Barnwell Mountain / Gilmer, TX

My buddies and I planned a quick weekend trip to Barnwell Mountain Recreation Area a couple of weeks ago. Here is a link to the trail map: Map. The park had nice scenery and was not crowded at all the weekend we were there. The trail ratings are three years out of date and it shows. I had heard that Barnwell was tight on funds, which was holding up trail maintenance. The trail map is not very good, and several of the trails are unmarked. Supposedly one of the Dallas FJ forums has a good map from GPS traces, but they do not share it outside of the club. Width is an issue for us, but what is new. Otherwise, the Raptor did great.

Along with my truck, we had a Jeep Grand Cherokee, Hummer H3 and a JK Unlimited. We drove in and set up camp at the Jeeps of North Texas Camp site. Here are a couple of views of camp:






I was able to find a little hill to get some air:


Dropping down off of the main trail, heading up to Sierra Skyview:






Dropping down onto Scorpion Overlook:






No hill descent needed w/ low range






We went to the right onto what I think was Whatever and ran into a mud hole. The stock BFGs are awful in the mud (not a surprise).




The H3 went through ahead of me and he got stuck coming back out:


We turned around and went down what turns into Claude’s Ravine:




We tried Pine Hill Run, but the farther we went, the more narrow the trail became and I wasn’t quite ready to sacrifice that much of my paint.


I had a tire a couple of feet off of the ground on this section with awesome articulation, but no one got a pic. Back down Claude’s Ravine:




Passed this guy going the other way:


Now for the ravine portion of Claude’s Ravine. We scoped it out first and none of us wanted to try the ravine portion (pictures don’t do it justice). The bypass was very narrow, so I had to take an alternate line and we squeezed the truck through some trees.












Looking down into the ravine from the JK on the narrow portion of the bypass:


We stopped at Camp ECOR for lunch and a group shot:


Some of the scenery:


The last trail we hit before going home was Linda Gail:

Very very very cool. Wish I lived closer...

Thanks for sharing.

Attaboy Will! Glad to see someone out four wheeling in their Raptor :thumbsup: It's a treat to see your pictures and I'm get even more interested when I hear that 4-letter word: CAMP as in camping

That's quite a diverse group of 4 vehicles you had. I'm sure your Raptor did as well as any of them except in regard to the limitations due to vehicle width. I've found the Raptor to be a very capable truck and the limitations are most readily found in the driver's seat :mrgreen:

What are those things in the picture and on the ground? Oh right, those are trees and leaves HA HA We don't see many of those out in the desert.

Great shots!!!! Thanks for posting, wish I was there to learn from you guys.

Oh you cannot ask a brother to come hang?

frogslinger said:

Oh you cannot ask a brother to come hang?

Click to expand...

Ooops, sorry dude. I should have asked you to come along. My bad.

Looks like fun!!

Awesome post Kaiser! This is an excellent pictorial description of a good trail run!
And yes - the camera can never do it justice - it is definately something one has to be present for to experience all the angles, traps, and treacherous (I think that's how it's spelled) terrain that could eat a truck.

And FYI - I have hit some pretty nasty trees so far, but the scratches all buff out. Although that 6" fallen pine did a little number on the rear fender - but like you confirmed - Raptors are a fair bit wider than most other trucks...

We went to the right onto what I think was Whatever and ran into a mud hole. The stock BFGs are awful in the mud (not a surprise).

Click to expand...

Agreed - that clay you were running in packs the tread quickly - these are not mud tires!

Kaiser, great thread Bro!
Nice pics too, looks like you guys had a good time out there.
I especially love the pic you posted where the little ravine is between your tires.