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Badge of Honor Trail "Suggest a Trail"

Mojave Dust

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I noticed that the Jeep BoH app now has a menu option for "Suggest a Trail." I know that will be a welcome feature for many folks. Anyone know what the criteria is (or will be) for getting a trail accepted?
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wibornz

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And this is why I no longer chase badges around the country. I wanted to get them all. Keep adding more and more trails, and it waters down how desirable they are to get. Then they add trails that are inside of parks or make the whole park a badge trail and the park has limited hours, or charge you to buy a year membership to the park and you have to pay $100 just to run the trail in the park.

I will still run badge trails as I enjoy running trails in general, but to drive a thousand+ miles and pass many great places to wheel just to get a badge is no longer a priority.

The whole thing of a honor trail has been lost on me as there are so many that do not take the part of honor with the badge. I see Jeeps with BOH badges that I know because I have run the trail that their Jeep did not run that trail and just giggle.

My only hope is that if someone suggest a trail and it gets accepted, it will not be a dirt road that is 6 miles long and can drove with a mini van. I still get pissed to this day thinking about driving 20+ hours to run Peters Mill Run trail. I think that if someone drove say from out west to Virginia to get that badge, got there and was like he this is just like a dirt road by my house back home. They would be pissed like I was. Yup, no need to air down drive at 25 to 30 mph run the trail in 15 minutes. Spend a little longer because I stopped to take a couple pics.
 

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There’s no set criteria. They may be in public or private land, very easy or extremely difficult. It’s just a way for you to nominate one that you particularly like.

BoH trails tend to have concentrations in certain areas, which seems pretty natural to me. As new ones are added it will open the opportunity to participate to a greater number of Jeepers if there’s one relatively nearby to them.
 

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I noticed that the Jeep BoH app now has a menu option for "Suggest a Trail." I know that will be a welcome feature for many folks. Anyone know what the criteria is (or will be) for getting a trail accepted?
A buddy at work emailed them and they said they need the GPS location of the trail and details of it., IIRC.

I agree with @wibornz - But I THINK there is a review process so this dirt road scenario does not happen. I'm all about diversity and inclusion, but nobody should earn a badge for a dirt road unless there is some sort of payoff (national park, cool view, old mining town, etc) :LOL:

That said: The other side of the concern that a lot of people don't understand: I live in the Northeast. I grew up on ATV's (started in '88, I think), and I made the switch to Jeeps when I bought my first one in 2003. I have seen countless trails get closed down due to overuse and straight up neglect disrespect from casuals/ weekend idiots. State and Locals often look for any excuse to close a trail, usually citing liability concerns and complaints of abuse from neighboring landowners. It's a rule in many groups I'm in- you DO NOT share trail locations on public message boards for this reason. If you do your due diligence, it's not an issue- you'll find the trails and either know/ or learn how to conduct yourself to keep them open for the rest of us.

What does this have to do with BOH program?
Well, BOH essentially put a spotlight on a trail. Most of our trails are already overused and/ or abused (as previously mentioned). We've talked about putting up several of the "notorious" trails on public land in our area for a BOH in several regional groups I'm a part of, and while we would LOVE our favorite trails to get their own BOH- it would ultimately lead to the closure of them, as people are idiots (as previously mentioned). There are some partnerships in place working to manage access, but until that is more widespread and enforced, I offer this warning to anyone considering submitting a trail to BOH.

Full Disclosure: I like the BOH program, have 2 and want to chase more.
 
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Mojave Dust

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Ha! I guess the concern in my question was pretty transparent from the way @wibornz and @RubiSc0tt replied. Right now, I think there is only one BOH trail in NV in the Vegas area. We have plenty of potential BOH trail candidates here in southeast NV, but as cool as it would be to have a local BOH trail, I'd hate to see a crappy trail represent our area which has many deserving ones. Or to have too many, since our desert trails can be fragile and would lead to closure by BLM. Hopefully the BOH program won't become the geocaching of off-roading-- rack up the numbers whether you did the trail or not.
One suggestion to prevent poor trails and over-saturation might be for Jeep to include the local club in the selection decision.
I went through the "suggest a trail" process (for a particularly awesome trail) and most of the fields were optional, even the GPS coordinates. The good news is it looks like they took Chocolate Thunder and RubiSc0tt's suggestions directly from this thread.
 

