In late September, the signs of fall in Pennsylvania are barely starting to show. As you travel further north, however, the colors of the leaves start a gradual change to the foliage that the northeastern United States is famous for displaying. This is possibly one of the best times of year to travel by land to New England, as you can see the whole metamorphosis happen with an accelerated timeline.
Of course, the hum of 35-inch mud terrain tires at sustained highway speeds isn't music to everyone's ears… but we're Jeep people.
This was the voyage to my first Jeep Jamboree USA event – to the small town of Bethel, Maine that has been the site of the Maine Mountains Jeep Jamboree for nearly three decades.
My brother was my co-driver on this expedition, and actually brought his Project XJ to this event a few years ago. We selected a more western and less direct route through the Pocono Mountains, which drastically reduced our chances of traffic jams through North Jersey - as well as improving the scenery. I would much rather look at mountains than refineries.
We left Quadratec’s West Chester, Pennsylvania headquarters early on a sunkissed Wednesday morning in Project Snake Eyes, a 2008 JKU Rubicon, packed with camera gear, several Geocans, fall catalogs and other giveaways. As a title sponsor of Jeep Jamboree USA, Quadratec representatives attend many of the events with raffle items, gift certificates and other giveaway gear.
Bethel had experienced an uncharacteristically dry summer, and as a result many of their famous mud traps were not nearly as treacherous as usual. The all-volunteer squad of local trail guides also spent the past week before the event scouting and clearing all the trails being used, so everything was ready to go.
The closer we got to Bethel, the more serious off-road Jeeps we saw on the road. Some were on trailers, but many more were driven. It was pretty obvious all these heavy hitters were headed in the same direction we were traveling.
After spending Wednesday night with friends in the area, we pulled into Bethel about mid-day Thursday and the first thing we noticed – many of the participants had already pulled into town. We stayed at the Bethel Inn, the center of activity for all the meals and activities for the Jamboree.
The first official activity of the Jamboree was vehicle evaluation. Inspectors check to make sure your Jeep is safe, and that it meets Jeep Jamboree’s minimum requirements.
One of the main points of the required equipment is a functional CB radio, which was very important for communication on the trail - many of the groups were over 20 vehicles deep, not including the guides. Solid tow points are also essential, and depending on the skill level of the trail you’re using, they may put in a lot more work than you would expect. For any open top vehicle, a roll bar is essential if it came like that from the factory.
Immediately after evaluation, trail selection starts. This was about a mile away from the lot where we met for evaluation, and the streets were lined with participant’s Jeeps. It wasn’t hard for anyone to figure out where to go.
Prior to our journey north, we mapped out a list of trails and had a pretty good idea of which ones we wanted to run, as the difficulty and characteristics of each trail are listed online. For day one, we knew we wanted Dragon’s Tail, but ended up switching our second day pick to Everett’s Chili Trail after a conversation with one of Maine’s most legendary guides, Skip Colson. A new section had been added recently, and the second half of the day was rumored to be a lot more challenging than before. Lunch is served at the Everett’s home, featuring Ma Everett’s celebrated homemade chili, which is famous for a reason. Unbelievably delicious.
The real beauty of a Jeep Jamboree event is that they are open to all skill levels; some of the more scenic trails require only tow points and a CB radio - even Jeeps with factory suspension and tires can run them.
For more information on CB radios, I wrote an article last year on the subject.
As you go up to the more technical trails, many will require (or at the very least, recommend) lockers and larger tires. Part of the Jeep Jamboree USA registration and trail signup process involves meeting the guides for each trail, and they can always give you more detailed information on the terrain and equipment involved if you need it – which is a big boost for those ‘first-timers’.
As it turns out, JJUSA trail guides also know a few things about local restaurants that you can drive on the pavement to reach. We headed down the road a few miles to the Sunday River Brewing Company for dinner. If you’re ever in the area, I suggest you stop by as well.
Since the Maine Mountains Jeep Jamboree is a ‘Classic’ package event, all meals for wheeling days are provided. We grabbed a buffet-style breakfast at Bethel Inn on Friday morning, and it was a great opportunity to meet the other participants and trail guides. These events are equal parts about the vehicles we love, and a celebration of the people who love them.
After breakfast, a lunch cooler was provided with Maine apples, chips and a sandwich.
Down in the event lot, we all lined up according to our assigned trails for the morning drivers meeting. After a quick speech about safety, we then headed out with our trail group. CB channels are assigned by trail for these events, so everyone in our group could communicate and stay together on the way to the trailhead.
