Croom Riding Area

[dt]

I took the camera out at Croom today and have some shots to share. It was a super day … sunny, a little below 60 degrees. If you’ve never been, Croom is in the Withlacoochee State Forest just below Brooksville (right at Exit 301). It’s a State run riding area covering 2,600 acres and some nice facilities, including camping grounds. Thursdays are my dirt riding days, although I don’t always make it for one reason or another. Really any weekdays are great ‘cause the place is near empty. Conversely, the place is a madhouse on weekends, if you’ve ever been. Oh, yeah. Brooksville Regional Medical Center is right down Cortez (US 98) from Croom. They know me well there. 






Just inside the gate, at the first Day Use Area, is the infamous Croom Dust Bowl. As you can see, right now it’s a little wet. In fact, the whole place is pretty wet right now, which is early for that.








See the freestyle action going on there? ^^^^^ lol


Honestly, I rarely go in the Dust Bowl. I’d rather be in the woods.

















Some wet spots.








Those are Icon Field Armor Chukka Short Boots. They’re not waterproof.


Rode for a good while behind a KTM 2 Stroker. Could have waxed him, but that exhaust smelled way too good! 

___________________________________________________

[dt]

I try and park in the same place each time, which is at the Hammock Day Use Area … right next to these:















^^^ Seriously! I love watching the youth training courses. The little kids on the littlest motorcycles are a show.


Here are a couple shots of today’s equipment:










Time to Load Up and Head Out. Hope you enjoyed!




Here’s a map of the Croom Riding Area:




Anyone else have some Croom Photos?

______________________________________________

[rKyDeX]

Nice report DT. Maybe now I can make it up there mid-week since I don't have a job.

[mrbones]

I've got some pics, but they are all on the other site.

http://www.atvflorida.com/ridereview-croom.php

A map I made.

http://www.atvflorida.com/forum/index.php/topic,6118.0.html

[dt]

Nice report DT. Maybe now I can make it up there mid-week since I don't have a job.

It's a good way to get away from it all. I was there six hours and put just under three on the meter.

I've got some pics, but they are all on the other site.

http://www.atvflorida.com/ridereview-croom.php

Cool photos  

[mrbones]

I made this video there last year. I think that's the last time I went there.

<a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V8i15ULCUzY" target="_blank">http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V8i15ULCUzY</a>

[dt]

^^ Excellent!

Are you using a helmet cam in some of that or just carrying the camera?

[mrbones]

I used a handlebar mounted camera. It's a Oregon Scientific ATC2K. The shots of me riding was when I put the camera in the sand and rode off. The video quality isn't the best, but it gets the job done.

Here's a link to the camera on Amazon.

http://www.amazon.com/Oregon-Scientific-ATC2K-Waterproof-Action/dp/B000F5FKHI

[dt]

Another GREAT DAY at Croom. Bright sunny day … 60 degrees … Dang, my face is sore from smiling so much!

Before unloading, I shot up to the Buttgenbach Mine Campgrounds to shoot a few photos. Buttgenbach is the name of a mining company that mined phosphate in a strip mining very near the campgrounds in the late 20s and got bought out in the mid 60s. That mined area is now called the Quarry; photos coming up in a couple posts.



The great thing about camping up at Croom is the facilities are really decent compared to some other camp grounds I’ve been to. They even have showers, which is kind of a good deal after coming in off the trail. The way it works is you need to claim your spot for $20 a day and then put your $$ is a corresponding box out front. Idle speed on the OHVs and no after dark riding…







Not much to the place otherwise; a place to put up a tent, places for fires in the evening, and it’s fairly well kept imo.
_________________________________________

[dt]

Can you believe that someone was in my self-designated, private Croom parking spot this morning? The nerve…



Backup spot, still in the Hammock Day Use Area.



Here are a few random shots from the north-east corner of the riding area. A little more topography than the west side quadrant.














_________________________________

[dt]

Finally took the G down into the Quarry today. As mentioned, it’s an old phosphate strip mine. Here are some photos that don’t really do justice to how deep it is and how steep the tracks are in and out. There are actually a number of ways in and out. All I can say is choose wisely.





























