| "Hey John - would you be interested in riding in an | | | | Once our group was inside and some photos were |
| underground mine this spring?" We get a lot of | | | | taken, we followed our leader deeper inside. We |
| strange phone calls at the office, but seeing that this | | | | could see only as far as our headlights would stretch, |
| one came from a credible source and the calendar | | | | and only in the direction of those lights. Want to get |
| didn't read April 1, we were willing to give it the | | | | a close look at the rocky walls? Better turn your |
| benefit of the doubt. | | | | machine in that direction, because that's the only way |
| The call was from Justin Dawes, the ATV | | | | you're going to see them. |
| communications guru for Kawasaki. It seems he and | | | | The mine itself was created in the 1800s, as mining |
| fellow adventurous motorhead Jon Rall, also of | | | | crews using the relatively crude tools available at the |
| Kawasaki, had a trick up their sleeve. They had | | | | time burrowed through a tall hill to capture the natural |
| caught the scent of a unique riding destination in | | | | strip of limestone found there. For more than 60 |
| west-central Pennsylvania called the Mines & | | | | years, limestone was pulled from the mine and used |
| Meadows Resort and thought it would be an | | | | in local cement manufacturing until the mine closed in |
| excellent destination in which they could feature the | | | | 1958. When digging out the limestone, crews had to |
| capabilities of the company's Brute Force 750 4x4. | | | | leave sections of stone untouched every 35 feet so |
| Frankly, the 54 miles of above-ground trails are | | | | the ceiling wouldn't collapse - in essence, leaving |
| reason enough to visit the Mines & Meadows | | | | irregularly shaped pillars of support. |
| Resort, as the varied terrain, featuring hillclimbs, rock | | | | What's left is a sort of drive-thru, underground |
| crawls and mud pits, provides challenges for | | | | beehive. As we followed our leader deeper into the |
| seasoned riders but other easy trails with gentle, | | | | mine, our main path snaked through the darkness, |
| sweeping turns let anybody come and give it a shot. | | | | and on each side of us there would be a "pillar," then |
| The underground limestone mine, however, raises this | | | | what looked like a secret room or passageway |
| riding destination to the next level. How many places | | | | leading farther into the darkness. We weaved our |
| can you go where you get great trails, plus a chance | | | | Brute Force 750 back and forth to throw some light |
| to ride 200 feet underground in complete blackness, | | | | into these side areas. Some were shallow, some |
| and drive through an underground lake? | | | | were deep, and in some cases there would be a |
| The answer, as best we can tell, is one - and that | | | | room behind the room, again, with pillars separating |
| one place is Mines & Meadows. | | | | the spaces every 35 feet. |
| Putting It Together | | | | The ceiling hung about 15 feet from the floor in most |
| Upon meeting Bob Svihra, the brainchild and | | | | places, though occasionally we'd drive through a |
| moneyman behind Mines & Meadows, it's | | | | "keyhole" or other area that wasn't dug out quite as |
| sometimes a wonder this guy can make it through | | | | much, and we'd have to duck our heads as our ATV |
| tying his shoes in the morning without getting | | | | climbed over rock to make it through to the next |
| distracted by an idea that's rolling through his head. | | | | room. |
| When he talks, one sentence hardly gets finished | | | | The pure darkness is the first thing that grabs your |
| before the next comes tumbling out of his mouth, | | | | attention - it's eerie, especially when everybody turns |
| and he seems less likely to stay on the original topic | | | | off their headlights and it is absolute darkness. Your |
| than to bounce to something else he wants to say. | | | | eyes try to adjust to the changing light conditions, |
| He's not scatterbrained, however. Svihra has been | | | | but in truth they'll never catch up - without even a |
| very successful, having started and run businesses | | | | sliver of light coming in from anywhere, you are |
| involved in disparate fields like medical waste removal, | | | | completely blinded. Luckily the Kawis sprung back to |
| shoulder and knee harness manufacturing, creating a | | | | life and we were off again. |
| process to remove materials from compact discs and | | | | Also notable is a musty, cool dampness. The mine |
| DVDs and as an investor in a variety of things, | | | | stays at 55 degrees year-round, and the humidity |
| including the local BeaveRun motorsports complex | | | | hovers at about 80 percent. It made it a perfect |
| located a couple miles down the road from Mines | | | | place for a mushroom (yes, LEGAL mushrooms!) |
| & Meadows. So Svihra's definitely a person who | | | | growing operation that filled this particular mine in the |
| has proven he can follow through on a concept, but | | | | 1970s and '80s. Crews of up to 45 people worked |
