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[DoctorDR]

Welcome to the first organized dual sport ride and report based in Texas' Big Bend Ranch STATE Park (BBRSP) since opening miles of dual track to motorcycles!  The Big Ultimate Terlingua Tour (B.U.T.T.) was a smashing good time thanks to riders from far away as Alaska, Canada, and Nebraska who ventured to explore Texas' state park dual track recently opened to motorcycles.  We had a huge range of riders, from well seasoned Colorado pass endurance aces to brand new NOOBs who just got their first motorcycle. Everyone got along famously and pitched in to help get over some humps, pull rail spikes from tires, and patch up the carnage!

A big thanks due to Texas parks department for opening up its miles of dual track for exploration by dual sport.  We appreciate the chance to explore some of Texas' finest scenery while enjoying our passion for motorcycles!

Special thanks to Teeds for all of the area info he gave us, and for working with BBRSP to lay the ground work.  Teeds, we need to ride BBRSP sometime!

So clinch up those BUTT cheeks and get ready for one great ride!

BBRSP DoctorDR

About Big Bend Ranch State Park http://www.tpwd.state.tx.us/spdest/findadest/parks/big_bend_ranch/



Park headquarters, about 45 mins in on gravel road.





Established in 1988, BBRSP has about 700 miles of old "ranch and mining" roads, with about 50 miles open to public use.  However, a recent public use plan calls for eventual opening of about 153 miles of road, much of it unmaintained.  Currently many miles are open, and more will come available in the future.  Not all roads shown on maps are developed right now so ask at the park about access.

Here is a link to the latest newsletter pdf that has a large map on it:
http://www.tpwd.state.tx.us/publications/pwdpubs/media/pwd_br_p4507_1437_11_09.pdf



The main road into the park is well graded gravel.  Travel time into the park headquarters and bunk house is about an hour from 170.  
Other roads include 2 WD, 4 WD, and 4WD unmaintained.  A 600cc dual sport or smaller is best for 4WD unmaintained, a big 1200 GS or twin cannot get in and out of some of these roads and a big DS would be very hard to handle.

Here is an example of a map with some loops and a legend with the road types.





Tips for riding in BBRSP:
- Street legal dual sports with DOT approved tires. Ride only on designated roads.
- 600cc or smaller singles are best, twin cyl bikes will limit what you can ride safely.
- Quite pipes, other users include hikers and horses.
- Haul in gas, no fuel is available.  A large tank is recommended but not needed.
- Expect to ride about 70 miles a day, maybe 20 on gravel road and the rest on more demanding roads. It will wear you out!
- Help is far away, and roads very remote.  Ride with at least one buddy, and bring all needed spares/food/water.
- Full gear is needed, cactus, spines, snakes, rocks are ready to bust you up if your not careful and protected.
- Primitive camp or reserve a bunk in the bunk house, great breakfast, sack lunch, and dinners available.
- When you are done, thank the park rangers for the great time you had!


The bunk house! We had great meals for reasonable price, and the staff are very helpful.  Morning coffee is excellent, and helps get you off to a great start.  





The bunk house beds are comfy and warm, but bring some ear plugs cause the snorin is roarin!  Dudes on one side, and ladies on other side of the bunk house.  







The bunk house offers western outfitted leather couches to kick back on and read a good book or just snooze after a hard day's ride. Recently they remodeled the bunk house, opening it up and putting in nice furniture and dining tables.

Bunk House Before:



Bunk House After:







Run up for a fine dinner cooked with lots of love! When they ring the dinner bell be ready for a stampede!



Ahhhhh, the money shot.....er food shot, ya know.



Superman digs in!  The "Crazy Canadian" the life of the party! Hey where's that lampshade....oh he's got it on!







It dont get better than this! Helps fight off the chill of a cold winter night.


They even have wifi for those of you that cant bear to "unplug" for a while!



A big crew of bikes and riders showed up from as far away as Alaska and Canada, as well as Kansas and Texas.