Jim Bennett, the owner of the land we were using, was also our lead guide.
After meeting with him about what to expect from the day, we deflated our tires and made our way on to Jim’s property to hit the trail.
Turns out Dragon’s Tail was aptly named, as many parts of the trail were tight and winding. Project Snake Eyes’ longer wheelbase was an advantage at times, but was also a detriment on some obstacles.
For this trail (rated 8-9 on the JJUSA scale of difficulty), a winch, lockers, 35” tires, and tow points were required. And all of these items saw some use.
The guides made every effort while spotting to prevent any body contact on the rock obstacles, and any damage to participant Jeeps was thankfully slight.
One of my favorite Jeeps on the trail, a stretched blue YJ driven by Amanda Ferguson (the wife of Corey, one of our trail guides), got a trail flat on some sharp rocks during a hill climb.
Everyone teamed up and had it changed in no time - full size spare tires are also a requirement for obvious reasons.
The Maine woods are breathtakingly beautiful. Although the main purpose of our visit was to spend time on the rocks (and get Jeep footage), we would come around a corner and be able to see miles of undeveloped land in front of us.
The more difficult trails are a remarkable challenge, and can quickly point out anything lacking in your setup. I learned a few things on Project Snake Eyes need upgrading before tackling this type of terrain again.
Trail travel during the day was slow, with many sideways off camber (by as much as 25 degrees) stretches that lasted several minutes. Many obstacles were very technical, with momentum and throttle control essential to make it over the breaks. Again, the spotting work of the trail guides was immensely helpful over these areas, and the feeling of making it up and over by the skin of your teeth was euphoric. Many times I could see nothing but the upper sections of trees over the hood, so their instructions were essential for any forward progress.
All in all, the only issue at the end of day one was an off center steering wheel, which we fixed in the Bethel Inn parking lot before dinner with the help of a few new friends we met on the trail.
Dinner was also served in the dining room at Bethel Inn, as excited stories from the trail were exchanged. Additionally, many people found parts and advice they needed to get their Jeeps back into trail ready condition for the following day - a few damaged U-joints were replaced in the dark after dinner, and a used JK steering setup was procured for someone who snapped theirs on the trail.
The feeling of camaraderie was amazing. A local Jeep mechanic even was on call first thing in the morning, to help with a few more complicated procedures and get people back on the trail for the next day of wheeling. Everyone was in for this challenge together, and no repairable Jeep was left behind.
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Photo image courtesy of: Pointy Cactus Productions
The schedule of events for Saturday morning was similar to Friday, with one important addition. After the driver’s meeting, all the Jeeps from the Jamboree take a parade lap around Bethel prior to heading to their trails. This particular year, all the Jeeps were adorned with yellow ribbons to honor a young Bethel native named Hailey Steward, who had recently passed away after a courageous battle with cancer.
While we escaped day one with very little mud, Everett’s Chili Trail looked like it still had a few wet sections that survived the low rainfall summer. It didn’t looks as bad as the mud captured in footage from 2016, though we anticipated it could still present a few traction problems.
As I mentioned earlier, this iconic Maine trail had recently been expanded, and a few additional granite rock walls were incorporated into the trail to increase its level of technicality.
Photo image courtesy of: Pointy Cactus Productions
Erik Howse, a photographer and owner of Pointy Cactus Productions, was also in our trail group. He managed to get some amazing shots over the course of the day while riding as a passenger in his father’s JK Wrangler. These JJUSA weekend events are very family friendly, just as much as they are about friends you haven’t met yet. You will meet all sorts of people you’ll want to see year after year.
Photo image courtesy of: Pointy Cactus Productions
This trail is one of the most popular ones of this Jamboree for a multitude of reasons. While it isn’t the most challenging trail Maine Mountains has to offer, the scenery (and that lunch) are well worth the price of admission.
Varied terrain and many steep hill climbs were in store for us, and we had an absolute blast throughout the day.
Again, it may seem like a common theme here, but spotting was important on these obstacles, and the guides (as well as a few participants) did a fantastic job of getting everyone where they needed to be.
Photo image courtesy of: Pointy Cactus Productions
There was also a low lying section of the trail that had less than adequate drainage, allowing us to trek through some boulders and mud that was problematic for a few Jeeps.
Richard and family in this 1949 Willys romped through it with little problem, proving beyond a shadow of a doubt where much younger Jeeps get their off-road chops.
Again, the ‘no Jeep left behind’ philosophy was in full swing, and any issue at all were quickly solved by the group.
