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Questions about harlan kentuck wheelin

2K views 9 replies 9 participants last post by  sodapop 
#1 ·
Well i am wanting to get down to harlan this year and do some wheelin. I have never been to harlan before and was just wondering where some of the better spots to camp at would be? Is the fall crawl a bad time to go down or would a different weekend be better? Would like to set something up to where i can get with some of you guys that have been down there before that way i don't get lost on the mountain. Also, when is the fall crawl this year?

If anybody would want to go down and do some wheeling before the year is out let me know.

Thanks,
Ben
 
#3 ·
South side in Evart is where we stayed. Black Mountain Cabins....nice place. you are in a small coal mining town so there is not much there. We felt safe but we were in a very large group 10 rigs and about 16 guys. We found the locals were very helpful and friendly....Everyone in town seamed to know who we were and where we were from...:teehee:
 
#4 ·
Can someone explain better/safer camping? Are parts of Harlan like Harlem or just full of bears. I eventually want to make a trip there as well but never heard camping there was not safe. I think an ass rape from locals would kind of ruin a weekend.
 
#8 ·
North side is a little less sketchy than the lower south side of the mountain. I had no problems in the campground on the north side + the trailhead is at the back of the campgrounds. http://www.harlancountycampground.com/

They have decent campsites, but the way to go would be rent their cabins. They are pretty new and the owner is really cool. You can get your park permit stickers there also.

South side of the mountain, like was mentioned before is a burned out meth town. Main mode of transportion in town is quad or side by side. I went down there to gas up, pulled up to an intersection with 3 gas stations, one was burned, one was closed up, the other had a cardboard sign in the window written in Sharpie "CASH ONLY". Was never so glad to have a spare $20 in my wallet.
To me the town didn't look so bad, just less than dirt poor.

The one time I did stay on the south side, we stayed at the Holiday Inn express in Evarts. Then drove the 5 or so miles to black mountain.

Fall Crawl is pretty busy, if you want to hit some of the popular obstactles they will probably be full.
 
#9 ·
What he said.


I went with 2 other guys about 4 years ago. We drove around the south side at night (not much to see), that was the extent of our trip to that side. We stayed at the north side, at the time they only had 2 cabins on the road to the trails. We parked next to the road (we didn't like that part) as far as our trucks and trailers went. It is a drive to get to the top, about 15-20 minutes. But holy hell is it scary your first time and there is still ice/snow on the north side!!! Took a whole week to get the seat fabric completely removed from my ass!! We went near the end of February. I would go end of March/April next time, cooler, yet no ice!

Thing is, I don't remember there being a "park permit" pass. We paid to camp (cabin) but not to wheel. Maybe that changed too.

Still that trip remains one of the most fun. The "mayor" visiting the junk yard in a rusty limousine, the locals telling us their stories of drunk driving, an explanation of a cock fight with a human demonstrating it, and of course the hen houses they were moving off the preachers land to use for cock fights which we were invited to. Ah memories!
 
#10 ·
I've also stayed at the Harlan County Campgrounds and it's decent. Primitive where we camped but decent. Nice that you're basically right on the trailhead. I did a write up a few years ago about about the trails. I'm sure they've changes some over time but might be worth you searching for.
 
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