. its a plan then.

[Ramination]

awesome, see you there!

Sent from my DROIDX using Tapatalk