Iron Mountain Park — Hotel in Dahlonega

I chose Iron Mountain ATV park to represent Yamaha for my interest in a new RMAX 1000 vehicle. I was in the market as a potential buyer and as an owner of many Yamaha products wanted to demo prior to purchase. In the end, Iron Mountain not only poorly represented Yamaha but also the off-roading hobby in general. In this review I will touch on the highlights of the experience and lack of service which ultimately sent me away for good.

Check-in: This part is rather easy, fill out forms online show up and you are off in just a few minutes.

Trails: From the moment you pass the guard shack, you notice just how large the property is and how useless the map you scanned with your QR code at the front counter becomes. The trails are poorly marked and do not warn anyone new to the property of the potentially difficult terrain that is well in excess of the machine you rented. There are many places that the trails are deeply rutted out and muddy, capable of sticking a vehicle with 48" of ground clearance. You become quickly aware that the regulars who frequent the property with their own machine know their way around and tend to avoid all the side "trails", sticking to the powerline. We soon learned why when we ended up stuck. I thought no problem as the machine was marketed and sold with a winch, so I'll just winch myself out, or so I thought. Iron Mountain had removed the winch from the vehicle although the literature clearly states it's included. Iron Mountain's solution to this is to call the office and for $150 they will come tow you out. With no other option and no winch we did so, and after a dozen unanswered calls, we were stranded. I had to hike back and find help which we were fortunate enough to find and very thankful for. This situation cost us 2 hours of our rental. So we left and went home, cold, wet, muddy, saying never again, a truly regrettable experience.

Machine: The rental unit was in very poor condition. The brakes were shot, squealing metal to metal. The engine cover in the interior was falling off. Winch inoperative with no cable, windshield removed, only half the units had them, ours didn't making it a cold wet ride. The unit was filthy despite the fact they charge a cleaning fee. Our unit appeared to have never seen a pressure washer. If you decide to rent bring disposable clothes, hiking shoes, handheld GPS to navigate or hike back to your car, tools to repair the rental and starting fluid may not be a bad idea. Just remember, you are on your own, to navigate, deal with poorly marked trails, and rental equipment shortcomings. If you still choose to proceed, do so cautiously, take a friend with so you are never alone, and most importantly never leave your safety in the hands of Iron Mountain or capability...

We visited Iron Mountain Park for the second time Feb 15-19th, first time there was last 4th of July. Sad to say, things seem to have gone downhill since our first visit here.

Camping: we stayed in Cabin 105 for 4 nights. Very basic which was expected since we have stayed here before. The cabin was considerably dirty with dust, grime, the bed and mattresses had food remains and it was just overall gross. We cleaned it out best we could and brought our own sheets, blankets, etc. For the amount you guys charge for cabins, the cleanliness can seriously be improved upon.

Riding: overall good, we were pleased to see new trails were open that were not previously open. We had a great time riding with our two teens. Unfortunately this place seems to have become popular with rowdy groups of Mexicans/Spanish people, exactly what we were trying to avoid by coming here to the mountains. Not appreciated.

Restaurant/Food/Staff: first night here upon check-in around 5PM on Thursday, after driving for 10 hours with two kids, we were anxious to get a bite to eat and sit down. Unfortunately, the lady at check in seemed to be more concerned with trying to sell us year round memberships instead of telling us that the restaurant was closed, due to them not being able to find staff. This was despite advertising everywhere that the restaurant was open. A heads up would have been appreciated. The rest of our stay, service was pretty good, Shannon was awesome! The burgers were significantly worse than last time, the food quality overall has gone downhill. Also, we were excited for the concert that was advertised for weeks, months. I asked the ladies at the front desk/registration at 4PM if the concert was still on that night, at 7PM. They all said yes, it was on, go to the restaurant to get good seats. Well we did that, 7PM came and went, and Shannon told us oh they could not get the band booked to come play. SERIOUSLY? We specifically sat around and were told two completely different things. They did absolutely nothing special as far as Valentine's Day.

Overall, we had a good time, but the basics were lacking. For the amount we paid for the cabins, riding, spent considerable amount of money on food and drinks, we did not seem to get much out of it. We will probably look...

Come here when we get an itch to ride because it's close to home. Every time there is more and more disappointment.

Not only is the campground a 2 night minimum, but the price is outrageous and doesn't even include your riding passes. So you're automatically out the door $200+ to stay and ride for the weekend. You'd think for the amount you're getting charged, you'd pull up to a well maintained campground and park. Wrong, don't let the "lodge" fool you. That's the nicest part about this park. The campground is a muddy mess. Gravel site pads not kept up with. People drive all around in the spots and grass, so there's no grass to allow your dogs to potty. There is no concrete anywhere past the tunnel bridge, yet the dumpster pad is concrete. The trash has a better site than the patrons do. Rules aren't enforced whatsoever. People slinging up rocks, dust, mud all over the campground and parking lot.

Our latest trip was giving them the benefit of the doubt for their NYE Bash. What a waste of time and money. All this advertisement about the grill and bar, a concert, fireworks show. Not a single one of those events happened. We relied on the restaurant for lunch and dinner and didn't come prepared with food whatsoever for our required 2 night stay. The restaurant and bar were closed. No signs, no announcement, nothing. The only thing that changed was the social media flyer removing the grill and bar open verbiage. Thank God one of us came in a vehicle and not just the motorhome or we wouldn't have been able to go get groceries. 2nd, the "concert" that was held was a joke. It was literally a bunch of redneck wanna be hickhoppers and their young kids singing to themselves and their "crew." We went up to the "stage" multiple times throughout the evening, and nothing changed. Then, which at this point we weren't even surprised, they announce there won't be any firework display. We are to go to one of the overlooks and "watch other people's fireworks." Again, there was no other announcement or anything letting anyone know there wasn't going to be any fireworks on site.

Not sure this is the place for us to ride our machines any longer. Not worth the money when you end up with a weekend full of...