Big Cypress

[EvergladesRancher]

  Was wondering if anyone has been out to Big Cypress lately and if it's wet out there around Monroe Station? I see that this web site looks like there's mostly hot dogging bike riders here.But theres no harm in asking.

[500runner]

i wont ever go back riding there agian, seems to always be deep water on the main trails, $50.00 fee 15mph speed limit,and now a new TREE HUGGER park director.  things look grim for rideing  there.........

[sk8r_dude]

Monroe Station trail is very dry. I rode it a few weeks ago all the way to the Oasis visitor center. Rode Concho Billy 1 week ago and completed the whole run, some water but passable.

[nobull60]

Going to the Cypress tomorrow, Sunday 3/6 at 8:00am. Anyone else heading this way?? Have four 4X4 going to get stamped and then ride for the day.

[Anoriginal]

I was in the Big Cypress all weekend. It is very dry. I noticed some things on my trip out yesterday that we need to be concerned with. In several of the smaller muddy places along the rock road (buckskin trail) I noticed that ATV's had used them for mud bogging and playing. You could clearly see where people had done doughnuts and run back and forth through the same place over and over again. Also, the rock road was getting berms again from ATV's taking the corners too fast. It was definitely from ATV's as you can see the inside and outside ruts along the berms and I've watched the ATV's run the road too fast.

The Big Cypress is not an ATV or Off Road park. It is not a place for recreational sport riding. Yes, you can ride an ATV in the swamp, but you must follow the rules. The 15 mph speed limit will be enforced in the event a ranger sees you exceeding it. You cannot ride doubles legally. I saw people doing it this weekend and niether were wearing a helmet. You have to meet the age limit to ride. I believe it is 16 years old with a driver's license.

Another very important thing that needs to be addressed is private property within the Big Cypress. I spoke with a camp owner who said that a few weeks ago, he pulled into his camp to find a bunch of guys on ATV's sitting around his camp, running his water pump hosing off their ATV's and themselves. They were treating it like it was their own place or as if they "found/discovered it" on thier little adventure.

Other camp/property owners have reported similar experiences the most disturbing of which involves ATV's using a back woods air strip as a drag strip and doing doughnuts on the same. People use these air strips on a regular basis. Why do you think they maintain them so well? On the majority of them, there are cones set up around the edges as a reminder to stay outside the cones and off of the air strip itself. Still other camp owners have reported cabins broken into, supplies opened or missing, slight vandalism all combined with ATV tracks in and out of camp.

The Big Cypress has a new superindendent who is completely anti ORV. She would like nothing better than to seal off the Everglades from anyone who does not own property inside it. The park rangers will readily tell you that the vast majority of the problems they have are with people on ATV's using the Big Cypress as a recreational ORV park. This opinion is spreading to the camp/property owners deep within the Big Cypress as well.

Keep in mind, these camps are not like the ones you can buy for under $10k in River Ranch. A camp in the everglades will cost you in excess of $100,000.00 (some more than $200,000.00) if you can even find someone to sell. So, if you see a camp in the distance, just stay clear. It is on private property and chances are the owners are not going to be happy to see you or real impressed with the fact you made it that far into the Everglades on a four wheeler.

I get flamed all the time when I post for being too negative or only saying bad things about ATV's. I expect someone will simply read this post and take a narrow minded approach and flame me on this on too. Keep in mind, if I didn't care, I wouldn't bring it up. I'd just keep silent and watch as ATV's are dealth yet another blow. Anyone who's read my prior posts knows I will not sugar coat things. I post it the way it is. If you don't like it, don't blame me. Do something to change the facts.

[prnstar123]

I was in the Big Cypress all weekend. It is very dry. I noticed some things on my trip out yesterday that we need to be concerned with. In several of the smaller muddy places along the rock road (buckskin trail) I noticed that ATV's had used them for mud bogging and playing. You could clearly see where people had done doughnuts and run back and forth through the same place over and over again. Also, the rock road was getting berms again from ATV's taking the corners too fast. It was definitely from ATV's as you can see the inside and outside ruts along the berms and I've watched the ATV's run the road too fast.

