JPTrex - Black Hills, SD
This July, I had the incredible opportunity to participate in the third annual JPTrex event, which was held in the Black Hills of South Dakota. JPTrex is an event company that brings together vendors and Jeepers for a once-in-a-lifetime off-road experience. Applications are accepted in advance of the event, and 30 lucky Jeepers, dubbed “The Dirty Thirty”, are selected to attend this week-long adventure. This may sound similar to other “Jeep experiences” you have seen on social media and/or YouTube but it strives to be more accessible to your average, everyday Jeep owner (in other words, you don’t have to own an off-road company or have a sponsored rig to attend). All profits from the event and money raised during the raffle at the end go to Hero Offroad, which is a nonprofit organization aimed at honoring Veterans, Wounded Warriors, and their families.
The 4 day, 5 night event consisted of a stay in the historic gunslinger town of Deadwood, which features Old West themed casinos and saloons but is also family friendly. Day activities included sightseeing at Mount Rushmore, a visit to Custer State Park where we got up close and personal with wild bison, a winding drive on the breathtaking Needles Highway, and 3 days of hard-core wheeling in the Black Hills National Forest. This year’s event was made possible by several big-named sponsors: BFGoodrich, Rock Krawler, CrawlTek Revolution, Hi-Lift and Warn, just to name a few, with Crawl 5280 providing the photo and video coverage throughout the event.
But enough about all of that… you want to know what the wheeling was like, right? Admittedly, the Black Hills were never on my radar prior to this event, nor was it on my bucket list of places to wheel like Moab, the Rubicon, or Colorado. This made the event even more appealing, since I knew nothing about what the area had to offer and would have likely never chosen to visit there on my own. Boy, did I not realize what I was missing! Leading up to the event, I researched the trails as much as I could, and heard names like Fruity Pebbles, Got Milk, Kong, and the famous Waterfall on Hal Johns. It was immediately clear that the Black Hills offered challenges and scenery unlike anything I could have imagined! For anyone looking to wheel in the Black Hills, it is worth noting that there is no “off-road trail map” or guide to finding the affectionately named trails I mentioned earlier. Yes, you can get a trail map of the Black Hills National Forest, but you’ll find a spider web of forest trails with nothing more than numbers. With a bit of digging, you can find sources in off-road forums that link the numbers to the trail names, but it’s certainly not an exhaustive list. The South Dakota off-road community is highly protective of their land and its usage, despite being accessible by the public as long as you obtain a trail pass for a small fee. Their concern is valid though: all it takes is one or two wheelers that do not abide by the “Tread Lightly” oath to permanently close a trail due to trail blazing, mudding in erosion-prone areas, or other destructive behaviors. As part of the event, we had several locals on hand to show us the way to the trails, as well as some Black Hills veterans that knew their way around. The Dirty Thirty was divided up into two to keep the group size more manageable and lessen wait times on the trails.
Day 1 of wheeling was on a trail called Calamity, which offered a variety of technical rock crawling obstacles to keep our group busy. Worth noting is that every trail has an easy, bypass road running along next to it with frequent opportunities to jump back and forth. Many of the obstacles we encountered were located next to towering rock walls, where it was apparent that falling rocks frequently change the landscape of the trail. While rock crawling is something that I’m intimately familiar with on the East Coast, I was caught off guard by the lack of traction under my tires due to the loose, ever shifting rocks. Ultimately I would rate the trail as a blue-black (according to the ratings we are familiar with) or something in the level 5-6 range.
We ended up with a last minute change of plans for Day 2 of our half of the Dirty Thirty. Initially we had planned to run a trail called Iceman, which the other half of the group had run the day before, but our trail guide had a different agenda. He took us on a winding scenic tour through some mountain passes while imparting some historic knowledge about the area and the mining that still takes place today. As anticipation grew amongst the group about the day’s wheeling plans, our guide announced that he’d be taking us to Hal Johns (audible “yipees” and “yays” emanated from the caravan of Jeeps). It is my understanding that Hal Johns consists of a dozen or more sections, and in a full day of wheeling you could only expect to complete 2 or 3 sections. The trail did not disappoint. Much like Calamity on the previous day, you would find yourself and your rig stuck between a rock and a hard place… that hard place being a towering rock wall, although with fewer bypass options or “easy line” to take. Our winches and recovery gear quickly became the MVPs of the day, after the first obstacle required winch assistance for almost every Jeep in the group.
By late afternoon on Day 2, we had covered quite a bit of ground, and were presented with the opportunity to check out “The Waterfall” on Hal Johns. Our trail guide boldly stated that he had never seen a Jeep JK run the Waterfall. “It’s for buggies and heavily modified rigs… JKs don’t do the waterfall.” Challenge accepted. The Waterfall is a crescent shaped, towering stair-step rock wall that stands nearly 7 feet tall. Inconveniently located in the center of the crescent shape is a large rock that prevents a straight-on approach to the wall, and waits patiently for your tires to lose grip when attempting the climb so that it can feast on your taillights and rear quarter panels. The obstacle favors shorter wheelbase vehicles. JKUs struggle to make the tight turn next to the rock to initiate the climb without body damage. I’m proud to say that my green machine was one of the JKs to attempt and succeed at making the climb! With a proper approach, a tight squeeze between the left side of the wall and around the giant rock, we were able to get the front tires near the apex and ready to climb. This time, there were no loose, shifting rocks, and my Jeep walked up the wall with no tire spin and maximum traction! Two other Jeeps in our group made the climb that day, and several more made it on Day 3 as well.
The final day of JPTrex was more freeform, allowing participants to break from their assigned groups and choose which trails to run. We chose to return to Hal Johns to tackle more sections of the trail, while others ran Kong, which was touted as being challenging, with no option to exit, and best for shorter wheelbase vehicles.
The Black Hills are truly a hidden gem of wheeling that should be on every off-roader’s bucket list of trails to hit. I’m grateful for the opportunity to explore this area of the country with JPTrex, the friendships that I made as part of the event, and the memories that will last a lifetime. As a final note, no matter whether it is the Black Hills or any other trail system across the country, please respect the land and the opportunity we have to explore it, so that we can keep the trails open for many years to come!
