The Florida panhandle is 200 miles long and 50 to 100 miles wide, and until recently had no designated OHV trails. That all changed in mid-April of 2015 when the Clear Creek OHV Trails opened, giving riders of all skill levels on dirt bikes and ATVs 27 miles of trails.
It was a long time in the making.
“This is a case history in partnerships and perseverance” said Jack Terrell, NOHVCC Senior Project Manager. “The OHV park has been a very long-term effort by a lot of people, a lot of agencies and a lot of organizations. It’s not a huge place, but it is a legal riding area and they needed it badly up there.”
Two of the partners in the project aren’t normally thought of as being involved in opening OHV trails. The Department of Defense supported the project to prevent development and create a buffer zone near the Whiting Field Naval Air Station. The Department of Defense Readiness and Environmental Protection Initiative provides buffer zones around U.S. military facilities and welcomes partners to create them.
The Nature Conservancy also wanted to prevent development, to protect the natural resources in the area. “There is a creek that runs through one end. They were concerned about maintaining the quality of it, because it’s a tributary of the Blackwater River,” said Terrell. “In Florida, we’ve had a very close partnership with the Nature Conservancy. We have a lot in common with them. Together with them and other groups, we have put together a coalition that has really been effective in promoting motorized recreation.”
The North Florida South Alabama Motorcycle Club, Pensacola, was instrumental in moving the project forward, a process that took more than 10 years. “There are thousands of ATVs and dirt bikes sold in Northwest Florida and unless you have a large track on your own property, there’s no legal place to ride them,” said Wayne Briske of the club, in an interview with the Pensacola News Journal when the trail system opened last April. Briske is also the NOHVCC Florida State Partner. He and Terrell served on the Florida OHV Recreation Advisory Committee that pursued the project and directed funding that made it happen. "All of the trails were cut by volunteers as part of our motorcycle and ATV clubs here locally, so there was a lot of local manpower that actually went into cutting the trails," Briske said.
Other partners in the building of the trail system include the U.S. Navy, Florida Department of Agriculture & Consumer Services, Florida Division of Forestry (now Florida Forest Service), Blackwater State Forest and Santa Rosa County.
Clear Creek is built on state land. It was funded through Florida OHV title fees; a $300,000 Recreational Trails Program (RTP) grant from the Federal Highway Administration, administered by the Florida Office of Greenways and Trails, a division of the Florida Department of Environmental Protection; and donations from Polaris and Yamaha to local OHV clubs.
The state owns the land. A private concessions company operates the gate, restroom and concessions. The state and local clubs provide trail maintenance. Clear Creek OHV Trails is located at 8348 Redbird Trail, Milton, FL. According to its Facebook page, the trails are open Saturday through Monday, 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Cost is $15 for adults, $10 for youth, military and seniors.
For more information, visit the Clear Creek OHV Trails Facebook page at: https://www.facebook.com/ClearCreekOHV/timeline.
