PA people - anyone ever get the Reading Anthracite access permit?

[vetteboy]

This was just brought to my attention as another way to gain access to private lands.

Anyone have experience with this, or know anything about the trails and terrain? Apparently there are upwards of 20,000 acres available for exploration.

[redneckboarder]

sign me up, i love exploring new places, im excited to see more info about this

[jeannies_driver]

1,000 permit's issued for sale as of last week ?

[tyspier]

espically with zach vaughn wanting to secretly cut trails

[sidriptide]

can someone shed some light on this topic for those of us not in Pa??

[Mike in NJ]

Here's some info from last year (from an ATV website):

Reading Anthracite Company Access Permits will be available beginning January 15, 2007. The cost will be determined at a later date and will be posted on our web site. (Editor's Note: It was $100) and will be good for the calendar year 2007.

Permits will be available at our Pottsville office, 200 Mahantongo Street, Pottsville, Monday and Tuesdays 8 :30 AM to 12 Noon and on Thursday and Fridays 1 to 4 PM. No permits will be available on Wednesdays. Because of the overload on our switchboard we request that all questions concerning these permits be sent to us via Email at dkemfort@ptd.net.
Permits give you permission to be on Reading Anthracite Company's properties, excluding those area where there is active mining or any other working facilities or any posted properties from sunrise to sunset. Permission is granted for recreational activities, excluding any overnight camping, dumping, swimming or any organized events such as races or parties. Permit holders may not have any type of fire on Reading Anthracite Company property and the use of alcohol and drugs on Reading Anthracite Company property is strictly prohibited.

Anyone wishing to hunt on Reading Anthracite Company property must have a valid hunting permit issued by the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania.

Anyone wishing to take any type of licensed vehicle on Reading Anthracite Company property must have a valid driver's license and proof of registration and insurance. No one under the age of 12 is allowed to ride on the property either on their own vehicle or riding with another individual. Riders between the age of 12 and 18 must have proof of attending a safety class certified by the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania and must be accompanied by a permitted adult to ride on Reading Anthracite Company property.



* * * * * * *

Must be interesting - wonder if the 4x4's display Blaze Orange during hunting season. And I'm sure all the riders leave their six packs at the Honesty Box as they enter the strip mine fields.

From another thread:

. . . . and [some areas] are off-limits as some bone-heads ruined mining equipment owned by a local land owner and he has chased everyone off it. Before he didn't care and was tolerant of off road riders.

Gee, sound familiar? We self-regulate in this sport sooo well. We continue to lose East Coast areas - ONE idiot at a time.

No thanks.

While it's nice we still have Rausch Creek, I sure miss Paragon.

And listen to Andy's advice below.

MG

[Andy in Pa.]

Ahh....Mike beat me to it.


Let me make this clear....YOU MUST HAVE A PERMIT TO ENTER THIS LAND.
If anyone knows more about this, please PM me as I would be curious to learn more about it as well, BUT PLEASE DO NOT POST ABOUT ANY DETAILS ON THE OPEN FORUM.Details would include where to enter the land, any illegal wheeling done there, that type of stuff. Please keep any info like that back-channel.

I will probably try to get a permit this year, and get a few friends involved in it as well, as it is better to explore in a group.
If you google "Reading Anthracite Permits", that is where I have learned most of this info.

[vetteboy]

Details would include where to enter the land, any illegal wheeling done there, that type of stuff. Please keep any info like that back-channel.

I will probably try to get a permit this year, and get a few friends involved in it as well, as it is better to explore in a group.
If you google "Reading Anthracite Permits", that is where I have learned most of this info.

Exactly...that's why I left my post kind of vague. I didn't want to give the idea that there's this massive amount of land just waiting for anyone who feels like driving on it.

I've been trying to find pictures of the areas, or even a good description of what's back there...but it really seems like no one knows. The company doesn't even have maps of the area. Given its close proximity to Rausch I'd expect similar terrain, but I don't know how much of it is opened up, or if they're at all receptive to the idea of people cutting new trails.

I'm going to be out at Rausch this weekend; I may consider staying over Sunday night and stopping by the company on Monday morning to get a permit (apparently they go pretty quick). Just trying to get a better idea of what's back there before I put $100 in for it.

espically with zach vaughn wanting to secretly cut trails

Elaborate on this? I wheel with Zach fairly regularly - almost every time I'm at Rausch - and I really doubt that he'd cut trails if he knew he wasn't allowed to.

