Today we’d like to introduce you to Donny Stuart.
Thanks for sharing your story with us Donny. So, let’s start at the beginning and we can move on from there.
I am a 60-year-old native Houstonian. Born downtown at St Joseph’s. when I was a young boy my Dad was among the first group of hires chosen to work at newly formed NASA. At that time the whole Houston facility was operating out of a small leased office space in a business strip center building on the I-45 service road near the Monroe exit. The Manned Spacecraft Center in Clear Lake City consisted of a few rough sketches on paper for VIP eyes only to see.
A year or so later the facility would move out to Ellington airforce base and take over some old 3 story frame offices left over from World War Two. Eventually, they moved into the current facility. My Dad would stay on for many decades. I grew up loving the outdoors and taking most anything I could ride or drive off-roading anywhere the opportunity arose. Who knew a ’63 Dodge Dart station wagon could get such magnificent air when properly launched from a surf side sand dune! I loved riding dirt bikes and camping out in the woods most of all.
In 1971 the family went to the Buffalo River in Arkansas on vacation. I was in love at once! Growing up in the flat gulf coast grasslands, with chocolate colored water in all the bayous and streams, I couldn’t believe all the crystal clear water streams and rivers, with beautiful forested mountains and huge stone bluff outcroppings. I would come back up there to ride, camp, and play on the river every time I could talk any of my friends into pooling our gas money. I vowed that as soon as I made some money in this world I was going to lock up my own little piece of Ozark Mountain heaven.
While knocking around the Houston scene in the mid-seventies I chanced to meet up with the ZZ Top organization. Soon I was out on tour with my all-time favorite rock band in the whole country “That Little Old Band From Houston Texas” who were by then already superstars. I sold my dirt bike and buckled down to my new career. Upon completion of the Deguello Tour in 1980, I purchased my first acreage parcel in the Ozarks. With each subsequent tour, I would purchase additional adjoining land.
After several decades of touring conquests, I had almost amassed enough land to realize my lifelong dream of opening a large wilderness adventure park that is motorized recreation friendly. After retiring from the ZZ ranks, I took the gamble and purchased a couple more large adjoining parcels to attain suitable mass for a serious off-road park. The place is expansive, unique, and quite beautiful. We are now open for business
We’re always bombarded by how great it is to pursue your passion, etc – but we’ve spoken with enough people to know that it’s not always easy. Overall, would you say things have been easy for you?
I would say the biggest struggle (aside from actually paying the many monthly mortgages for decades) was getting so many separate parcels put together into a cohesive block of land. We have been extremely fortunate to have been able to acquire the lands that bordered our place as the years played along. It took over two dozen acreage parcel purchases spanning over four decades to get what we have.
Next biggest task was trying to keep so many miles of rugged forested jeep & bike trails opened up, and not get overgrown. The great ice storm of 2009 seriously set us back on that endeavor. We are still trying to certain trails re-opened even now.
We’d love to hear more about your business.
We are a motorized friendly recreation facility that offers fun, exhilaration, excitement, peace of mind & spiritual centering at a pristine mountain setting in the Arkansas Ozarks, the park is over 2500 acres. Our specialties are secluded private Campsites with recreation trails thru some fantastically scenic mountain wilderness. In addition to all the great offroading, we have multiple mountain tops with open pastures, deep forested hollows, and Craggs with boulder-strewn creek beds in the bottom.
There are over a dozen significant waterfalls, and several running miles of large shear rock bluff line to hike and climb. We offer every kind of campsite from easy RV pull up, to rappel in and out of your campsite located on the face of a sheer stone bluff. The property is uniquely sandwiched between and actually borders both the Buffalo National River Park and the Sweden Creek Nature Preserve. My customers tell me there is not a more pristine and scenic private motorized friendly park to be found anywhere in the whole US heartland region.
We are proud to provide off-roaders a true wilderness experience, in a very private setting without all the enforcement hassles and overzealous oversight found at many public facilities.
What were you like growing up?
I was a bit of a Dennis the menace. I meant no harm to anyone but I sure could stir up mischief in short order. I loved to camp and explore in the woods or ride bikes with or without a motor. In short was all about anything that got me outdoors and was exciting. If it involved wheels, that was all the better. I simply had way too much energy as a kid.
Anyone who knew me as back then would agree. I would cut the seat post mounts off my bicycle frames to make sure I always rode standing up. I completely worshipped dirt biking as a youngster from the first time I ever saw a lawnmower engine mini bike at the local bicycle trails.
Pricing:
- Day Usage Fee $30 per rider
- Overnight Camping $15
- Electric hook up $15 per day
Contact Info:
- Address: HC 65 Box 232 Kingston, Arkansas 72742
- Website: www.WildernessRider.com
- Phone: 832-474-2990
- Email: Donny@OutdoorsWithWheels.com
Image Credit:
David Deadman
Getting in touch: VoyageHouston is built on recommendations from the community; it’s how we uncover hidden gems, so if you know someone who deserves recognition please let us know here.