The attack of the red beanies begins!  The spirt of 3 Muchachos TAT Ride lives on, as we get our flair goin!

So enough teasers are you ready to ride?  

B.U.T.T. Roll Out - RideDualSport.com Ride Dual Sport Motorcycle Adventure Riding

BBRSP 4 X 4 Rd

Riding Impressions of BBRSP


- Riding difficulty is about a 7 of 10, making it ideal for lots of riders. Much of the dual track is loose broken rock, but not huge baby-head size.  This was a great mix of being challenging but not so hard and technical that its unridable.  Lots of the dual track was flowing up and down hills, and down into river beds, or river crossings.  The river beds and crossings added some sandy sections but they were not long.  Here and there you encounter a small gully in the dual track that might require some help up, but overall the magical "mix" of difficulty was just right to keep it interesting and fun. HOWEVER: A big 1200 GS BMW or dual sport larger than a 600/650 single will have a lot of difficulty on the 4WD and unmaintained dual track.  Overall, a small DS bike is the best bet, allowing you to sample all the terrain.

- The graded gravel roads let you pick up a bit of speed as you go from one end of the park to another, to hook up with the dual track.  Most of the 2WD and 4WD dual track is well marked, but the unmaintained is a bit harder to spot.  Not all the dual track is easy to find, at one point the unmaintained dual track dumped into a river bed.  Our maps and GPS showed the dual track picking up at some point close by, but we could not find the entrance from the river bed.  So, since you must only ride on designated dual track, we new that backtracking was the only way out.....adding a couple hours to our adventure!

- BBRSP throws in some loose rocky climbs, with the down hill right after it, making you pay attention and ride the bike with your weight back and a loose, but controlled grip on the bars.  These climbs would vary in how long they are, but flowed with the scenery. You can see your buddies up a head cresting these little hills, really making you feel like your sharing this with everyone.

- The park can wear you out each day! We could ride for 4 hours in the morning, come back to the Bunk House and take a short break, then go out and ride a second round.  Because the terrain has lots of variation, and cactus and nasty looking spiked plants, it keeps you on your toes.  You will take a fair amount of breaks, so you dont cover a lot of miles, but they are all fun miles!  We did not run out of trails in three days of riding, tho some of the loops are a bit small.  With plans to open even more dual track, BBRSP should offer plenty of fresh riding.  

- The most enjoyable part of BBRSP was how the most difficult unmaintained sections almost fade away from the terrain. Your riding on barely distinguishable dual track with plants growing up right in the middle.  You get the true sense of exploration because your isolated, remote, and know that no one has traversed this trail in many, many, years.  Its like someone sealed it away in a time machine just for you to ride and enjoy.  One of these remote dual tracks fooled us.......we rode up a hill, expecting it to go down the other side....but no! You had to slam on the brakes because the dual track ends and a huge canyon jumps out at you!  Only a small pad about 30X30 existed for the bikes.  We really felt like we discovered a grand canyon in the back yard.

- The bunk house provides a great meeting place to shower, relax, work on bikes, enjoy a hot meal, and then a bon fire at night.  You can even just chill alone in a rocking chair on the porch, and ponder the days adventure you had.  Several times I needed to just sit down and really soak in what an incredible time we were having.  The staff at the bunk house are very helpful and do a great job.  You really feel like its your home.  No one ever called me "Sir" before, and hey it feels good!  Even primitive camping would be lots of fun if you dont mind roughing it a bit more.  Some of the camp spots are very remote so you will really have a lot of peace and quite if you want it.


So, on to more riding! Frostbit from Alaska rocks it on the big Tiger!



















Always keep your eyes out for these and watch where you put a foot down when takin a pee!




(Thx CGWT!)







Of course you come for the incredible views and BBRSP has plenty to offer!


(Thx CGWT!)











And dont run into these!  A whole pack of these mule deer were right in front of me and bounded up the hillside.