[jeannies_driver]

TY's just upset because he doesn't know how to " listen " to a conversation and get what's being said. it wasn't even close to being stated like that so don't bother, you'll get the wrong side of the story. :rattle:

RA has a map of their property but's it's on the local county deed site or something. it's hard to read and understand. neighboring property isn't marked, nor does RA post what is or isn't their's or off limit's. basically they tell you to pull off the road and have at it where permittable, as long as your not in their way.

permit's are $100 per PERSON,, passenger's also.
http://www.readinganthracite.com/articles/access.pdf

http://www.republicanherald.com/site/printerFriendly.cfm?brd=2626&dept_id=536271&newsid=16190240

as per my conversation with Donna,( Today ) the woman in charge of the permit's,, at (800)654-7792 there's NO camping, swimming, fishing and no fire's. ALL vehicle's are allowed as long as they are insured and licensed. I asked about jeep's and other offroad vehicle's and she had no problem with them being on the property. when asked about parking and where to exactly, she said there's plenty of parking along the road and such and in pulloff area's. there is no one specific entrance,,, anywhere, just vacant land.

she seem's to care less about how or what the land is used for. one word answer's and very short with me like she had better stuff to do than be bothered with this. any of my more serious question's would have needed to be reffered to someone higher up, who wasn't " available " at the time for questioning.

again this is PRIVATE land that you MUST have a permit to be on.

[sidriptide]

thanx for elaborating.. sounds like an excellent opportunity.. but is this for 1 particular piece of land? the only way to make the"regulars" pay for the permit would be for the owners to pay some big $$ for local enforcement to patrol it and write tickets.. is this a new program on new land or just an annual renewal??

[vetteboy]

Do you know if I have to be there in person to get the permit, or can I have someone bring all my paperwork etc. to the place on monday? I'd call but I'm at work right now...

[Andy in Pa.]

thanx for elaborating.. sounds like an excellent opportunity.. but is this for 1 particular piece of land? the only way to make the"regulars" pay for the permit would be for the owners to pay some big $$ for local enforcement to patrol it and write tickets.. is this a new program on new land or just an annual renewal??

This is privately owned land that the owners have decided (probably with some pressure from the local ATV crowd) to let people use if they have a permit. The grounds are patrolled and people will be fined if they do not have a permit.

They have been doing this for the past few years, and since PAP's closing it has become more enticing to buy the permit and check it out.

A.

[Andy in Pa.]

Do you know if I have to be there in person to get the permit, or can I have someone bring all my paperwork etc. to the place on monday? I'd call but I'm at work right now...

You have to be there in person.

[tyspier]

TY's just upset because he doesn't know how to " listen " to a conversation and get what's being said. it wasn't even close to being stated like that so don't bother, you'll get the wrong side of the story. :rattle:

well i dont remember EXACTLY what was said, but he pretty much said that he dont think RA would have a problem with 'us' cutting trails, but that we shouldnt say anything to them about it anyway.

all i can say is, BYE BYE SAINT CLAIR!
hopefully he doesnt tresspass and find any other good places:nono:

[sidriptide]

Do you know if I have to be there in person to get the permit, or can I have someone bring all my paperwork etc. to the place on monday? I'd call but I'm at work right now...

the text Mike posted says they dont want calls... if you have time to surf NAXJA at work you have time to email at work..

[jeannies_driver]

yes you must be there in person with all your paperwork, registration and insurance. you cannot mail in or fax over anything.

yes they want you to e-mail any question's you have to them instead of calling like i did, but the added pressure might make them add a few more passes next time.

[vetteboy]

Going out tomorrow for a first round of exploration.

Equipped with a brand-new (legit) version of DeLorme TopoUSA 7.0, my trusty GPS unit, my digital camera, and plenty of mountain dew.

I've done some pretty extensive studies on the parcel viewer and I've got a route planned out that should take me through most of the larger connected parcels. Expect a bunch of pictures and mapping info to come from this.

BUT: I'll post pictures for sure, but any of the map info, you'll need to have a permit to see. That stuff is not being made public. If you like what you see in the pictures, go get a permit, then we'll talk about how to get there.

:D

[RichP]

Keep in mind that RA is a working company with employees and security/watchmen. The prices seem to have come down from when I first heard about it a couple of years ago, $250 per person if I remember right. I have also heard a couple of clubs tried to start ties to the company and they were not very receptive. so far. BMJA had a thread going on this that comes back from the dead every so often. It is also pretty big as I understand, quite a bit larger than PAP was counting both parts.