The Big Cypress is not an ATV or Off Road park. It is not a place for recreational sport riding. Yes, you can ride an ATV in the swamp, but you must follow the rules. The 15 mph speed limit will be enforced in the event a ranger sees you exceeding it. You cannot ride doubles legally. I saw people doing it this weekend and niether were wearing a helmet. You have to meet the age limit to ride. I believe it is 16 years old with a driver's license.

Another very important thing that needs to be addressed is private property within the Big Cypress. I spoke with a camp owner who said that a few weeks ago, he pulled into his camp to find a bunch of guys on ATV's sitting around his camp, running his water pump hosing off their ATV's and themselves. They were treating it like it was their own place or as if they "found/discovered it" on thier little adventure.

Other camp/property owners have reported similar experiences the most disturbing of which involves ATV's using a back woods air strip as a drag strip and doing doughnuts on the same. People use these air strips on a regular basis. Why do you think they maintain them so well? On the majority of them, there are cones set up around the edges as a reminder to stay outside the cones and off of the air strip itself. Still other camp owners have reported cabins broken into, supplies opened or missing, slight vandalism all combined with ATV tracks in and out of camp.

The Big Cypress has a new superindendent who is completely anti ORV. She would like nothing better than to seal off the Everglades from anyone who does not own property inside it. The park rangers will readily tell you that the vast majority of the problems they have are with people on ATV's using the Big Cypress as a recreational ORV park. This opinion is spreading to the camp/property owners deep within the Big Cypress as well.

Keep in mind, these camps are not like the ones you can buy for under $10k in River Ranch. A camp in the everglades will cost you in excess of $100,000.00 (some more than $200,000.00) if you can even find someone to sell. So, if you see a camp in the distance, just stay clear. It is on private property and chances are the owners are not going to be happy to see you or real impressed with the fact you made it that far into the Everglades on a four wheeler.

I get flamed all the time when I post for being too negative or only saying bad things about ATV's. I expect someone will simply read this post and take a narrow minded approach and flame me on this on too. Keep in mind, if I didn't care, I wouldn't bring it up. I'd just keep silent and watch as ATV's are dealth yet another blow. Anyone who's read my prior posts knows I will not sugar coat things. I post it the way it is. If you don't like it, don't blame me. Do something to change the facts.

never rode there, but I've been out to camps on an airboat with the property owners.  Your post is all good in my book. This is an open forum and as long as your within the rules/guidelines any point of view is allowed. the post seemed pretty informative to me as a atv rider. [smiley=deal.gif]

[Gamer]

The Big Cypress is not an ATV or Off Road park. It is not a place for recreational sport riding. Yes, you can ride an ATV in the swamp, but you must follow the rules. The 15 mph speed limit will be enforced in the event a ranger sees you exceeding it. You cannot ride doubles legally. I saw people doing it this weekend and niether were wearing a helmet. You have to meet the age limit to ride. I believe it is 16 years old with a driver's license.

The unfortunate thing is that Big Cypress is the only place to legally ride ORV's here in South Florida.  Being that it's posted on DOF's website people may think that it is an ORV park.  I don't think Big Cypress has a rule for helmets.  Being that the speed limit is only 15 mph I wouldn't wear one.  If there was a helmet rule everyone would have to wear them including people in buggies since there considered ORV's also.  It is upsetting to hear that people are messing up the trails and in the camps.  I have a feeling its people that are not permitted to be in there and don't have permits.  The bottom line is we have been paying for Titleing fees for a couple years now and we have not seen any new places to ride down here.  I bet you now that Bad Luck Prairie is closed you are going to see a huge increase of ATV traffic in Big Cypress.

