I generally consider myself fairly lucky to have traveled to the places I have and experienced the four-wheeled adventures that life has thrown my way over the years. I've ridden the lush mountains of Hawaii, carved through the massive sand bowls in California, explored West Virginia's rugged Hatfield-McCoy trails, sunk deep in East Texas mudholes and have literally been raised dodging trees and the occasional abandoned moonshine still in the thick technical wooded trails of Northern Georgia. In all honesty, I can't even remember half of the places that I've been fortunate enough to let loose my wheels. But one thing is for sure: It's difficult to forget those places that throw in an interesting twist to the overall adventure. Which brings us to my latest endeavor as an ATV adventurist, that being the Mines & Meadows ATV/RV Resort.
When you first enter the mine,...
When you first enter the mine, it takes a little bit of time for your eyes to adjust to complete darkness.
Only a few short weeks back, I got the call... "Thad, we at Kawasaki want you to join us for a special and exciting ride we're putting together up in Western Pennsylvania!" Justin Dawes said on the other line. At first thought, I was more concerned about meeting those quickly approaching deadlines and not getting behind on my work. Well, that is until Justin mentioned we'd be riding ATVs through old underground mines. "What?" I exclaimed. "Old underground mines, I am so in, Justin!" All of a sudden, those story deadlines that were knocking on my back door had quickly been put on the backburner so that we could go and experience something new, stimulating and a ride adventure that I'm pretty sure most of us have never done before.
The Mines & Meadows ATV/RV Resort offers ATV and dirt bike enthusiasts from Western Pennsylvania, Eastern Ohio and, surely due to its prestige, riders from across the United States an extremely unique off-roading experience. Yes, similarly to most off-road parks, they have at least 50 miles of trails cut on a 600-acre slot of land less than an hour's drive outside of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. But what really sets this location apart from any other ride area that I've visited previously is the underground riding through old abandoned limestone mines, which date back to the late 1800s. The Crescent Cement Company from the late 1800s to the 1920s originally worked this old limestone mine. During the 1980s and into the '90s, this cave had been used to grow mushrooms due to its constant temperature of 55 degrees, perfect for growing such crops. And now it's open to anyone willing to navigate through its dark, creepy and mysterious maze on a four-wheeled vehicle. I guess you could say this place has a good bit of history, and I was getting ready to create a memory that would be etched in my mind forever.