Mines and Meadows

Ummm… My 5^th time there in 2 years. A few suggestions to the management /​first timers: The vinyl map is worth the $ 5 if you plan to return but it needs to show some landmarks such as the hill climbs, the bogs and the meeting area for the mine tour. The trails here don’t go very far before an intersection appears & a decision must be made (kind of a PIA). A sign on a tree read «to the bogs» and then… nothing else. Never found it. If you want to go to the hill climb or bog etc, then you’re going to just have to stumble upon it. Twice as many signs are needed here, as every 3 minutes your on a different trail # it’s almost impossible to remember where you are at; way too much thinking is required here! Imagine needing help, calling the emergency #, «well tell us where you are». «HELL I HAVE NO IDEA!» Trail conditions: Although the trails are kept trimmed wide & clear, I have seen no evidence in my last two years here to repair the huge ruts on some of the trails but most of all, nothing done to the huge puddle ruts, especially on ¹⁹⁄₃₉ (I think). Can’t someone spend A weekend on a bulldozer & shape this place up a bit? Bottom line: $ 50 to ride a day for my son and I is a bit steep for what it is; but it’s close to Pgh. I can’t commit to a $ 400 annual pass here, summer is to short to be able to get your money’s worth. I prefer a long weekend in Marienville or further north to majestic trails…****UPDATE: I just received a holiday (Xmas) gift card for my birthday. Seven one day passes for $ 100 thats about $ 15 per day. That’s more in my family budget & I forgot to mention that this place is open year-​round (except during hunting season.)

I can’t speak for everyone but my experience with mines and meadows wasn’t too fun. I have a sport quad and with the ruts and the mud I was constantly getting stuck. There is really no where to open your atv up. Horrible. Not to mention expensive. You can get a season pass for marienville for about the same price you pay for the daily rate here. If I had a 4×4 it might have been a little better although my friends did and they said they hated it.

Wide variety of trails and good camping accommodations. Mine tour is definitely worth the $ 5, you wont find an experience like that anywhere else on the east coast. My friends and I will definitely be back!

One of our favorite ATV parks!
My husband and I became members of the park after only visiting one time.
The place is very close to the Ohio border. We take the turnpike to the Beaver exit and it is only a few miles off the exit.
Upon entering the mobile trailer check in doesn’t look like much and isn’t much. The people are very firendly and will help you with anything. There are 3 parking lots offereing enough room for everyone.
They offer a mine tour, rentals, cabins, camping, and vinyl maps. The vinyl maps are totally worth it and are resuseable. You can wipe them down after they get all muddy!
The mine tour is worth doing at least once. They take you around a part of the park that you can’t get to without a guide. The mine ride is about 15 minutes of the one hour tour. They take you into the mine and have you shut off all your lights to show how dark it is. There is also a huge puddle in there that will be sure to clean off the mudd on your bike from earlier in the day!
They have a ton of trails including mud, hill climbs, and rocks. There is a small track in the center of the park if you are into speed. There is also a big mud hole there to play in. They do have a pee wee track as well.
Most of the trails are one way which is great. Track 1 is meant to go around the park and get you back home. Track 7 goes straight through the park. This type of set up is great becuase it allows you to manuever through the park with out stopping every 2 minutes to read a map.
Small insights: trail 13 has alot of mudd, trail 44 is uphill and hard to manuever, trail 9 is a very swirvy trail, long, and in the woods.
The camping is also great. There usually aren’t alot of people camping there so you can have the place to yourself. They have nice flat spots and spot 11 is pretty shaded. You can take your pets camping with you as well.
They have cabins there but I have never used them. They look great from the outside.
They offer the ability to order food from Domino’s and it will be delivered whatever time you want it.
We love this park and we look forward to their expansion.

