spring Creek 4x4 Park - jeep Lt1 Hillclimb - Photo 10436413

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The natural rolling terrain of the park lends itself to some entertaining hillclimbs. Normally one could just straddle the V-notch on a hill like this, but rain made it too slippery for that maneuver. The only option for Donnie Brown was to unwind his nitrous-fed LT1 and power to the top.

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One of the park's main attractions is the two-lane competition mud pit. This is the location of Spring Creek's mud-bog racing series. The track is gnarly right from the beginning and it quickly gets worse.

We hit the trail with a group of rigs that ran the gamut from stockers to heavily modified. The cool thing about Spring Creek is that no matter what modification level your rig is, there is something for everyone here.

You can't blame a guy for trying. Jim Taylor attempted a gnarly ravine in his Atlas II- and Detroitequipped '98 Ford Explorer and ended up flopped onto his side with a broken CV axle. But hey, no big deal. After righting the rig, he drove it 83 miles home.

The natural rolling terrain of the park lends itself to some entertaining hillclimbs. Normally one could just straddle the V-notch on a hill like this, but rain made it too slippery for that maneuver. The only option for Donnie Brown was to unwind his nitrous-fed LT1 and power to the top.

Steven and Heidi Holt wheel a giant Centurion conversion F-350/Bronco and they're not afraid to use it. It has a bedlined interior, seats up to seven passengers, has four-point harnesses for all, a propaneinjected diesel engine, a Detroit-locked Dana 60 front axle, and a welded Ford 10.5-inch rear axle. It rolls on 39-inch IROKs mounted on Hummer H2 wheels.

One of the more unique obstacles at Spring Creek is this Shotcrete-covered bridge. It has a steep approach, which in wet weather forces a fair amount of forward velocity to ascend. This means you had better be lined up with the two rails when you crest the top or you'll find yourself puckered-up. Trust us; it looks plenty tall when you're sitting in the driver seat.

Heavy rains made the dirt ravines ultra-slippery. Nick Lundt found himself pitched over in his '75 Chevy pickup, staring at a wall of slime during his attempt to ascend this ravine. His rig is completely Herculined inside and out, has a 350ci engine, a Dana 60 front axle, a Detroit-Locked full-floating GM 14-bolt rear axle, a 6-inch suspension lift, and 38-inch Boggers. He says his rig is priceless, but his wife Sarah says it's worth $1.25. Ouch.

Donnie Brown could easily climb the rocks all day long if he stuck to the normally traveled lines, but where's the fun in that? He tried a new line to make things more interesting, which ended with a light flop onto the passenger side. His rig has a full tube chassis, an LT1 V-8 with nitrous, a TH350 trans, an NP205 transfer case, a pair of Rockwells, a four-link suspension with 20-inch-travel Racesource shocks, 15x14 bead-lock wheels, and 44-inch Swampers.

This is Roland Bal, owner of Spring Creek Off Road, driving his bobbed '80 Toyota pickup. Bal isn't one to sit around and watch other folks wheel. He was out on the trail during every spare moment he had while we were there. His truck has a Vortec 4300 V-6 engine, a 700R4 trans, a Marlin Crawler transfer case, and 36-inch IROKs. Since we visited the park Bal stretched the 'Yota's frame 4 inches, added a pair of Detroit-Locked Dana 60s, and 42-inch IROKs. Then he violently rolled it, destroying the body.