Union Night Run!

Union Springs is a club favorite, as it’s an accessible moderate difficulty trail that is interesting enough to have fun on, but not so challenging that you risk body damage or getting stuck. And what can make the trail even more exciting? Doing it at night! So with that motivation all we needed to explore, we made a plan!

Attendees:

• Jendra & Andrew – Jeep JK
• Ben – 4Runner
• Steve – Frontier
• Chase – Rivian R1S
• Rick – FJ Cruiser
• Jaymes – Jeep JL 4XE
• Brian – Jeep JK

We met at Ottobine Elementary School, which is a great rally spot near the entrance to Union Springs. As we were waiting for everyone to arrive, a torrential downpour hit us! It was a great omen, as wily weather makes things even more fun and exciting!

So after hiding in our rigs, the last folks arrived, we had our drivers meeting, aired down, and hit the trail! 

After a few miles of lovely rainy twilight cruising through the mild part of the trail, we got to the first obstacle right at nightfall, just as the rain stopped, so perfect timing! We made our way through the field of lakes, and then on to the first technical bit, a rocky descent. We all had fun playing on the descent and continued on. 

The next obstacle is probably the most challenging of the trail, a steep rock step with a tree precariously close to your passenger side as you climb. This climb has the tendency to pitch the rear towards the tree as your front climbs, so you have to take it slowly and carefully. We all made it up with no drama.

A few more rutted and rocky climbs later, we made it to Meadow Knob, a nice clearing just before reaching Flagpole Knob. We stopped to stretch our legs a bit, get some photos, and then climbed back in the vehicles and continued to Flagpole Knob. We noticed that the last climb up to Flagpole was much easier than it had been in the past. Either it eroded away, or has been filled in. Either way, we easily made our way up, and got to the peak, and hung out a bit. 

After that, we split up. Brian, Jaymes, and Rick headed down the mountain via Briery Branch, and grabbed a hotel in town or headed straight home. Andrew, Chase, and I set up camp at the peak of Flagpole, as we were heading home the next morning. Steve and Ben camped at a nearby campsite just off the peak, as they were planning on doing some more exploring on Saturday on Second Mountain. 

It was a lovely night of clear weather, and we woke up nice and refreshed the next morning. Steve and Ben departed their campsite Saturday morning and headed down Dunkle Hollow Road towards Route 33.  

Dunkle Hollow was wet, rutted and a bit overgrown but a fun ride.  Once they reached Route 33 they headed down the mountain enjoying the improvements recently made to the paved road!  Once they reached Second Mountain they turned and headed up the mountain.  Once they reached the end of the easy gravel road they began the steep climb up the mountain over the rock ledges, deeply rutted off camber sections, and through some deep mud puddles that make the trail an enjoyable challenge.  

Once they reached the area that was part of the powerline project the road became smooth gravel with some gentle (and not so gentle!) whoops that made for an interesting ride.  Once they reached Long Run Road they continued onto Vepco Road which was the same easy gravel road all the way to the edge of the forest. 

Andrew and Jendra did a bit of 1/24th scale rock crawling before heading out for the day. We did a quick stop at the new Buc-ees, but it was so slammed with people, we didn’t stay long and made our way home. 

Thanks everyone for an awesome night run adventure! 

Photo Album: 07/11/25 Union Night

Trail Report written by Jendra Rambharos. Pictures contributed by Jendra Rambharos, Jaymes Snyder, Andrew Taylor, Steve Schueler, Chase, and Ben Dunkerton.. GPS Tracks provided by Jendra Rambharos and Ben Dunkerton.