Pickett (if you ride there, please read)

I stole this from my buddy Jerry Morgan's (CNC Guy) FB page
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
For all of my friends that ride and enjoy the Slickford and Dry Hollow area of Wayne County, this message was posted on a riding forum:

Hey guys, sorry about the lapse in response time on here. I've been meaning to clear up some of the questions about if Pickett or parts of it will remain open or not. I don't like to be the bringer of bad news, but the managers of the property do not want to allo...w for recreational riding to occur on the properties they have and the Pickett area as well as surrounding areas owned by the same group are included. Anyone on the properties who aren't on a hunting lease to be there are trespassing by law.

As I have said before, the concerns the owners have are the liability issues if and when people get hurt riding on their property as well as the condition of the trails. As I read on another post on the forum discussing the car hauler, the trails at one point used to be completely accessible by pickup truck and I've heard from locals that 2wd was all you needed. Whether or not that is true I can not say, but the trails used to be in much better shape than they are now. Albeit maybe they're more fun and challenging to ride on now, they're also much more dangerous. As being the manager of the property, I don't feel safe driving the trails by myself on four wheeler to inspect the tract and do my job because of the state the trails are in. And we have now been contacted by adjacent landowners who would be affected by the decision to "shut off" the trails, and they have the same concerns we do with liability and access to property, as well as concern over vandalism to their own properties which has been an issue. So they too would like to see the riding come to an end.

And yes I can try and provide a map of the trails in relation to TFG properties to help give a better idea of the affected trails and areas that are no longer available to be rode on. I can say that carpenters rockhouse, the areas all around the preaching ground, mill point, areas near Edwards mountain, areas near slickford, the trails leading to the hippy cabin, teacup cliff, brokedown cliff, millsap mountain, Ferrell cliff and wolf cliff are among the areas not permissible to riding.

I have been trying to keep the trails and land managed by TFG well posted, and especially near Pickett where a lot of the riding occurs but it has been tough. It seems like the yellow signs I put up are tore off the trees as fast as I put them up, which I don't quite understand the reasoning behind. I don't believe it is anyone on here, but if anyone hears of this happening please tell them to stop. I do check the properties, it's my job, and I will keep re-posting signs even if it is aggravating.

Again I wish I didn't have to be the bringer of the bad news, but it is not my decision to not allow riding. It is the owners and managers of the properties. I will try to respond to any questions sooner next time around, as well as get some useful maps posted up. Thanks again for being willing to respect our decisions and for not getting out of line over the situation. If the decision ever changes about riding on the property, I will be sure to post on here immediately.

Thanks again,

I talked to Melissa at the sandwich shop this past Monday and she said that they haven't heard anything from them for quite awhile now. And that people are still parking there and riding every weekend. We are going this weekend.

It's a great place to ride. I love it down there.

Untill they arrest someone for trespassing it will continue to be ridden, but it will happen once the land owners have had enough.

Even with the places mentioned theres still a lot of riding there

Ky Off-Roaders FB page has a lot of recent discussion on riding at Pickett, including locked gates, land owner vs public, etc. if you are interested. Post begun on Oct 12 has a lot of stuff.

Group goin to ride it tomorrow. Last we heard it was still open, but will know more tomorrow.

What I was told by the monticello PD was there was a owner from up north that didn't want people riding on there land. As far as the rest jus park at the state park and go in from there.

Was there yesterday, 18 trailers in the parking lot at the store. Lots of logging starting on trail 9 and going north.

Thanks for the update.