Coal town

ke0ki2k · Post by **ke0ki2k** » Mon Mar 31, 2008 10:09 am

about an hour north of Knoxville there is a wildlife reserve called Royal Blue just west of Lafollette. its a pretty big place...like 25 or 30 thousand acres of wilderness. its a huge spot for people that hunt or like to trail their jeeps/fourwheelers/dirtbikes. there USED to be a theme park called Coal Town near the front of it that went belly up cause its a horrible location and no one cares about coal. BUT they did have a HUGE concrete parking lot with very few if any lights. and the lot is massive and its just sitting out there getting no use at all. its state land I believe so we would need to contact TWRA. but no one owns it, no one uses it, and I dont think anyones liable for damages that occur on it...since people get hurt riding up there all the time and they dont file suit against the state lol. i'll go check it out next time i'm in knoxville.

Crash477 · Post by **Crash477** » Mon Mar 31, 2008 10:19 am

Sounds like a good thing to check out

ke0ki2k · Post by **ke0ki2k** » Mon Mar 31, 2008 10:22 am

the only questions would be the condition of the tarmac and who would be liable and need to be contacted really. we'll see though.

Post by **thrdeye** » Mon Mar 31, 2008 10:33 am

This it?

http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&hl=en&g ... 2&t=k&z=17

ke0ki2k · Post by **ke0ki2k** » Mon Mar 31, 2008 10:37 am

yeap, lower section looks like its fallen into disrepair. I'll go checkout the condition of the upper section this weekend....as well as the road leading up to it. I'm pretty sure its mainly paved with a gravel section just before you get to the lot. not a point havin an event if all the cars are getting stuck on the entrance road

steverife · Post by **steverife** » Mon Mar 31, 2008 10:46 am

I'm surprised that a coal themed entertainment park didn't make it.

tscott · Post by **tscott** » Mon Mar 31, 2008 11:40 am

I think Lee Graser checked that place out a couple of years ago. I can't remember what ever came out of it though.

Post by **disneyd** » Mon Mar 31, 2008 12:07 pm

I think all of the pavement is in pretty bad shape. Though it wouldn't hurt to check it if anyone is out that way.

ke0ki2k · Post by **ke0ki2k** » Mon Mar 31, 2008 3:12 pm

I'll go check it out. there may be some sections that are good enough for a event...we can park everyone else in the crappy section. we'll see though. the best thing I would think is that I think we could just have an event without really needing permission...for free. there are BIG offroad jeep rallys up through the trails up there all the time with like 40-50 fully built trailer queens and they dont have to pay for permits or anything. it'd be cool if someone with lots of $$$ bought the lot and restored it ^_^ just a thought. itd be cheap.

4Davey · Post by **4Davey** » Mon Mar 31, 2008 6:17 pm

I was up there last year. The lot is in "levels" with LARGE "whoops" at each level. It is horrible shape as it has not been paved since the '70s. Don't waste your time.

ke0ki2k · Post by **ke0ki2k** » Mon Mar 31, 2008 6:25 pm

kinda what I remembered but I didnt see much. alright, thanks for savin me the gas

whenry · Post by **whenry** » Mon Mar 31, 2008 7:01 pm

There is an owner of the property and licenses are sold to the Jeep-types who like to 4-wheel in the area. I forget the name of the entity that you have to contact but SCCA contacted them several yrs ago about a rally on the mountain. Nothing was ever worked out and then SCCA got out of doing rallies.

Dentspeed · Post by **Dentspeed** » Mon Mar 31, 2008 8:39 pm

steverife wrote:I'm surprised that a coal themed entertainment park didn't make it.

ke0ki2k · Post by **ke0ki2k** » Mon Mar 31, 2008 11:49 pm

whenry wrote:There is an owner of the property and licenses are sold to the Jeep-types who like to 4-wheel in the area. I forget the name of the entity that you have to contact but SCCA contacted them several yrs ago about a rally on the mountain. Nothing was ever worked out and then SCCA got out of doing rallies.

Ohhhh yeah that side of the road is owned. theres a company that makes mobile living quarters for the army right near that lot just up the road. that would be a great place for a rally. we used to ride fourwheelers up there and we went WAYYY back in royal blue towards the kentucky border a few times with a guy that really knows the land. there were a few towns back there with a half dozen houses each. no electricity, no plumbing, a good hour to the nearest grocery store by rough roads. and that was like 1999-2000. thats Deliverance shit right there haha.

Crash477 · Post by **Crash477** » Tue Apr 01, 2008 10:57 am

damn thats freaky. Would want to get stranded out that way lol