Clay Pits Closed?

[MuddyPaws]

I have heard they were closed...DNR told me in June they were thinking about it, but were going to put bolders on the bypasses and see what happens for the rest of the year and not decide till next spring. I am going over to the DNR office in the morning to get some info on this as to why, how long, was there a meeting about it etc. I'll keep you posted.

[rtikql8]

Originally posted by MuddyPaws@Aug 16 2005, 12:30 PM
I have heard they were closed...DNR told me in June they were thinking about it, but were going to put bolders on the bypasses and see what happens for the rest of the year and not decide till next spring. I am going over to the DNR office in the morning to get some info on this as to why, how long, was there a meeting about it etc. I'll keep you posted.
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We were up there at DOA this last weekend. Didn&#39;t actually go take a look, but was told by the locals that it was open, but lined with bolders. Then a a bolder in the realy deep spot. I don&#39;t know anymore than that. Sounded like the bypass was still open. Two months ago, the excavator that does the work for the DNR told me that the bypass was going to be blocked off, but apparently he was wrong.

[MuddyPaws]

Steve Walker&#39;s post on MJ is correct. I spoke to the DNR here in the Soo Field Office. Walker&#39;s post is quoted below so I don&#39;t have to type it again. One tid-bit of information to note is that the DNR said they were not going to let DOA run the clay pits due to damage from past years so the permit did not include the clay pits.

On a side note, can someone post a pic of a map with the location of the clay pits marked on it?

Walker&#39;s Post From MJ

Also the clay pits are open, well the trail is open. The very worst part of the trail the largest "pit hole" has been filled in. However, the entire run is harder now because you can not jump out of the tracks. Many people who wanted to go the clay pits and didn&#39;t have the cahonies to go the whole distance, were jumping their rigs up out of the ruts to avoid the bad spots and started driving down thru the little meadows that lay along side the trail--- just so they could say " I made it to the clay pits" or "I saw the so called "pit hole" ".

The ruts have now been lined by boulders ,,,no more wimping out. The DNR just wants to limit the damage to the surrounding fields. So once you start the run into the trail your committed. You have to complete the run and do so in the ruts. The DNR did fill in the very worst spot as a land reclamation project...Hell, no one was getting thru anyway...so the trail now uses a part of the old bypass to finish up,,,, Have no doubt, by the end of this season the "bypass" section will be well on its way to being every bit as nasty as the original run.[/b]