Just up the road from BBRSP is Pinto Canyon Rd, with about 20 miles of dirt, and another 35 miles up to Marfa.  A great little ride tho our first night meeting up in Marfa was down in the 30's!  Electric vest was in order on the ride to Marfa.  Its a great little side trip to check out Marfa.



Landman650r rockin it on Pinto Canyon Road!





Marfa has some great old buildings and a funky feel to it, cause of all the artists that live there. On the way up to Marfa, Landman swore he saw some flying object going along side us.....fact or fiction, sounds like aliens!









Back at BBRSP its time to hit the dirt again! And by the way, have a nice day!


(Thx CGWT!)

















At the top of Casa Piedra Rd. we try to find the entrance to Cienega Mountains dual tracks, which are on the map.....but guess what, later we find out the map is brand new and access is not yet developed, however these tracks should open shortly.  In the mean time we wander into a dead end, and thinking a gate lies accross some rail road tracks....we head up them but the "Crazy Canadian" picks up a rail spike in the tire...ouch!  





Hey, who you lookin at?  Why did the Canadian get the spike and not us "Texans"



Some of the B.U.T.T. crew ventured farther out to catch some local flavor of the area.
(Thanks for these pics CGWT!)










Time to ride again, more miles!






















(Thx CGWT!)


(Thx CGWT!)

The three Musketeers!



Here is some dual track that you can hardly see, yes this is a road! It was easier once you started up but from the bottom you cant tell whats there!



Back at the bunk house we settle in for some evening fun, and a big bon fire each night! A little Knob Creek helps too!





Every morning the embers of the night before simmered on, to be revived again at night!

More great pics from MetalBender!

Yeah, MetalBender!









Landman650r in his Nacho Libre getting ready to rumble!






What a sweet rig the "Crazy Canadian" has: stick shift, 50 mpg, and air conditioning!  Can you tell he's not from Texas?  He was on his way to ride in South America, but last minute his deal went south...so he hooked up with us on the B.U.T.T. ride and we all had a blast!



Fookin Eh!





Everyday a little work on the bikes kept us going, and everyone helped out our noob IKraig who got his KLR the night before the ride in Marfa!  We all admired his spirit, jumping in with both feet! Some carnage ensued, but everyone pitched in to keep him rolling!

BEFORE




AFTER!







Ah, the great KLR special tool.....the lug wrench!





Back to the dirt for some more great riding!





















Later in the day we do a long, rocky, uphill climb that goes over a hill....well it looks like a hill but really just a 30X30 foot top, with thousands of feet drop on the other side!  With just a little space for the bikes we enjoy the spectacular canyon in front of us.  A red tail hawk swoops by us, checkin out who is in his territory!















A beautiful cool morning greets us, and a chance to catch the great light on the bikes!













An awesome little overlook easy to pass up!





Time to but the last "T" in B.U.T.T. as we head out to ride the incredible 170 and grab a bite at Cosmic Cowgirl!

































Mission Accomplished, the B.U.T.T. adventure on the pink wall of fame!







Till next time!

[2touringtheworld]

Absolutely Awesome Stuff!      You guys rock! 

Now we're really sorry we didn't make it.     

Thanks for the pics and the RR.

I guess the only upside of riding around here is that we can stop and take a leak in peace.  Not too many of those rattlers round these parts to worry about.  Maybe a chipmunk or two, but no rattlers.   

[TexasShadow]

Looks like y'all had a good time! Thanks for the preview of the park. I'll be there in three weeks 
and check on the status of the new addition while there. Thanks for letting us all know it's currently inaccessible.
So how many flats in the group? 

[DoctorDR]

TexasShadow, do check on the upper north west sections of the park and see about access, though who knows when they will get to it!
Let us know your impressions and what you think when you get back.  Double check your bunk reservations if your staying in bunk house.....they had a tad bit of trouble and one guy was out a bunk for one night. 

If I recall, only 2 flats: one a rail spike and one a slow leak.  I think that was it!  I ran slime and about 25 PSI (might have been a tad bit high on PSI) and had no problems.  The rocky dual track will chew up tires pretty good.