| while he's doing that, a dozen other ideas are also | | | | around the clock like moles in this cave, ensuring |
| pulsing through his gray matter. | | | | proper garnish for pizzas, salads and the like. |
| "One business supports the next one that I do, and | | | | The grade is mostly flat in the mine - you're actually |
| then that supports the next one that I do ... . I'm a | | | | not going downhill into the earth, instead the earth |
| good builder but a lousy maintainer - so when I do | | | | rises 200 feet in the form of a hill while riders go |
| something like this, I throw it over my shoulder and | | | | through. |
| let somebody else take care of it once it's up and | | | | Eventually, we came to a 3-acre underground "lake." |
| running," Svihra said with a laugh. | | | | The word lake is in quotes because the water here is |
| Mines & Meadows is one of his latest start-ups. | | | | merely trapped by a dam on the far end of the mine. |
| Some friends took Svihra on an ATV ride through | | | | Still, it's an interesting sight, and fun to drive through. |
| some private property about seven years ago. The | | | | The mine was left abandoned beginning in the mid |
| trail riding was interesting, but then his friends took | | | | '80s and became a hangout for local explorers and |
| him boondocking into an abandoned limestone mine. | | | | party hounds until the Grinnen family purchased the |
| "When they took me into the mine, being an | | | | land. |
| entrepreneur, I put two and two together and said, | | | | "We wanted to develop it and possibly get into |
| 'This would be a great ATV riding place.' So that's | | | | record storage and storage of vehicles, boats, |
| what I tried doing," Svihra explained. | | | | motorhomes and campers," explained Steve Grinnen. |
| Svihra invested $2 million in the park, initially | | | | "Also, our main goal right now is a winery. This is the |
| purchasing more than 400 acres of land around the | | | | perfect temperature for storing wine, and the |
| mine and leasing part of the mine from the Grinnen | | | | humidity can be controlled very easily. There's a lot |
| family, which bought the mine in 2004 and formed | | | | of square footage in here." |
| the Underland Development Corporation. The riding | | | | In all, leisurely tours through the mine take about an |
| park has now grown to more than 600 acres above | | | | hour. There's no extra charge for the mine tour - it |
| ground, with 54 miles of trails that twist through | | | | comes with the price of admission, but the only way |
| interesting and varied terrain. Another 14 acres is | | | | in and out is with a guide. |
| found underground in the limestone mine, providing a | | | | Above Ground: |
| unique experience for visitors. | | | | Trails Everywhere! |
| Underground: | | | | The mine is awesome, but we'd be interested in |
| The Mine | | | | riding at Mines & Meadows even without it. |
| After a brief trail ride through some April showers, | | | | The facility has more than 50 miles of trails that twist |
| our Kawasaki-mounted party made its way to the | | | | through the wooded and rolling landscape. A |
| mouth of the mine. The doorway looked to be about | | | | color-coded map illustrated the spiderweb of trails, |
| 5 feet wide and 7 feet tall, with wood sign reading | | | | with easy yellow and green trails running around the |
| "Mine Entrance - Guided Tours Only" hanging above | | | | perimeter and down the center of the trail system, |
| the door. The doorway was lined on the top and | | | | and then a hodge-podge of blue and black trails |
| sides by wooden beams similar to railroad ties, and | | | | demarking the greater areas of challenge. |
| from the outside it looked like we were entering a | | | | Out on the Brute Force, we found the system to be |
| bear's den. | | | | relatively easy to understand, as trails were marked |
| We watched other machines disappear into the | | | | by number and color, and direction signs pointed the |
| darkness, then took a deep breath and ventured | | | | way back to the main staging area. |
| through the narrow gateway. The bright light outside | | | | Best yet, many of the trails are one-way in nature, |
| was quickly replaced by darkness - our eyes | | | | making it unlikely you'd ever meet somebody in a |
| struggled to adjust to the sudden change in ambient | | | | corner and really easy to find your way back to your |
| light. Luckily the headlights from the Brute Force | | | | tow vehicle, as all trails eventually lead to other trails |
| illuminated a narrow path in front of us as we | | | | that will take you back. |
| plodded forward. | | | | Knowing they had some experienced riders with |
| The initial staging room does feature just a tiny bit of | | | | them, our guides took us to the toughest stuff the |
| light, thanks to whatever brightness sneaks through | | | | park could muster. The challenges were fun, but in |
| the doorway, but it's still dark. The room we entered | | | | the end, the rock scramble, powerline hill climb and |
| was about the size of a high school gymnasium, | | | | mudbog were ideal habitat for the Brute Force 750. |
| except with a relatively low ceiling. | | | | |