[vetteboy]

Bump for the 2009 season. :D

http://i304.photobucket.com/albums/nn164/vetteboyxj/unibody/DSC03633.jpg

http://i304.photobucket.com/albums/nn164/vetteboyxj/unibody/DSC03634.jpg

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http://i304.photobucket.com/albums/nn164/vetteboyxj/unibody/DSC03642.jpg

http://i304.photobucket.com/albums/nn164/vetteboyxj/unibody/DSC03652.jpg

http://i304.photobucket.com/albums/nn164/vetteboyxj/unibody/DSC03655.jpg

Permits are $100 and are good for the calendar year of 2009.

http://www.readinganthracite.com/articles/access.pdf

[Supermanxj]

i thought that the vehicles had to be licensed and insured??

That jeep does not look either... but if it is I am sorry.

Do you have the satelitte view of this area????

[Hammered]

With finances this year, I'm not in a hurry to pay the 100 bucks. Maybe next year when I have completed the current plans for the XJ.

I know of some guys that go out to this area. The way it was explained to me there is so many thousands of acres you could cross over into 3 different counties. The same guy said he hasn't run into ANYone where they go and they go for the entire day. Sounds like a fairytale world for jeeps.



EDIT: Go in GOOGLE EARTH and type in READING ANTHRACITE. Click on the blue dot notations. Find one that says "Wheeling" click on the word wheeling... Veeewy intewesting.

[altierior]

i would definitely be interested in this, but i'll pony up the $$ for the permit only IF i know for sure that i'll be able to find people to go.

[CRJeepin]

Hey dudes,
No longer an XJ owner but the guy that bought my XJ wheels with us and brought this thread to my attention.

I have wheeled RA land (legally), we bought the $100 passes in either 2006 or 2007, can't recall right now. You DO have to go there in person to get the permit, don't drive them nuts with phone calls all you'll achieve is encouraging them to discontinue the program. The good news is the Yuengling brewery is right down the street from RA's office, and you can take a free tour with some free brews at the end - so get some buddies and make an afternoon of it.


The land is NOT marked, they instruct you to pull county deeds, find their land, and go for it anywhere that is not marked. There are some good areas just south & east of Shamokin that locals had told us about, and we did some more exploring but never found anything too exceptional. It is fun exploring though.

The trails are a mix of fire roads, 4wheeler trails, and garbage dumping areas. There are some rocks but the trail density is much less than a "pay to play" park like Rausch. If you're close to Shamokin, I would say go for the $100 pass you'll get your money's worth out of it, especially since they are now charging $35 per trip to Rausch.


I would like to re-up this year and do more exploring, I have new GPS software and would like to make some trail maps but am not sure how we can share them without making them public. Also there might be an opportunity to do a trail cleanup or something, if we make an effort now to show RA there are "good eggs" in offroading it might help us keep access open. I'm up for it....


CR

[CRJeepin]

Meant to mention, the locals told us of "the waterfall" but we never found it. vetteboy, would you consider tossing me a GPS coordinate of that in PM? Would like to check it out someday. I'll send you the location of the trails we know about -

[Backroads]

With finances this year, I'm not in a hurry to pay the 100 bucks. Maybe next year when I have completed the current plans for the XJ.

I know of some guys that go out to this area. The way it was explained to me there is so many thousands of acres you could cross over into 3 different counties. The same guy said he hasn't run into ANYone where they go and they go for the entire day. Sounds like a fairytale world for jeeps.



EDIT: Go in GOOGLE EARTH and type in READING ANTHRACITE. Click on the blue dot notations. Find one that says "Wheeling" click on the word wheeling... Veeewy intewesting.

I'm sincerely dissapointed in this. :wantyou: to finish this gawdamn thing already so we can play

and x2 on that there inspected and insured road legal buggy :)

[Cowmanche]

I'm very interested in finding out more info on this property. First I need to get a permit. Second I need to find out where to park tow rigs. I was be very interested in helping out with a clean-up day. I moved to MD from Cincinnati, OH. I'm used to going to Harlan Co. Tellico and other great places like that. Been bumped out that there is really only Rausch Creek around the region. Never went to Paragon, really bumped I never got a chance to go. If anyone is planning a trip to RA please PM me. I would like to also help anyway I can.

-Nick

[Backroads]

From what everyone is saying (and contradicting with the pics) is that all vehicles on the property must be insured and registered, so if your towed vehicle is, then ignore me, if not I think this needs to be cleared up!

[Cowmanche]

Anyone have any more pics of this place? And where do you park your Tow Rigs?