Enjoy it and post up on your return!

[ZigZag]

Welcome to the first organized dual sport ride and report based in Texas' Big Bend Ranch STATE Park (BBRSP) ....

Congrats on a killer adventure! 

I am really impressed by the RDS turnout.

ZigZag

[DoctorDR]

ZigZag, thanks yes we had a good group for the B.U.T.T. ride and everyone really enjoyed it.  All the riders got along, pitched in to help out, and gave great support to newer riders still learning the ropes. 

I hope to do another small ride in the winter or spring, hope you can join us on your nice BMW!

Christian

[RallyeChadlye]

GREAT WORK.  Thanks for posting all the excellent pics.
Was there anywhere that the Tiger had to turn around or that he could not make it through ?

Good going to the whole crew !!

 
-Chadley

[DoctorDR]

GREAT WORK.  Thanks for posting all the excellent pics.
Was there anywhere that the Tiger had to turn around or that he could not make it through ?

Chadley, yes the Tiger was too big to ride the rougher 4WD and unmaintained dual track...it was mostly ravines and dips that were too deep and steep for that big heavy bike.  He handled it great on loose rocky downhills, but had to turn back after it got too knarly in some sections.  
Everyone thats been to the National park said that only Black Ore road is as rough as BBRSP.  All the riding in BBRSP is more technical than the National park.

You would love it out there on your Husky, I want to go again with 3-4 people, its a must do!

Good going to the whole crew !!

Thanks man, the main thing was posting updates and info so people could get on board and know the ride was happening. Then everyone just showed up!
 
-Chadley

[portero72]

Count me in for next time-that stuff looks incredible. Great job!








Ass.....

[MetalBender]

Hats off to all who made this such a great B.U.T.T. Ride!



 

[KosmicKLR]

I really appreciate my brother's efforts to put on the first official RDS B.U.T.T. rally.
I also feel honored that all of you took the time and expense to attend the event and that you traveled immense distances too!
Despite all the unknowns like: would the riding suck, would the people be hopelessly weird,  would the weather crap out or would the lodging stink you all took a chance to make it happen, and experienced the best that Texas has to offer.

My beanie is off to you.   
Cheers, Patrice

[Teeds]

Well, it looks like y'all had a wonderful time.

I never did get the GPS tracks to y'all, but it doesn't appear that you needed them.  My computer got a virus and ... well, let's just say it is pretty much new now 

I'm looking forward to being there soon and checking out the roads personally.

From the looks of the photos of the bunkhouse they have spiffed the place up a bit ... really more than a bit ... since the last time I stayed there.

Glad y'all had fun and good weather!

[monty]

What a great place to ride. I just got back from there on Thursday. I think we lost the trail in the same place as you guys. We followed your tracks through the corrals into the creek, but also did not find the trail. 

For some reason, only the first of your photos are showing up for me, then a long blank area. Is it just my computer? I really want to see the rest of your report.

Thanks for taking the time.     

[DoctorDR]

Monty, thanks for your reply and glad to here you could make it to BBRSP.....I think they will be seeing more riders up there now.  Yes, that north west upper section of trails is not yet open, tho they show it on the map.  So, it could be very shortly!  I want to go back soon, and I hope they get it opened up there.   

I am interested in what you think of the quality of the riding in BBRSP?

The ride report has a lot of pictures, with large files so I am sorry maybe its overloading your computer, or you may not have high speed internet access. I can check in with KosmicKLR, since he is the "tech" guy who started the forum and may have some suggestions.   

[monty]

We spoke with the park staff while we were there. They have crews working in the nw section now. So more roads should be opening soon.  They plan to have 153 miles of roads open. About 70 miles of that will be unmaintained.  Hopefully they will keep the crews there until all of it is opened.  They want to have more visitors to the park, and are working hard on it.

The riding is fantastic. Sometimes the "road" would just disappear across a rocky area. Rocks, ravines, steep hills, wildlife and great views. What a beautiful place. Challenging enough to be fun, but not too tough.  Saw a mountain lion on the way to Pinto Canyon.

