A Tennessee waltz: 72,000 acres and 160-plus miles of trails awaits at Coal Creek OHV.(GOINGPLACES)

Publication: ATV Sport

Publication Date: 01-OCT-05

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COPYRIGHT 2005 Ehlert Publishing Group

The rain pelted down through the canopy of trees dousing the clay soil with an unneeded wetness. The rain and clay soil mix made for a downright muddy and slippery concoction. Rocks jutted out from the puddles and elsewhere as we shot up the trail in Tennessee's Smoky Mountains. We charged on, ripping through the tree-lined trail on our way to a lookout.

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As we climbed in elevation nearing the end of a quick ride to a lookout at the Coal Creek OHV area near Oak Ridge, Tenn., the freshly-cleaned riding gear we donned only moments before was an ugly mess of orange watery mud. We were in heaven. It was a good thing we didn't shower that morning. It was also good that the sun peeked through the clouds later that day so we could start drying out.

While our main mission at the Coal Creek OHV area was to see and ride the 2006 Polaris ATVs at the company's ATV press launch, we assigned ourselves a covert mission of gathering information about the riding area. We soon...

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