Jeep Owner Off-roads on Restricted Land, Gets Stuck & Fined

South Table Mountain Park is closed to motor vehicles, hence this enthusiast got slapped with a $450 penalty and plenty of shame.

A Jeep Wrangler owner is in hot water after deciding to go off-roading in the majestic South Table Mountain Park in Jefferson County, Colorado this past Saturday. According to 9News.com, the unnamed driver drove into the park, which is not open to motorized vehicles, and spent the evening hours cruising around the area before finally getting hung up on some rocks, allowing authorities to catch the careless joyrider.

South Table Mountain

South Table Mountain Park is part of the Jefferson County Public Park system of Colorado, with nearly 1,500 acres of unaltered, natural landscape. The park is used for hiking, biking, jogging, climbing and even horseback riding, but to keep the land pristine and free of the risks of traffic, motorized vehicles are not permitted anywhere in the park.

However, that didn’t stop the owner of the Jeep Wrangler pictured here from deciding to spend a night off-roading on the restricted land and while it was likely fun at first, it has turned into a major headache for this irresponsible driver.

Stuck in the Park

The details are fairly limited, but we know that sometime on the evening of Saturday, April 13, a Jeep Wrangler driver headed into South Table Mountain Park to have some fun. Evidently, the person drove “all over” the area, eventually getting hung up on some rocks. As a result, the Jeeper had to spend the night with the vehicle, waiting until morning to try to free the stuck rig.

He did not succeed and while trying to do so, the owner was caught by a hiker the next morning while still trying to free the vehicle. The authorities were notified and the Wrangler driver was fined for his poor decision. Those fines included $100 for taking a motorized vehicle into the park, $100 for being in the park after hours and $250 for reckless activity in the park, leading to a total fine of $450, but that is only the beginning of the headache.

It turns out that while the land on which the Jeep is stuck is part of the park, it is privately-owned land, so the Wrangler owner will have to work with the landowner to figure out how to get the vehicle unstuck without the use of another motorized vehicle. As of the latest update to the original report, the Wrangler was still stuck on the rocks on South Table Mountain, where hikes, bikes and horseback riders can spot the vehicle, stranded far from any other motorized vehicle.

The moral of the story here is to not be this guy. There are plenty of places to take your Jeep Wrangler off-roading; don’t make the rest of the community look bad by doing something rude like driving on restricted public land.

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Patrick Rall

"Before I was old enough to walk, my dad was taking me to various types of racing events, from local drag racing to the Daytona 500," says Patrick Rall, a lifetime automotive expert, diehard Dodge fan, and respected auto journalist for over 10 years. "He owned a repair shop and had a variety of performance cars when I was young, but by the time I was 16, he was ready to build me my first drag car – a 1983 Dodge Mirada that ran low 12s. I spent 10 years traveling around the country, racing with my dad by my side. While we live in different areas of the country, my dad still drag races at 80 years old in the car that he built when I was 16 while I race other vehicles, including my 2017 Dodge Challenger SRT Hellcat and my 1972 Dodge Demon 340.

"Although I went to college for accounting, my time in my dad’s shop growing up allowed me the knowledge to spend time working as a mechanic before getting my accounting degree, at which point I worked in the office of a dealership group. While I was working in the accounting world, I continued racing and taking pictures of cars at the track. Over time, I began showing off those pictures online and that led to my writing.

"Ten years ago, I left the accounting world to become a full-time automotive writer and I am living proof that if you love what you do, you will never “work” a day in your life," adds Rall, who has clocked in time as an auto mechanic, longtime drag racer and now automotive journalist who contributes to nearly a dozen popular auto websites dedicated to fellow enthusiasts.

"I love covering the automotive industry and everything involved with the job. I was fortunate to turn my love of the automotive world into a hobby that led to an exciting career, with my past of working as a mechanic and as an accountant in the automotive world provides me with a unique perspective of the industry.

"My experience drag racing for more than 20 years coupled with a newfound interest in road racing over the past decade allows me to push performance cars to their limit, while my role as a horse stable manager gives me vast experience towing and hauling with all of the newest trucks on the market today.

"Being based on Detroit," says Rall, "I never miss the North American International Auto Show, the Woodward Dream Cruise and Roadkill Nights, along with spending plenty of time raising hell on Detroit's Woodward Avenue with the best muscle car crowd in the world.

Rall can be contacted at QuickMirada@Yahoo.com

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