On the third day of Christmas,
My true love gave to me,
3 hills to climb,
2-tracks to crawl
and Great Lakes 4x4 at OSTC

OK, this wasn't exactly the third day of Christmas, but it sure felt like it. On Dec 1, 2007, members of Great Lakes Four Wheel Drive Association and Great Lakes 4x4.com organized a gathering at the Ogemaw Sport and Trail Center to introduce the 4x4 community to Deano and Laura who are the owners of OSTC. The gathering was mutually beneficial for both the owners of OSTC and the 4x4 enthusiasts that attended. Speaking from the enthusiasts side, we found many challenging obstacles and many nice people to meet. And I would imagine that the day was financially rewarding for OSTC since there were over 200 Jeeps in attendance.

For us, the trip started on Saturday morning when we dropped the kids off at their grandparents and headed for Rose City, MI which is about a 2.5 hour drive. There was snow on the ground, but the weather cooperated with clear skies. We normally travel with a small group of friends on such occassions, but nobody could work the trip into their schedules so we travelled by ourselves this time.

The address for OSTC is

2374 Lentz Rd
Rose City, MI, 48654.

You can also visit their website at www.ogemawtrails.com.

We had originally intended to arrive at OSTC by 11 AM, but as things normally go, we were running late. We arrived by 1 PM. The picture below shows the billboard on Fairview Road that points the way to OSTC which is down Scribner Road, then left on Lentz to OSTC.

When you pull into OSTC you come upon a small store to the right where you need to register. When we first arrived, a few members of the Great Lakes 4x4.com group were waiting at the table handing out waiver forms to sign and providing information.

For this day, the rate was $15 to enter the park. OSTC offers several rates on their website depending if you have a seasonal membership, if you are camping or just visiting for the day. Please visit the OSTC site for more information.

After taking care of the legal paperwork (I promise not to sue you on account of my stupidity) and the money exchange you can enter the park. Around the left side of the building you go through a small gate and continue into the trail system.

OSTC also has a motorcycle track which is off to the far left. 4x4s are not allowed on the track

Because the owners of OSTC wanted to ensure no alcohol entered the park and everyone had insurance there was a vehicle check before entering the trails. This is just like every other park that is out there including Silver Lake and The Mounds. Safety is always a concern so this was a chance to make sure everyone knows the rules.

The OSTC system has two primary hills called Challenge and Impossible. There is a third unnamed hill, called Hill #2 according to our map, that sits between these two hills. Around the base of these hills runs a very elaborate trail system that is basically an obstacle course. I'm not sure how everyone else did, but I was pretty sure I was going to leave the trails with a new dent because of all of the tight turns on slanted trails around trees. Amazingly, not a single dent.

With our basically stock Jeep we could climb Challenge hill. At least, one of the runs. There are three runs to the top of the hill and one of them requires a Jeep with long legs because of the severe flex. There was no way we could climb this one run, but we did come down it - ON OUR BELLY! It was one of those times when you are coming down a hill and you figure out halfway down this was a bad idea. Then, you see the drop off and think, this is going to hurt. So as not to get hung up on the lip I gave the Jeep a little boost on the pedal to make sure we would keep moving after hitting the lip and the BAM, SCREEEECH!, BAM! Fortunately, nothing was hurt besides my pride, but we have a new desire for a taller look at the world.

I also tried Impossible hill which was really another stupid move. Impossible hill is very deceiving. When you look at it you think, yea, I can do that. Drop the transfer case in low range, get some speed up, and start climbing. Then, very gradually, Impossible starts to get, well, impossible. The grade gets a little steeper, then basketball sized rocks start to show up, and then the trail gets a little narrower and then, well, I don't know. We couldn't climb any higher than that. I tucked my tail between my legs and dropped it in reverse and slowly went back down. I'm sure there were others that made it to the top that day, but none that I saw. I saw one guy winching himself off of a rock and I saw a lot of others coming down backwards.

We spent about 3 hours on the trails and abused every bolt on our Jeep. There was a lot that we couldn't do, but we also did a lot more than we thought we could do. A stock Jeep can have a ton of fun and a modified Jeep might get to see a little more than we did.

As we were leaving we stopped by the main office and spoke with Laura (one of the owners). She said that working with the folks from Great Lakes 4x4.com was about the easiest time she has had hosting an event. She said they were very organzied and everybody she met was very polite. What a nice thing to say! She also expressed interest in having more events like this one so watch the sites to see when the next OSTC 4x4 event will be or give OSTC a call or an email and express your interest.

We took pictures throughout the day and captured a lot of different Jeeps and some of the interesting parts of the trails that we could reach. The hill shown in the first few pictures is of Challenge. In the 5th picture you see the bottom part of Impossible along with somebody pulling themselves off of a rock. On the picture that is 7th from the end you'll see the run that we bottomed out on. The run is on Challenge hill and it is the run farthest to the right.

It is difficult to show the steepness of a hill or how chewed up a trail is through a picture, but hopefully you'll be able to get some idea. For us, this has been some of the toughest, technical trails we've been on. It's different than hill climbing at Silver Lake where speed will normally get you to the top. On these trails, you need to be able to spot a good line that will give you bite, but avoid the rocks. It also helps to have big tires and be lifted which we don't have either.

Enjoy and I hope to see you at the next OSTC 4x4 event.