Team Offroad Elements was back at it again this past weekend for some torture testing and fun on the trails. This time we took the 4 hour ride north to Jericho Mountain State Park in Berlin, New Hampshire. This is a fairly new park that offers camping, swimming, fishing, canoeing and, of course, wheeling among other activities. We had heard mixed opinions on this park which is one of the reasons we wanted to try it out for ourselves. Some said the whole park was a challenge, but judging by the maps provided, it looked like there was a mix of greens, blues, blacks and reds. The drive up with 8 Jeeps total was scenic with plenty of lodging nearby.

We arrived at the park around 1 pm on Sunday, after running into some transmission problems while still at the hotel. There were plenty of beach-goers and quad riders around but the parking lot was pretty empty otherwise and we were the only ones there to use the 4x4 trails. Admission was $20 a person and we were given trail maps to navigate the system. 

We were in for a pleasant surprise to see that the whole system, although mostly blue trails, looked like it was going to be a challenge. As we let our tires air down to desired PSI, we all took a walk through the entrance of the 4x4 trail to check out what we were up against. The trails were narrow and full of rocks and boulders for traversing. They ran parallel to the UTV trails, meaning we had the whole system to ourselves while other riders could enjoy their day without getting slowed down by a bunch of mall-rated, rock crawling machines. The ground was soft, from the torrential rains the day prior, making the obstacles even more challenging. Their trail rating system recommends 33" tires minimum for the green trails and 35"s for the blues, however, there is no way to get to any of the green trails without having to go through the blues. A locker and winch is also highly recommended for the blues, and both came into play several times that day. The recommendation for the black trails are 38" tires minimum, 1 locker and 1 winch. Most of us are running 37"s so we figured we'd give it a go. We were able to make it to the first black obstacle on the trail, which did not pan out in our favor. After 45 minutes of getting a 4 door Jeep Wrangler JK "unstuck", we stopped for a lunch break and then continued on the blues.

About an hour later (and maybe 100 feet later), the nightmare of the day occurred. One of Team Offroad Elements Jeeps broke a ball joint, snapped a u-joint and broke the front axle. After a lot of crawling around under the Jeep, towing if off the rocks, wiping sweat and tears, and accidentally breaking the front brake line, we called the front office to give them a heads up about our situation. The trails are only open until 6 pm and since we were nearing 5:30 and running out of options, we had to do something fast. They were extremely understanding and sent someone out to assess the damage. Needless to say, we had no choice but to leave the Jeep where it was until the following day. The system itself is one-way only so we continued along with the Jeeps we had left until the next intersection, where we turned onto green and headed for the exit.

We were only able to complete about 1/4 of the trails, considering our time crunch we were on but were impressed by the amount of challenging obstacles this park offered. A lot of time and dedication went into mapping this place out and we are absolutely looking forward to returning soon to finish what we started!

There was definitely a lot of carnage to be had from this trip. From scratched beadlocks and bent steel fenders to popped out tail lights and completely ripped off fender flares, and of course, the dreaded axle breakage. We absolutely earned out Beaten Not Babied Badges this time! Everything (other than the axle issue) was a good laugh and an easy fix and we were soon back on the road toward home.   

Until, next time, Jericho...ROCK ON!!!