Exploring Casparis PA!
In July of 2022, the CORE off-road club planned a trip out to do some more exploration in some of the abandoned mining areas up in Casparis PA. I had missed the first exploratory trip out there last year due to medical reasons, so ever since, I’ve been chomping at the bit to get out there and check out these sparsely traveled trails!
For this trip, we kept the logistics simple, and most of us stayed the night Friday night in nearby Connellsville, PA. We got rooms at the very well kept and affordable Melody Motor Inn. Very simple accommodations, but had all of the basics. Bed, bathroom, shower, fridge, and microwave.
The night before, a few of us met at The Paintroom Bar and Grill, which is a great local restaurant a few minutes from our hotel. They had a good selection of food, wings, sauces, and drinks. They were VERY generous with their draft beers, so come thirsty and plan on giving yourself time before hitting the road!
The next morning, we checked out of our hotel and met at the Sheetz in Connellsville, where we could meet the day trippers for the trip. Once we all saddled up, we headed down to the trail to start our day!
After airing our tires down at the start of the trail, we ventured out into the woods! It was very thickly wooded, with the trails being quite tight and narrow. Throughout many of the sections of the trail, things got very tight, and often off camber, putting us within inches of trees. Additionally, the trail was quite wet and muddy, due to recent rains, and also deep holes that are shaded by thick tree cover, and don’t evaporate.
In fact, we came across a particularly deep and nasty bog hole, which looks like it had not been driven through in quite a long time! Alex, who was leading the group, went through, with his Wrangler on 37 inch tires. The rest of the convoy took a bypass, leaving me to choose if I wanted to give it a shot. Alex had gotten stuck in the middle, and had to give it another go with his lockers turned on to get through. I decided to give it a shot, turned on both lockers, and punted into the mud hole! I started to feel the Jeep bog a bit in the middle, so I planted my foot into the throttle and managed to pop out! It was a particularly sloppy hole, filling my undercarriage with mud, debris, leaves, and other junk. My Jeep made some pretty gnarly noises afterwards, until more of the junk slung out of the suspension and driveline. It was messy, but I’m glad I got through it!
We continued on, and found ourselves facing a steep rutted climb. Several vehicles gave it a shot, and got high centered and couldn’t make it up. The XTerra had to get pulled up by Sergey in his Wrangler, and the Wrangler TJ got high centered on his diffs. The ZR2 Bison had gotten hung up, but after engaging front and rear lockers, plus a bit of momentum, he managed to punt up! Brian and I made it up with little drama fortunately, having bigger tires and more ground clearance.
After some more tight trail weaving, we wrapped up and called it a day. It was a very fun trip, with GPS waypoints marked for future trail exploring.
