I just found this article about a lawsuit that is being filed against the foresty service for closing down parts of Tellico. Very interesting read and it could be a win for the good guys for once.

http://www.sfwda.org/trails/tellico/PR20080522/index.htm

that rocks
ever since i learned how big yalls SE parks are ive wanted to go
tellico is pretty huge right?
so is rausch creek, or coal creek
texas is HUGE, and me and jason wheel on 750 acres.. lol

Coal Creek is like 78,000 acres and 160 miles of trails. I know that one well. Tellico is friggin' enormous but it's shared with ATV's, hikers alike. The environmentalists really want to shut down Tellico and the forestry service wants the land before it becomes protected so they can log the hell out of it.

I think Uwharrie is another one that's a huge park. Not sure how big Rausch is but I'm thinking it's pretty big as well.

The good thing about Coal Creek is that it is owned and managed by a coal mining company so it's basically private land but open to the public and can't be touched by all the naysayers.

+1 for Coal Creek!! are that coal mines still operational?? i mean its not like a 100 year old place that they could sell any day is it??

No it's still fully functional. They have at times shut down some trails for safety reasons when they are drilling nearby for natural gas. I think it's mainly drilling for natural gas now. Most all of their coal mines are shut down. You can actually see some of them on the trails.

As far as I know, Coal Creek has never been contested for their land plus they also have wind generators as well so I don't think it will be changing hands anytime soon.

I wish WA had some awesome offroad places.. not that I have tried very hard but all I know is Evans Creek, thats what our local Jeep club ALWAYS went to so either it was the best or the only lol..