I hung out down there for about an hour. Awesome day!


______________________________________

[mrbones]

Awesome. I might need to get up there some time soon!

[maureen]

I've spent many a day at Croom! A friend of mine rides out there about 2-3 times a week. He's on a CRF450 trailered by a little Acura. I'm sure you've at least seen him!

I'll have to post up some of my photos. I have many shots of folks out in the pit! 

[maureen]

This is one of my favorite spots out there. In the SW corridor of the park, about 100 yards from the pit, IIRC! I love tooling around in there before riding the trails north...

[dt]

I'll have to post up some of my photos. I have many shots of folks out in the pit! 

Please ... we'd all like to see them. Also, one of us or somebody needs to get some shots of the parts tree and the orange small block chevy engine on Trail A.  I almost got a photo of my bike with three deer in the background a couple weeks ago. That would have been cool, but they took off.

I've spent many a day at Croom! A friend of mine rides out there about 2-3 times a week. He's on a CRF450 trailered by a little Acura. I'm sure you've at least seen him!

I truck in and try and park in the same place every week, up at the Hammock. It seems most of the weekday riders cut in to that first day use area to the left rather than drive up to the further in spots. I’ll keep my eyes peeled for the Acura.

Also, perhaps you know what’s going on with that Supercross or Arena track that someone built recently off from the Westside fence line about a third or halfway up. It’s definitely and SX style track with some great looking jumps. It can’t be but a couple months old, or else I’ve just been missing it, and I’ve only seen someone on it once, around late January. I drove up some roads in that direction just up Cortez a little and couldn’t find it. It’s probably someone’s practice track, but if that’s available for use, I wouldn’t mind getting the G on it.

______________

[mrbones]

That track has been there for a few years. The last I heard it, it's owned by the guy who owns the Dade City racetrack. He tried to get it opened up as a public track, but couldn't get it passed the county and there was too much opposition from the neighbors. So it sits as a private track.

[mrbones]

I remember road traffic to and from the place was a concern.

While digging in Google, I found an interesting article about Croom from the St Pete Times, Nov 3, 1973. They refer to it as the Buttgenbach Mines Recreation Area.

http://news.google.com/newspapers?id=n8YNAAAAIBAJ&sjid=JHMDAAAAIBAJ&dq=brooksville%20florida%20croom%20track&pg=4804%2C2364442

[maureen]

I know I've heard a couple different things about that track but can't recall details right now. I'll ask around and see what I can come up with. I do know that I've never seen anyone on it.

I'm meeting with someone who wants to buy both my bikes today...the XR200 and the KLR600, so, I'll be bikeless for bit! If you see a CRF250 (R or X model) for a steal let me know!

[dt]

I was busy last week and unable to get out on the trail. Then it rained on the day I wanted to ride the street bike. So this morning when I got up, I decided that I needed a little forest action. Of course, these photos are up at Croom. The first couple are from the west side, trail A specifically, and then the north east corner. Great day weather-wise; 72 degrees. There was a lot of standing water here and there. Anyway, enjoy!


That's not a creek ^^; it's Trail A.  

[dt]

Continued...




How do you like the new skinz? 

[dt]

I got off about seven photos today, and the camera broke. The computer still sees it, so here are a couple. Great day ... warm.

[maureen]

Very nice! It looks so peaceful in your photos. Not exactly what comes to mind when I think of Croom

[dt]

Very nice! It looks so peaceful in your photos. Not exactly what comes to mind when I think of Croom

That's why I go mostly on weekdays anymore. It's getting crazy on weekends, but if you can kick off right at day break on weekend days and bug out by noon, it's still not too bad.

[maureen]

Day break? Pffttaaaaahahaha! I'm throwing the sheet over my face and rolling over for a couple more hours! 

I can't wait to get another dirtbike, we'll have to meet up to ride when I do.

[dt]

Dang! You and Bones…can’t get out of bed in the morning. I have one of those internal alarm clocks that goes off at 5:00AM every day, irrespective of when I hit it at night. When summer arrives, the early morning is cooler and the best riding. 