[Anoriginal]

Gamer:

Thanks for the comments; I think you're right.  With the closing of Bad Luck, I'm afraid traffic will increase in the Big Cypress. Hopefully it will not get abused the way Bad Luck was abused. People can say what they want, but the reason Bad Luck was closed was because of the increased use and extreme damage to the land. Combined with a general "who cares" attitude from many of the people using the Bad Luck area and it's easy to see why it happened.

Personally, I am glad that the Big Cypress is such a pain to get into. I mean, you have to get your ORV inspected, get one of the limited number of ORV permits, get the license, watch the video, trailer in and out (unless you park on private property) access only on a few limited trails, maintain a speed limit, stay on the trails (which only go a short way into the swamp) and then ride 15 mph and contend with water that is over 4 feet deep in most places after the rains start. With this in mind, most people who venture into the swamp have a strong desire to be there and treat it with respect.

I cannot understand the weekend warrior type that drives into the swamp and goes off the marked trail without a GPS or supplies. I've posted before about finding a father and son hopelessly lost on their old ATV's with no GPS and miles from where they thought they were. If we did not find them, there is a very good chance they would have been in serious trouble.

People need to understand that the Big Cypress is not a weekend ATV friendly place. This is especially true for sport quads. If you must go into the Big Cypress (and I've said this before), know where you are going, carry a GPS and know how to use it, make sure you have extra supplies and fuel, tell someone where you are going and most of all, have some respect. Folks can beat their chest all they want and brag about the readiness of their quad and their superior outdoor abilities. Let me tell you something, the Big Cypress is not a joke and can humble even the best of outdoorsmen.

[nobull60]

Well said anorigional. We can only hope things stay as they are and nobody breaks the rules of the Feds. The rangers were out and enforcing the 15mph and double riders. Found a couple on the Concho Billie trail hiding in the woods waiting for people breaking the rules. Stopped by and chatted with them for a while. Nice people but as you said the new superintendent has No Tolerance for anyone breaking the rules and has told the rangers to enforce every rule without any warnings. As dry as it is out there it is very tempting to go off trail but they are out watching and pulling the decals off the quads and buggies on the spot. Watched two people loose their decals after having them for two hours. Riding off trails and making ruts in a grass area that has never felt a wheel. Thet deserved it and they were escourted out. So watch out, and stay on the trails.  Anyway, we spotted lots of deer and turkeys which was nice to see. And gators were everywhere on the canal banks. It was a nice day. Cannot imagine it was as dry as it was but it won't be for long. Then the real fun begins.  

[sk8r_dude]

Big Cypress is a beautiful place and my favorate place to ride. As far as non permitted riders, with the new gates installed you must have the combo to get in. I think this has kept most of the non permitted users out. So the abusers are us. What is happening is expected and should have been easy to predict. Big Cypress is all we have left and that is going to be too much pressure on one area. I am sure that new restrictions are right around the corner. I hope I am wrong because for me, BC is my ultimate stress releaver. Check out the Photo area for a few recent pics.  

[customrubicon]

I was in the Big Cypress all weekend. It is very dry. I noticed some things on my trip out yesterday that we need to be concerned with. In several of the smaller muddy places along the rock road (buckskin trail) I noticed that ATV's had used them for mud bogging and playing. You could clearly see where people had done doughnuts and run back and forth through the same place over and over again. Also, the rock road was getting berms again from ATV's taking the corners too fast. It was definitely from ATV's as you can see the inside and outside ruts along the berms and I've watched the ATV's run the road too fast.

The Big Cypress is not an ATV or Off Road park. It is not a place for recreational sport riding. Yes, you can ride an ATV in the swamp, but you must follow the rules. The 15 mph speed limit will be enforced in the event a ranger sees you exceeding it. You cannot ride doubles legally. I saw people doing it this weekend and niether were wearing a helmet. You have to meet the age limit to ride. I believe it is 16 years old with a driver's license.