Must have been something with my firefox settings, all photos loaded up fine in IE.

Monty

[DoctorDR]

Monty, thats great news about the other trails. 150 miles of dual track in  BBRSP will keep anyone busy for many days!
I agree on the riding, and the level of difficulty for me was about right, since Im not into huge risks, like drops and ledges!
Exciting you saw a mountain lion, from a distance that is!
Glad you could access all the pics on IE.....I will ask Kosmic to look into firefox to see if there are any technical issues with the browser he can work on.
Christian

[KosmicKLR]

Hi Monty, that's great you got to enjoy BBRSP!
My firefox browser chokes when there are a lot of pictures too. I am not sure what to do about it.
I switch to Internet Explorer when it happens.
Cheers, Patrice

[NEW]

Monty, thats great news about the other trails. 150 miles of dual track in  BBRSP will keep anyone busy for many days!
I agree on the riding, and the level of difficulty for me was about right, since Im not into huge risks, like drops and ledges!
Exciting you saw a mountain lion, from a distance that is!
Glad you could access all the pics on IE.....I will ask Kosmic to look into firefox to see if there are any technical issues with the browser he can work on.
Christian

I'M HAVING THE SAME PROBLEM WITH THE PIC'S.

[NEW]

We spoke with the park staff while we were there. They have crews working in the nw section now. So more roads should be opening soon.  They plan to have 153 miles of roads open. About 70 miles of that will be unmaintained.  Hopefully they will keep the crews there until all of it is opened.  They want to have more visitors to the park, and are working hard on it.

The riding is fantastic. Sometimes the "road" would just disappear across a rocky area. Rocks, ravines, steep hills, wildlife and great views. What a beautiful place. Challenging enough to be fun, but not too tough.  Saw a mountain lion on the way to Pinto Canyon.

Must have been something with my firefox settings, all photos loaded up fine in IE.

Monty

I GET EMAILS ON JOBS FOR THE GOVERMENT AND ONE OF THE EMAIL WAS FOR TRAIL WORKERS THAT GOOD NEWS.

[landman650r]

Great trip and BBSP is GREEAT place to ride...cant wait for next time

[DoctorDR]

Great trip and BBSP is GREEAT place to ride...cant wait for next time

Landman650r, thanks for the ride out and the driving you did.  BBRSP is working on opening up those north-west trails we tried to find...will keep you posted on going out again, Koskmic and our buddy Potero are itchin to get out soon!
Christian

[Frostbit]

Thanks for putting the most excellent BUTT ride together Christian!   This is a great batch of pictures but it still falls short of conveying how much fun this gathering was, how inticing the trails were or what a diverse group of riders assembled for the occasion. It'll be a tall order to top it next year but you can count me in to attend (maybe with a smaller bike).

I noticed that there's not enough pictures of you so here's one.

[KosmicKLR]

Thanks for putting the most excellent BUTT ride together Christian!   This is a great batch of pictures but it still falls short of conveying how much fun this gathering was, how inticing the trails were or what a diverse group of riders assembled for the occasion. It'll be a tall order to top it next year but you can count me in to attend (maybe with a smaller bike).

I am so glad that the B.U.T.T came together so well! It's so cool how the web can bring together like-minded folks from such diverse backgrounds and riding experiences. It is a huge complement that you would come all the way from Alaska to attend again.
I would think that by next year even more trails will be open and the event could be equally as good!
Tracy please remember, I will always be happy to accommodate your crew at my home in Austin, and with any bike prep and such that you may need.
Cheers, Patrice.

[HappyMan]

Awesome report!  Sure wish I could have been there for the first ride!!!!!  Arrrrrrrrgh.  I hope it works out for next year.  Thanks for sharing.

[Trl Rdr]

Here is some of Trey's video set to music by: Navythomas:

BBSP randy1.wmv

and my report on ADV:
http://www.advrider.com/forums/showthread.php?t=524928