Photo image courtesy of: Pointy Cactus Productions
After a few mud-filled hiccups, we all made it through and back to solid ground. The trail continued, looping around the Everett’s property, and the scenery was incredible.
Photo image courtesy of: Pointy Cactus Productions
We usually stopped at the back to scout the next obstacle, and get an idea of the go/no go lines before we attempted each one.
Photo image courtesy of: Pointy Cactus Productions
As I said earlier, when you stop for lunch on Chili Trail, you’re treated to a fully-prepared lunch featuring Ma’ Everett’s famous chili, cornbread and dessert.
Their home is right off the trail at around its midpoint, with some of the most impressive views of the entire weekend right out of their back door.
The food was exceptional, as was taking time to check out all the Jeeps in our trail group. We talked with the other participants about upgrade plans for the winter, the upcoming JL launch and past Jamboree events.
As we left the Everett home, Ma’ Everett stopped us and asked, “Do you remember where the gas pedal is? You’re going to need it this afternoon!”
It turns out she really wasn’t kidding. Not at all.
A lot of these afternoon hills were about momentum and keeping exactly the right line. Getting hung up in the middle of a hill and having to back down was an unusually white-knuckled kind of moment, so I tried to err on the side of speed rather than caution. Most times it paid off.
Of course, as the wheels leapt off the earth on the way up, you saw nothing but sky through the windshield for a moment, which was also not ideal.
On this hill, spotters also gave guidance by CB to keep everyone on track. Communication was very important, as going back down in reverse was quite inconvenient.
Other recently cut trails were very fine dirt that rutted more and more as Jeeps passed through, making wheel spin a serious detriment to forward progress, and exposing rocks that simply weren’t a problem a few minutes earlier.
On this particular hill, the rock on the driver’s side of the trail was the spot you had to get past to keep going - but wander too far to the passenger side, and you got bogged down in the soft rut. By the time it was my turn, throttle and good aim was your only way out.
The excitement amid the cheers after reaching the tops of these climbs was incredible, and you could see it on drivers’ faces as they crested the last rise.
Photo image courtesy of: Pointy Cactus Productions
We continued down the winding trail, and took in the sights and sounds of the gorgeous Maine woods. Every time we stopped was a nice moment to catch our breath and have conversations with the other participants and passengers. Or, as you sometimes have to do, check under the Jeep for whatever is making that horrible racket.
Photo image courtesy of: Pointy Cactus Productions
As the afternoon drew to a close, and we made our way down the hill towards the pavement again, and I knew this was not going to be my last Jamboree. Not by a long shot. We aired back up and got on the road to head back to Bethel for dinner and fuel.
As with any off-road adventure involving mud, cleanup can be a real problem. You know what’s really good at getting mud off a Jeep? A fire hose.
The Bethel Fire Company runs a Jeep wash both Friday and Saturday nights, and for a small donation they will open those high volume hoses on your rig, blasting all that nasty mud away. One of the firemen remarked that some of the mud looked like it didn’t come from Maine, and I’m betting they were right - they found mud with those hoses that a pressure washer just won’t move.
After another dinner at the Bethel Inn (this time with your choice of Maine lobster or roast beef), a post-Jamboree awards presentation took place. Prizes from sponsors and JJUSA were raffled off, and awards were presented. Many of the people at this Jamboree had been attending for years, and had also been to a lot of other ones. There were a few newbies other than myself, and they promised they would be back as well.
What trip to Maine would be complete without a dozen Maine lobsters for the trip back in your ARB Fridge Freezer?
For 2018, I’m excited that the JJUSA season has already started as I’m writing this – with five Jamborees are already completed. Many others may still have spots available for anyone interested, or there may be a waiting list you can get on in case someone cannot attend a certain event. I cannot urge you strongly enough to register soon if you’re able to attend one this year. Most event spots do fill up rather quickly, so be sure to check on the JJUSA site.
If there is not an event in your area, seriously consider traveling to one somewhere in your region like we did. You’ll be glad you did.
Whether you’re a seasoned off-road adventurer, or just getting started in off-pavement exploration, these events are truly a great way to make memories as well as friends. Many of the trails included in Jamborees are only open during the Jamboree itself, so if you’ve run out of fresh places in your stomping grounds, this is a fantastic next step.
We’ll be back, Maine Mountains Jamboree. And with any luck, for years to come.
For more information on Jeep Jamboree USA, as well as what products are required or recommended to attend events, check out our Jeep Jamboree USA page.
