Rally at the Mines 2018
St. Joe State Park
April 14th – 15th
Park Hills, Missouri

Thousands of off-road enthusiasts from all over the Midwest ventured out to St. Joe State Park in Park Hills, Missouri April 14th and 15th for Rally at the Mines. 2018 marks the third year for the off-road event, with each year growing much larger than the last. Although rain showers hit periodically throughout some of the day on Saturday, the weather didn’t stop many attendees from riding and eventually the sun broke out through the clouds for a pleasant evening.

Hosted by Midwest Sports Center of Farmington, Missouri, Rally at the Mines is a great event for the entire family. From organized group rides, several vendors and UTV demo rides, there was a variety of activities to keep you busy; not to mention the 2,000 acres of OHV riding St. Joe State Park has to offer.

“We put this event together to have fun with our customers!” stated event founder / organizer Kegan Gravett. Kegan is a Sales Representative and the Social Media Manager for Midwest Sports Center, he and the team from Midwest Sports Center were present at the event and working hard the entire weekend to ensure it was as fun and entertaining as possible. They definitely succeeded; they even brought out several machines from their dealership offering demo rides.

Can-Am Off-Road was present with their latest fleet of machines on display, including the Maverick X3 X RC, Maverick X3 X RS and Defender Max, they also brought out several demo Maverick X3 units for attendees to test drive.

Kawasaki also had their latest UTVs on display, including the Teryx4, Mule Pro-FX and the Mule Pro-FXT. 

Aside from the OEMs, there were plenty of other vendors to visit from food trucks to several local companies and charity groups, including our friends from Cloud 9 Ranch and Riding for a Reason.

A group of guys from a local Textron Off-Road dealership attended the event as well, they brought out a few of the latest Textron UTVs to ride including the Havoc and the new Wildcat XX. We actually got to take the Wildcat XX for a spin, what an awesome machine.

Each day there were organized rides to participate in, including an ATV and SxS poker run and a night ride. The organized rides were pretty cool; they actually took you on a guided loop that went beyond the normal OHV area so you can check out more of the park. Not only was Saturday’s night ride a ton of fun, it was for a good cause as it was a canned food drive benefitting Elvins Food Pantry in Park Hills. Although UTVs dominated the event, there were still many ATVs and dirt bikes present, Sunday’s ride was the Motorcycle Poker Run that was coordinated by a local riding group: the Missouri Mudders.

About 70 miles south of St. Louis and nestled between the towns of Park Hills and Farmington is St. Joe State Park. Hence the name of the event, Rally at the Mines, St. Joe State Park is home to an old mine site known as the Missouri Mines Historic Site. There you’ll find old mill buildings, once used to process lead ore, and a museum that features a variety of antique milling and mining equipment as well as a huge collection of geological specimens.

The park itself is 8,200 acres; however the OHV area is 2,000 acres and features a variety of terrain to ride for all levels of skill. From sand flats and rocky lake beds to a variety of hills, trails and wooded areas, there is definitely something for any type of enthusiast. The park also has four lakes for swimming, boating and fishing as well as a camp ground with nice accommodations.

Getting a RV site or campsite for the event has been proven tough in the past as they fill up fast, this year in coordination with the park and the Missouri Mudders group Rally at the Mines was able to open up one of the inaccessible areas near the mine site for primitive camping and parking. This was great as we were able to stay at the park all weekend and really got to experience everything it had to offer.

Rally at the Mines 2018 was a fantastic event and a huge success, in our book it’s one of the best events in the Midwest. We encourage you to put St. Joe State Park on your list of places to ride and join us next year for Rally at the Mines 2019.

Click HERE for the Rally at the Mines Facebook page 

Click HERE for more info on St. Joe State Park