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Ha! I guess the concern in my question was pretty transparent from the way @wibornz and @RubiSc0tt replied. Right now, I think there is only one BOH trail in NV in the Vegas area. We have plenty of potential BOH trail candidates here in southeast NV, but as cool as it would be to have a local BOH trail, I'd hate to see a crappy trail represent our area which has many deserving ones. Or to have too many, since our desert trails can be fragile and would lead to closure by BLM. Hopefully the BOH program won't become the geocaching of off-roading-- rack up the numbers whether you did the trail or not.
One suggestion to prevent poor trails and over-saturation might be for Jeep to include the local club in the selection decision.
I went through the "suggest a trail" process (for a particularly awesome trail) and most of the fields were optional, even the GPS coordinates. The good news is it looks like they took Chocolate Thunder and RubiSc0tt's suggestions directly from this thread.
At least Rocky Gap is a good BoH run, glad we got that one! It was the main reason we went to Vegas last month, and your neighbor @P&PJeep was a great guide :)

I think Broken Arrow in AZ would be a great addition, vs Schnebly Hill & Table Mesa. Table Mesa is a great starting point to a network of awesome desert trails but not specific enough, and Schnebly Hill has epic views but is basically just jarring razor rock on a dirt road. Unfortunately Schnebly and Broken Arrow are littered w/ tour Jeeps so there's that :(

New Mexico has lots of trails, I wish I could say I've run many of them but haven't. Hoping to check more out in the next year and maybe be able to suggest a couple for BoH trails.

It's nice being with a reasonable drive (we consider 11 hrs or less reasonable) to the San Juans, Moab, Vegas, AZ, and Texas. So a good 15 or more BoH trails available, now if my JL was capable to run them all that would really be ideal!!!
 

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I have done 36 badge trails. I will be wheeling all the western states from the Mexico boarder to Alaska and back to Michigan starting on Jan 1st. (3 weeks from now) I plan to get all the badge trails in those area that I do not have. Even though I have all the Moab badges, I plan to run many of them again. This will put me close to having them all expect the ones added back east that I have missed due to them being closed or having been added after I wheeled in that part of the country.

The trail in Georgia on the web said it would be open in the middle of March. Went there and it was closed. Spent time in Alabama, and Florida figuring I would pick it up on my way back through. They opened the trail four days or so after I passed it with in 4 miles or so on my way back to Michigan from Florida. Then when I got home a few weeks later, the added the badge trail in South Carolina a state that I just drove through twice. To go back and pick those two trails up will be a 2500 to 3000 mile round trip.

The bad thing is I am very goal oriented and I know it will bother me to not get them all, and at the same time know that getting them all is not possible when they keep adding new trails.

So after spending 11 months plus on the road running trails in all the western states to pick up the one that I miss, I just know I will drive back to Michigan and then a trail will be added in California or Nevada....... You know a 6000+ mile round trip to get the added badge......


It get to a point that to many badges on a Jeep looks cluttered. I wonder what a Jeep will look like with 80, 90 or a 100 badges on it. Only time will tell.
 
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Mojave Dust

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At least Rocky Gap is a good BoH run, glad we got that one! It was the main reason we went to Vegas last month, and your neighbor @P&PJeep was a great guide :)
Agreed. Rocky Gap is fun, although any ride with Paul & Pam is a good time. Sorry I didn't come along; I knew he was going but figured the traffic in Vegas the day before Thanksgiving would be a nightmare. Be sure to let us know if you get to the Mesquite area and we'll be happy to show you some less well known fun trails.
I think Broken Arrow in AZ would be a great addition, vs Schnebly Hill & Table Mesa. Table Mesa is a great starting point to a network of awesome desert trails but not specific enough, and Schnebly Hill has epic views but is basically just jarring razor rock on a dirt road. Unfortunately Schnebly and Broken Arrow are littered w/ tour Jeeps so there's that :(
Yep, Broken Arrow is definitely a more fun ride even with the Jeep tour ride distractions. Hope is doesn't get like that here, although we may be protected since most of our trails are on BLM land.