[mrbones]

My Mother is kind of like that, but my Dad goes to bed at 6:00am! I ended up some where in the middle.

[dt]

I got a new camera…














__________________________________________________________

[dt]

Hmmmm. Looks like my license plate got introduced to my new tire today.


Dang, sorry you need to keep looking at this dirt bike. I’ll take one of my others up sometime for a change in scenery. Hey, or maybe one of you can post yours. 

__________________________________________________________

[dt]

Shots from Croom today…



















Had a nice Ryan Villopoto style endo today. Those are always fun.Came up a little short on a jump I’ve only done 200 times. Nothing broke on the bike, though. Guess I’m still getting used to the bike.  

[maureen]

Glad you're alright! I'm on the hunt for two wheels again so maybe I'll be seeing you out there soon! 

[dt]

To be honest, I now ride mostly like that dude on the Husky in the other thread. I got the new bike to support that. It’s definitely a lot tamer than my YZ250F and YZ426F before that, etc down the line, and much friendlier. After all, I’m turning 51 on Wednesday and hope to extend my riding for many more years. Nonetheless, I’ve come to expect an occasional fall riding in the dirt (I mean sand). Endos are rare, and admittedly stupid; what usually gets me is a deep rut or catching the tip of the handle on tree.

That’s why I always dress well, and wish everyone else I see out there did similarly. That very day I was wearing an EVS Revo5 chest/back protector (with shoulder pads), with the attached EVS RC3 collar. I also wear a FAMMZ Kidney/lower back belt and rigid forearm/elbow guards. All my pants have knee and hip pads, and I alternate between high and shorty boots, depending on how hot it is. The Icon shorties aren’t as much protection, but they rise well above the ankle. Obviously, a helmet and goggles are staples, and are required by the State in all riding areas. Even with all that, I’ve had quite a few injuries (from minor to serious) over the years; could have been much worse without the gear.

Sorry to ramble. It was a good opportunity to promote wearing gear out on the trail. You’ve seen what some of those kids wear out there. 

[maureen]

I agree. Wearing gear is the easiest thing that you can do to prevent major injuries! My boots saved my ankle last year when I went tumbling with a bike! Thank God that I am able to think clearly in those moments, so I actually threw my weight with the bike as well and was able to prevent being snapped like a twig at the ankle!  I could go on and on about how gear has saved my a$$ (literally--hip pads are wonderful) but I'll just leave it at I agree with you!

Even if I were just riding like the guy in the Husky video, I'd be a hell of a lot better of than I am right now...bikeless! I'm on the hunt though


I can't wait to get out there. Richloam also looked very interesting.

[dt]

I was getting the bike ready for tomorrow and just remembered that there were a bunch of signs up at Croom last week that they’re closing the riding area for the month of August to pave the road from the front back to the camping area. They’d already started widening the road last week. Imagine that!

[mrbones]

A paved road? Did Hell freeze over?

[dt]

I have been neglecting my dirt time for the last three weeks due to trips and work and whatnot. But I put some serious suspension mods on the G last weekend so I needed to get out and see how they work. I was surprised to see that the road work has gone nowhere, in probably two months. There were no crews or equipment doing anything today. Overall, I’d say that they may be only halfway done widening the road. That is, it’s widened only about half way up to the campgrounds. The other reason I wanted to get out was because I understood that they were going to shut the riding area down for the month of August. I don’t think so, based on what I saw. Here are some shots of the road up to about just after the big curve before the Hammock day area. The last photo is about what the whole road was like three or four months ago.

[dt]

Today’s topic: Gloves.

