For years the locals knew the area as a trash-infested hangout for hoodlums and ne’er-do-wells that was best left alone. There was an old lake in the middle of all the bramble that was pretty much filled up and had become an impassable swamp. No one really paid too much attention to this BLM-owned land 30 minutes south of Birmingham (the oversight of which was ceded to Chilton County). That is until a group of Alabama OHV enthusiasts teamed up with Chilton County Commissioners and proposed a brilliant idea for this apparently sorry piece of property.

When Glenn Myers and a handful of off-road riders first formed the Cheaha Trail riders in 1988 to explore ways to protect and expand riding opportunities in northern Alabama, they couldn’t possibly have foreseen the nationwide implications of their efforts. Yet they have become a shining example of a grassroots riding club that is responsible for the growing number of OHV riding opportunities available to enthusiasts across America.

“We saw the future of off-road recreation being threatened,” said Myers, the club’s president. “National forests were being closed to motorized recreation, so we set out to do something about it.”

The Cheaha Trail Riders initially galvanized their efforts around the creation of a local riding area that eventually became the centerpiece for an OHV trail system called the Kentuck ORV (off-road vehicle) Area in the Talladega National Forest in northeastern Alabama. The undertaking required thousands of hours of volunteer time from the club and it also received funding assistance from a new federal trails funding program, which had just begun in the early ‘90s which is now known as the Recreational Trails Program (RTP).

Recognizing that grassroots volunteers such as the Cheaha Trail Riders would accomplish even more success by working together, Honda stepped forward in 1990 to underwrite the start of a national network of OHV clubs. In 1991, with dedicated startup and operating funds from Honda, the National Off-Highway Vehicle Conservation Council (NOHVCC) was formed.

The efforts of the Cheaha Trail Riders multiplied immediately. “Without Honda’s assistance in those first years, our job would have been much harder and taken more time and effort,” says Myers. “We were some of the first e-mail users in the country and we swapped success stories and challenges with other riding clubs. We tapped into resources and knowledge in a big way.” Eventually, with the help of the NOHVCC, American Motorcyclist Association (AMA) and the Blue Ribbon Coalition, Alabama’s various OHV groups formed under one state organization, The Alabama State Off-Highway Vehicle Association (ALOHVA), and became even more politically potent.

“We’ve got more than 300,000 ATVs and dirt bikes in the state,” said Myers. “When we learned that Chilton County was interested in developing 159 acres for an OHV park, with the help of the NOHVCC we made a presentation to show them that a recreational park was possible for both motorized and non-motorized users, and that it would be viable both environmentally and economically.”

With the backing of the Cheaha Trail Riders , Chilton County wrote a grant proposal for RTP funds and received $874,000 in 2003, with the county and the club providing an additional $218,500 in funds, supplies and volunteer man-hours. Now, three years later the Minooka OHV Park project is nearly complete with dozens of multi-use ATV, single-track and equestrian trails meandering through lush forest surrounding the revitalized lake. Trails will also be built for hikers, and disabled-access trails will surround the lake, which has already been stocked with fish. A beginning-rider training area is included, along with camping, electrical hookups and restrooms. One of the more exciting concepts in the in the park’s future will be an environmental learning center, modeled after American Honda’s OHV Environmental Learning Centers in Colton, CA and Alpharetta, GA.

“We’re utilizing all the resources available in the OHV community,” said Myers. “We’ve had great support from the AMA, ATVA, and NOHVCC. Trails Unlimited, a Forest Service partner, is clearing the trails. TREAD Lightly! is providing resources to teach responsible trail use and Honda is lending the expertise in rider training and environmental stewardship.”

But it is the local volunteers from the Cheaha Trail Riders and ALHOVA who are carrying the water. They have worked feverishly over the past several years, sacrificing their riding time to clear brush and debris, measure and flag trail, and educate the local community about the project. “It’s going to be a model OHV park when all is said and done,” said Myers.

Myers and the other leaders of Alabama’s OHV community have engaged land managers, politicians, civic leaders, and succeeded in changing their impressions about the OHV community. To what does he credit their success? “We’ve done it by being forthright and broadminded,” he said. “We want to share public resources with other user groups. We want to be good stewards of the land. We want to be good neighbors. And we’re willing to lead the effort because OHV people are doers. In the end, we are all going to benefit.”

Minooka OHV Park is slated to open to the public in June with a grand opening featuring the Governor for the ribbon cutting. And the best news is that two more big parcels of land bordering the trails have been purchased by Minooka OHV Park, giving the park a total of 366 acres to work with now. For more information on Minooka OHV Park see the Cheaha Trail Riders website at www.cheahatrailriders.com