Mines and Meadows! What a place to check out. But be forewarned, the entrance to the campgrounds can get confusing. To shed some light, which took us over an hour and a half to find, it’s located at 771 Darlington Road. If you have your own ATV’s and just coming for the day or staying off-​grounds at a hotel, you can go to 1307 Old Route 18. Day passes ($ 25) and weekend passes ($ 40) can be purchased and you’re free to roam anywhere on the more than 70 miles on 600 acres of land.
Our group opted for a 3-​hour ATV rental ($ 185) with tour guide, which they had just recently started a few years ago. You can also opt for the 2-​hour ATV ride ($ 135) if you don’t think your body can handle the 3-​hours of rough riding. And believe me, if you have not done ATV riding before, you’re body will be sore from all the technical trails traversing through bumps, rollers, rock scrambles, roots, mud bogs, hill climbs, and a dirt oval track with banked walls. You can get some real good speed in the oval track, but forewarned as all the dust that you wind kicking up with your buddies will get on all your clothes, eyes, mouth and in between your teeth. If you want to avoid getting dust in the mouth, I’d highly advise wearing a bandana over the face. If you’re a bit bummed that you’re with a tour guide, I could understand why as you are riding some expensive pieces of equipment that the owners don’t want you to damage. But not to worry, as our tour guide, Steve, took us through first easy then more technical trails that fit our skill level perfectly and far exceeded our expectations. He’s a super cool guy that made sure we all stuck together and stopped from time to time to give us some history of the land. After the ride, Steve took us on the cave tour which was pretty cool, literally at an all-​year 55º F temperature, though going through it was a bit slow and boring. But you have to remember it’s pitch black in there except for your ATV lights, which makes things interesting. Especially when your tour guide has you stop and turn off all engines and lights. Eerily scary though a nice way to end a long tour through the wet, dusty, and super fun trails of Mines and Meadows.
Also worth nothing, although on their website it states you can rent helmets ($ 5/​day), glasses ($ 5/​day), and the cave/​mine tour ride ($ 5), they were all included in our rental. Steve also let us use the showers (and offered us towels) which is located right next to his office. If you do decide to use the shower, you may stare at confusion when there is no handle. You can turn on the water but flipping the switch on the showerhead. Water pressure is good, though the water temperature can vary from scalding hot to extremely cold all in one shower.
We also stayed at their first built wooden cabin which is basically four wooden walls, a door and two windows. It’s minimal and simplistic with several cots provided. Be sure to bring pillows, sleeping bags, and whatever else you may need. There are two lights inside the cabin that is self-​powered by a solar-​powered panel bolted onto the roof. Also included by the cabin was a large ~36“x~18″ charcoal grill, a tiny 1′ round tabletop grill, a picnic table, a round fire pit made from a car rim suspended on cinder blocks, a questionable 50 gallon water tank that had spiders coming out of it, and a porter potty.
Would I come back? Without a doubt! Although it’s close to the western border of Pennsylvania, literally miles away from Ohio, it’s worth checking out. I never knew ATV riding could be so much fun and the standards have been set high for any future ATV expeditions. We also spoke to the older gentleman who owned the land and he let us in on some secrets. He is focusing on improving the land to include more trails to make it one of the largest ATV parks in the nation, adding ziplines, kayak rentals and more campgrounds to make this a popular getaway outdoor destination. I am totally on board with him on this and can see this place that has some great potential. I’d give this place 5 stars, but with all that is to come (and the crudeness of the cabin), I need to save the 5^th star when I revisit.

Took a few of my buddies here for a bachelor party weekend getaway and we all had a blast. The 7 hour drive from NYC ended up becoming 10 hours after getting stuck in traffic trying to get out of the city and my own ignorance for putting in the wrong address in my car’s navigation system.
You can pretty much ATV anywhere on the east coast but this was the only place I found which was a reasonable driving distance from home that let’s you navigate ATVs through pitch black mines. On top of that, they have a vast network of super fun off-​road trails for you explore. From technical trails with rocky, rooty, twisty climbs, to mud bogs, to fast banked turns and jumps, this place has it all whether you like getting down and dirty or have the need for speed.
We opted for the 3-​hour tour for $ 185 and our guide, Steve, was very knowledgeable and friendly. He took us all over and we got to check out almost every aspect of their trails. After 2.5 hours, we finally made our way into the abandoned limestone mines. It was truly a unique, one of a kind experience.
The cabin we rented was nothing to write home about, but it served its purpose. There were a few surprisingly comfortable cots which were provided but other than that, it was a minimalistic cabin. We were also provided with 50 gallons of water, two charcoal grills, and a fire pit.
One thing worth mentioning is if you have your own ATV you can just get a day pass or weekend pass instead of taking a guided tour.
Overall, a very memorable weekend and I would definitely return for some more ATV action.