Gloves:  A subtopic of Gear, gloves are a brilliant invention designed to protect ones hands whilst, among other things, riding motorcycles and ATVs. What can happen when you don’t wear gloves? Well, by way of example, yesterday two families (seven people, neighbors from a town that will go unmentioned) loaded into the Croom Motorcycle Area with their ATVs and parked aways but an earshot from me (I learned later that it was their first time at this treacherous facility). Nothing unusual, they arrived mid morning and I ran my final loop around the place just after they arrived. When I returned and was getting ready to load up my bike, two times one of the women flew into the day area frantically yelling that someone was hurt and bleeding “bad!” After the second time, and on my observation that no one seemed like they we’re doing or were going to do too much, I cranked the G back up, rode over and asked if I could help. The lady explained that another lady (turned out to be a 58 yo) had wrecked an ATV back in the forest…then points in the general direction (okay, there are 2700 acres of forest in that direction)…and was bleeding, again bad. Since searching the forest didn’t seem like a good idea given the potential situation, I told them to take me too her and proceeded to follow one of their ATVs on my dirt bike out into the forest to where the lady was standing…covered in blood on one side, from the shoulder of her loose fitting sleeveless blouse, down to her shorts, along her bare/unprotected legs and on to her previously white tennis shoes, no socks. Quite an amazing site, indeed. I asked her if I could see the wound, which was clearly her hand as she had it covered with a bloody white towel. She didn’t respond, so as she teetered precariously side to side, woosy from the blood loss, I lifted the towel and…well, let’s just say my first thought was to get her back to the day use area and get an ambulance called, which we promptly did, but not before asking two young guys in their group to look around for the rest of it. Fast forward, the Hernando EMT was on site in an absolutely impressive ten minutes and off she went to Brooksville Regional. This is not the whole story; there was so much fail in this incident that to properly describe it, I’d certainly overload mrbones server. So, I’ll just stick to the topic…gloves protect your hands, wear ‘em.

[dcameras]

gloves protect your hands, wear ‘em.

preach on brother, preach on

[mrbones]

Some people learn the hard way.

two young guys in their group to look around for the rest of it

Look for what? A piece of finger?

I was just looking at gloves yesterday. I found a nice fitting off-road glove at Wal-Mart made by Fuel. I'm quick to judge Wal-Mart sold gloves as crap, but these were nice with some kind of gel sewn into the palm. I'd say they're nicer than my $40 Fox gloves at 1/2 the cost. I might go back and get them after all.

[dt]

It was the better part of the back of her hand.

So where have you been hiding, anyway?

[dt]

I couldn’t ride last week because of work, but I hit the trails early this morning. The good news is no one got themselves all trashed this week. Weather was excellent…actually cool early this morning…I guess that’s good news too. Update on the road: Nothing, they haven’t done a thing.

I haven’t had the camera out for a long time so I took it today. Tucked it in my tail bag and then proceeded to totally forget I had it, until when I was just about done for the day. Here’s a shot down in the very southwest corner, right next to I-75.



Here are a few more:

[da34613]

hi new to riding and none of my friends have off road toys.been to croom a couple times but i would like to go with some who know knows there way around.im free most weekday if there is anybody interested.feel free to email me..thanks

[tpastorjay]

Hello, I am new to the forum but have spent a lot of time in Croom over the years and hope to be there more often in the future. I am 65 years old and as of late have been racing motocross with Florida Vintage Motocross. I am recovering from injuries incurred while racing a TT event in Ocala. Maybe it is time to get back in the woods and just enjoy riding again for a while.

[da34613]

well if your ever up for riding during the week i can join you.i have no idea around croom and would like to see it.

[dt]

Welcome to the forum da34613! I’m glad to joined.

The good thing about Croom is that there are a couple principal trails (A that runs right down the middle north-south on the west side of the road and R that runs north-south on the east side of the road) that will always give you a point of reference. Plus there are perimeter trails that you always know you’ll run into. Our admin mrbones created a real cool satellite map with points of interest. It’s over in his ATV Forum… LINK. Check it out.

[da34613]

anybody for croom this week?im new to riding just want see trails and stuff..

[gearhead400]

I drove by croom last weekend when I was picking up my new bike at wesley chapel. Couldn't believe it when I saw those...road machines on the main road!

Refering back to the first page, no, those pictures don't do that old mine justice! I went in there as an amateur on a quad and came out with my handlebars mangled as well as my face where the handlebars had come through my helmet. It was easy in, hard out back then. Those trails seem to change shape every month though.

 

[mrbones]

Hey gearhead, I know you. Welcome sir!

Yeah, the amount of rain we get can also change the trails, too. That's sometimes good, sometimes bad.