Another very important thing that needs to be addressed is private property within the Big Cypress. I spoke with a camp owner who said that a few weeks ago, he pulled into his camp to find a bunch of guys on ATV's sitting around his camp, running his water pump hosing off their ATV's and themselves. They were treating it like it was their own place or as if they "found/discovered it" on thier little adventure.

Other camp/property owners have reported similar experiences the most disturbing of which involves ATV's using a back woods air strip as a drag strip and doing doughnuts on the same. People use these air strips on a regular basis. Why do you think they maintain them so well? On the majority of them, there are cones set up around the edges as a reminder to stay outside the cones and off of the air strip itself. Still other camp owners have reported cabins broken into, supplies opened or missing, slight vandalism all combined with ATV tracks in and out of camp.

The Big Cypress has a new superindendent who is completely anti ORV. She would like nothing better than to seal off the Everglades from anyone who does not own property inside it. The park rangers will readily tell you that the vast majority of the problems they have are with people on ATV's using the Big Cypress as a recreational ORV park. This opinion is spreading to the camp/property owners deep within the Big Cypress as well.

Keep in mind, these camps are not like the ones you can buy for under $10k in River Ranch. A camp in the everglades will cost you in excess of $100,000.00 (some more than $200,000.00) if you can even find someone to sell. So, if you see a camp in the distance, just stay clear. It is on private property and chances are the owners are not going to be happy to see you or real impressed with the fact you made it that far into the Everglades on a four wheeler.

I get flamed all the time when I post for being too negative or only saying bad things about ATV's. I expect someone will simply read this post and take a narrow minded approach and flame me on this on too. Keep in mind, if I didn't care, I wouldn't bring it up. I'd just keep silent and watch as ATV's are dealth yet another blow. Anyone who's read my prior posts knows I will not sugar coat things. I post it the way it is. If you don't like it, don't blame me. Do something to change the facts.

I do have to agree, you usually are negative. I think that this is negative but on the part of the people doing the wrong. This was very informative and well said. Were you riding a quad when you were in BC ? What quad did you buy ? I was wondering if you will be going to Muds, Sweat and Gears ? If you meet and ride with people from this site, you would see that most of us respect the land. Hope to see you on the next group ride.

[EvergladesRancher]

   Well, after reading all these postings I'm exhausted. Sker_dude thanks for the info. It was very dry out there, and where is Concho Billy's trail? We left Monroe Station and rode 55 miles Saturday. Boy thats the most we have ever rode in B.C. in a day. By night fall we were all to tried to set up the tent(biggest mistake not setting up first). So we opened up the tent and sleeped under it. All the beers didn't help with motivation ethier. Sunday was much nicer on use. We rode about 3 miles north of Poppenhagers ,and headed East, ending up at the Visitor Center.Seen not one turkey.
  Anoriginal I liked your posts. Its good to say what you believe in, even if it stirs things up. All my experiences have been good, so far in B.C. I always go as perpared as possibly. Having the mind set that if all else fails, me and the compass will walk out slowly. So it's hardly ever there's a bad day riding. Hopefully nobody has to walk out of there because that place is HUGE. And Anoriginal I'm hoping you'll reply to customrubicon.Was wondering some of the things he ask.

[sk8r_dude]

Concho Billy is off Turner River Road. Check out their web site and you can down load a ORV map which will show you the trail. Be warned, even in the dry season, the last 6-7 mile of the north end off Concho can be very deep water and lots of mud. You wont hit it until the end off your ride when you are the most tired and low on fuel and so are commited to finishing the trail. Start early and bring spare fuel in case you must turn back and ride over 20 mile back the way you came in. Been there and done that.

[Anoriginal]

Custom, Everglades:

Thanks for the comments and questions. I am currently deciding on what new ATV to buy  myself. I am torn between the Grizzly and the Brute Force. I've owned just about anything you can think of and these days I enjoy electric start, reverse and big comfy seats.

I was on my buggy this past weekend and had been up to my camp for the weekend. I probably won't be heading to Mud Sweat and Gears, its not really my thing. I'm sure it is fun and I hope anyone that goes has a great time.

