Taking It To the Limit

Rocks and Valleys Offroad Park offers a top-tier experience for 4×4’s and side-by-side enthusiasts

By Mike Olmstead, Contributing Writer

Tucked away smack dab in the middle of Michigan’s mitten you will find the Rocks and Valleys Offroad Park.  The park is centrally located in the state, just a 2½ hour radius to much of Michigan’s population.  That 2½ hour window makes Rocks and Valleys just close enough to a couple million enthusiasts to do an off road adventure ‘day trip’!

Rocks and Valleys sits on 200 acres of mid-Michigan forest, and is a pleasant off-road park that caters to full size 4x4s and the popular side-by-side vehicles   (In the interest of safety there are no ATVs and dirt bikes at Rocks and Valleys).

The park is owned and operated by Jeff & Jess Brockway. Jeff & Jess also own the Snow Snake Ski & Golf right down the road from the park.  Though the two businesses have the same owner they are not affiliated.

The park opened in 2010 after Jeff attended a Jeep Jamboree USA event in Tennessee.  At that time the property that  is now Rocks and Valleys was a part of the Snow Snake Ski & Golf enterprise. Jeff shared that after he saw the kind of trails that the Jamboree were on, he thought “Hey, I have couple hundred acres doing absolutely nothing  for me (except maybe some deer hunting in the fall!), I have a bulldozer, excavator, backhoe, and other sundry earth moving equipment… maybe I can build my own trails!”

Which is exactly what he did!  Although at first it might have been a small operation with limited public access, it wasn’t long until Jeff realized that there is a market for this activity! And in 2010 he opened up the Rocks and Valleys Off Road Park!

Besides the obvious trail system, the park’s features include a large staging & parking area, rustic camping, picnic area, and lots of trails! About the only amenity they don’t offer right at the park is a food concession or snack bar. However, if you didn’t pack a lunch, the grill at Snow Snake Ski & Golf is less than five minutes away and is usually open, plus there are a number of restaurants and convenience stores within a half hour of the park.

Vehicle requirements are relatively simple at Rocks and Valleys:  Depending on the vehicle you roll in with you may be subject to a quick once-over by the staff.  But the “gotta haves” for any vehicle riding Rocks and Valleys trails  are:  1) Vehicles must either have a full steel roof, or roll cage  2) no open headers or exhaust  3) seatbelts  4) safety flags. (Don’t worry if you don’t have a safety flag, they have them for sale at the park!) Also, vehicles do not have to be Secretary of State licensed to run at the park.

We talked about safety at the park, and Jeff and Jess both expressed their satisfaction with the park’s safety record. They haven’t had a 911 emergency call in over 10 years!  That’s not to say there haven’t been any incidents – this is an off-road park where vehicles and drivers sometimes take things to the limit!  Contributing to the safety is a small cadre of volunteers, sometimes referred to as ‘the park rangers’.  These are the folks who patrol the park and offer assistance from time to time.

Finally – the reason we’re here: The trails!!  As you can see from the trail map in the sidebar (downloadable from their website) there are a lot of trails in this place! If I had to describe the park in two words, it would be tight and twisty.  There are two areas with some very entertaining and challenging hill climbs (Stump Hill and Big Valley). There are also a couple ‘scramble areas’ with their own challenges and obstacles to play around in and test your rig and your skills.

Trails are all rated as to their difficulty: Stock – Green, Modified – Blue, and ‘Must Have Lockers’(!) – Black.  In addition, signage in the park is fairly decent – in my opinion better than the signage I’ve seen at similar parks.

Although there is a lot of diversity among trails on one hand, on the other hand they all bear similarities: tight, twisty, off-camber, rocks of all sizes, with a few muddy sections thrown in! Some of my favorite trails are “Pack a Lunch” (tight, twisty, small hills, rocks), “Sidewinder” (lots of off-camber switchbacks) , “Undertaker” (tire trap at start, large rock to steer around), and “Adventure Route” (fair number of ups and downs combined with lots of turns).

The park is open from April 1 through October 31. Normal hours are:

Fridays: 10 a.m. to 7 p.m.

Saturdays: 10 a.m. to 7 p.m.

Sundays: 10 a.m. to 6 p.m.

And the three ‘holiday’ Mondays for Memorial Day, 4th of July and Labor Day weekends.

Although the ‘normal’ hours are as noted above, the park will open through the week for those looking for some mid-week wheeling; the only requirement is that arrangements have to be made in advance to take advantage.

Another interesting sidenote about the park that demonstrates its popularity is that the park can be rented out for your group or special activity. Area ORV dealers have rented the park to demonstrate their products to prospective customers.

Rocks and Valleys also has a number of special events each year (see sidebar), which typically include promotional pricing and special activities.  See the Rocks and Valleys website for more information.

More information and pictures are available on their website at:  www.rocksandvalleys.com

So! If you have a Jeep, 4×4, or side-by-side and you’re looking for a place to ‘stretch your legs’ that’s a reasonable drive from most of Michigan’s major metro areas, Rocks and Valleys could be the place for you! Give ‘em a look!

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