The bad thing is I am very goal oriented and I know it will bother me to not get them all, and at the same time know that getting them all is not possible when they keep adding new trails.

So after spending 11 months plus on the road running trails in all the western states to pick up the one that I miss, I just know I will drive back to Michigan and then a trail will be added in California or Nevada....... You know a 6000+ mile round trip to get the added badge......
I know the feeling. Back when geocaching started it was a challenge to get all of them in each state, and they'd take you on some great hikes and interesting places. But once it became popular it was impossible to keep up, and the quality of them became very poor because there were so many.
 

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I still get pissed to this day thinking about driving 20+ hours to run Peters Mill Run trail. I think that if someone drove say from out west to Virginia to get that badge, got there and was like he this is just like a dirt road by my house back home. They would be pissed like I was.
Jeep Wrangler JL Badge of Honor Trail "Suggest a Trail" 1E39E5EE-227D-4920-8BEC-D9A689DE0DC5

Jeep VP disagrees with you - he says it is one of the toughest! East Coast rulz!
 

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Jeep Wrangler JL Badge of Honor Trail "Suggest a Trail" 1E39E5EE-227D-4920-8BEC-D9A689DE0DC5

Jeep VP disagrees with you - he says it is one of the toughest! East Coast rulz!
I think you buried the lede, my dude. It’s 2021 and you just got a letter from the Lizard King! I knew he wasn’t dead!
 

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Remember, the BOH trails are supposed to be trails all Jeeps can do. With that in mind, scenery should be the top priority.
True, but Peters Mill Run is just a normal drive through the woods. Or just a dirt road in Michigan.
 

BradyW

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Remember, the BOH trails are supposed to be trails all Jeeps can do. With that in mind, scenery should be the top priority.
I’m still pretty new to Jeeps and the BOH system. One of the three BOH trails I’ve done was Guardrail at SMORR in Missouri. You are not going to like taking any Jeep with tires smaller than 33” on that trail. Even a Rubicon trimmed JT is going to give the hitch a workout on the way down. A very skilled driver, who has ran out of F’s to give, may get a (rental) Renegade up the final climb without winching but I wouldn’t take anyone I like down that trail unless they were in a Rubicon trimmed JLU or Willy’s JL If the Jeep is still stock. You’ll get your Jeep out one way or another but it may not be the same looking or driving Jeep you started with.

Guardrail is only considered a 5/6 on the BOH difficultly rating. The only video of a 392 attempting Holy Cross in CO is mostly stock on 35” tires and he separates his exhaust before getting to the creek crossing. Great marketing for the 392 skid manufacturers!

Close to DFW we have Northwest OHV as a BOH park and Cross Bar Ranch just north into Oklahoma is not a BOH. Cross Bar has better trails and better scenery than Northwest in my opinion. Hopefully they continue to work on the system and refine it over time.
 

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I have done 36 badge trails. I will be wheeling all the western states from the Mexico boarder to Alaska and back to Michigan starting on Jan 1st. (3 weeks from now) I plan to get all the badge trails in those area that I do not have. Even though I have all the Moab badges, I plan to run many of them again. This will put me close to having them all expect the ones added back east that I have missed due to them being closed or having been added after I wheeled in that part of the country.
Pretty sure you are qualified to answer this then... :)

I just got my first badge in the mail (took 3mo) for Schnebly Hill. I got TWO badges along with a letter. Is it a badge for each side or did they screw up and send two by mistake? Every pic on here I only see one with the letter.
 

wibornz

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Pretty sure you are qualified to answer this then... :)

I just got my first badge in the mail (took 3mo) for Schnebly Hill. I got TWO badges along with a letter. Is it a badge for each side or did they screw up and send two by mistake? Every pic on here I only see one with the letter.
They made a mistake. They only issue one badge and it is is dam near impossible to get a replacement badge. So they must have messed up.
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