I think you're right, the majority of the ATV crowd has a great deal of respect for the outdoors. Unfortunately, in our sport the bad apples really seem to shine through.

Everglades - Where did you end up camping?

[wilburz]

To Anoriginal,

Now that I have a head ache from reading all of your chicken scratch, why don't you save some time and not write all of the same old stuff that has been said about a select few people that do not obey the law. We have all  heard it before about a thousand times. I cannot imagine someone driving a couple of hours down there and just riding in a mud puddle next to the road. Most of the stuff you are talking about is being done by people that live right there. As for the using and breaking in of other peoples property, that stuff is happening at every wildlife management area in the state of florida. Corbbitt area has the same problems you are talking about and does not allow atv's. So to try and blame atvers for the problems in big cypress is not right.  

[Anoriginal]

wilburz,

Actually you're wrong for several reasons.

First, nobody "lives right there". The Everglades and the access points are about as remote as it gets in Florida.

Second, unfortunately the facts show that the largest offenders in the Big Cypress are ATV riders. As far as the break ins go, every one that we've come across and solved has been by people on ATV's. Also, we've caught people on ATV's in camps without permission. These were weekend warriors who had no business being there.

Finally, if you don't like my "chicken scratch" don't read it. Fact is, unless the ATV crowd starts policing itself, Big Cypress will be off limits to ATVs just like Corbett. It sounds like you ride and love it. I hope you'll join in and help paint a better name for us in the Big Cypress.

[wilburz]

I am talking about people that live close to the so called "access points". I don't live anywhere close to them but you and alot of other do.

You talk about the breakins like you were there with your buddies and actually solved some of them like the freakin scoobie doo club. Are you a cop or what? You also state that you caught people in camps. Now if you are not a cop or ranger then you probably observed people doing these things. What did you do to these people once you caught them?

I think you are singling out a crowd for something that others on buggies, tracked vehicles and just regular trucks are responsible for. Where are you getting your atv facts from? I would like to know exactly where we can read these things you mentioned about atv'ers doing down there. I don't beleive you.      

[Anoriginal]

Wilburz:

Easy there lucky. I live over 3.5 hours away from the glades. As far as people living close by......there aren't any. The glades is basically deserted.

Also, tracked vehicles and regular trucks are not allowed in the Big Cypress. Finally, It's kind of hard not to solve something when you drive into camp and find 5 ATV's in your yard and their owners sitting inside your camp or using your facilities.

As far as backup data, call the Big Cypress Oasis Ranger Station and talk to them. They'll tell you all you want to know.

Finally, I'm not pointing the fingers at ATV riders. Unfortunatly, with as much negative press as ATVs get these days, a few bad apples can really do a lot of damage. I'd hate  to see Big Cypress become a no-ATV place.

[DaKota]

I love hiting mud puddles at 30-40mph and slinging roosters and dounuts all up in the mud don't you Anoriginal ?

[Anoriginal]

Dakota:

Absolutely! As long as I'm doing it in the right place.

[DaKota]

I dont see how were tearing land up. Just doesnt make sense to me.

[450R_Matt]

I would guess that about 90% of Buggy owners have atv's also so keep talking. Who's to blame again?    

[Anoriginal]

1fast:

You're missing the point by a mile. It isn't about any imaginary fued between buggy owners and ATV owners. Also, most of the guys I know with buggies in the BC do not own ATV's too.

The point is how we as ATV riders are percieved in the BC and what we can do to change it. Don't get mad, get involved.

[wilburz]

Dear Unlucky,

So sorry to hear about your misfortune. I am sorry that you have not had the kind of positive experiences the people here on this site have had when out riding.

Post some positive information that might inspire someone to do the right thing, not about your heroism!

[Anoriginal]

I am one of the luckiest people I know and feel thankful everyday for my life. As far as being a hero, I'm not. Unless you count the time a got my aunt's cat out of a tree.