Lake District Off-Road Event at Dalton 4x4

With the summer of 2023 nearing a close, we held our Lake District Off-Road Event. The event was situated in Dalton-in-Furness at Dalton 4x4’s private hire site which had a dedicated course set out by the guides & staff. With it being the first time that Ranger Club UK had held an event in both the Lake District and at Dalton 4x4, we were excited to see what was on offer to test our members and their trucks.

Some lucky members (depending on where they were travelling from) got to go via the A590, just 15 minutes away from Dalton, which passes the beautiful River Leven - leading out to the Irish Sea. After the long, mainly motorway, drive (6 hours plus for some), it was nice to finally see some of the Lake District’s natural beauty as the afternoon sun reflected off the water’s edge.

Another local attraction that we recommend is some of the beaches along the West coast. National Trust’s - Sandscale Haws is a quiet and peaceful location that has a conservation area for Natterjack Toads during breeding season. There’s a large car park and 2x spaces for oversized vehicles.

On arrival at Dalton 4x4, the staff were very welcoming. The owner Nigel, showed us around the perimeter and explained the house rules along with where we’d be pitching up our tents. The camp ground was of a good size on a large level grassy area, with hills around the edge, protecting the camp area from strong side winds. The site had a good, well serviced toilet block as well as tea & coffee making facilities and canned beverages for sale in the office.
Our members all set up their tents (hammock between 2 trucks for Luke) for the evening then set to get about making their evening meals on a variety of camp stoves & mini BBQs.

In the morning we awoke to bitter air and low fog across the hills which made the setting of this place, being in the Lake District, even more beautiful. With the morning dew leaving the ground slightly damp we knew we were in for a good days wheeling! Once everyone had awoken and began to pack away their camping equipment and tents with the remaining non-camping members starting to arrive. Nige and the team cooked up a breakfast of sausage and bacon sandwiches with teas and coffee, which went down very well.

We had a short safety briefing and signed our lives away with the standardised insurance waiver, ‘what on earth have we let ourselves in for?’ Once the paper work was out the way, we split into two separate groups - a novice group and more experienced group, this made it easier and safer to run the course, keeping 5 trucks in each group. We each had a handheld radio supplied by Dalton 4x4 so we could stay in contact with the guide at all times and get tips on how to approach obstacles and different driving techniques along the way.

The 26 acre, 10 zone course starts off relatively tame with some small hills to go up and down and a water splash to get you in to the day, but as the day went on and we progressed through the zones, the course became more and more challenging. There are some very deep and boggy mud pits, when we say mud pits we have never driven through anything quite like this, it was almost like liquified red clay that just got everywhere and stuck to everything like sh…. well you know how the saying goes. The only way to get through seemed to be sheer power even the most aggressive M/Ts got caked in the red mud. The hills just got steeper as the day went on as our member’s confidence grew with each challenge passed, some of the off camber sections really got the heart rate racing as you tell yourself that the truck will make it and it won’t just tip over. One by one though we all had a go with some big wheel lifts on the way in and also on the cross section between the two off camber sections making sure to put smiles on the faces of all of those concerned.

Halfway through our day we stopped for lunch where once again Dalton 4x4 made a much needed chilli con carne with rice and tortilla chips for everyone. We held a small raffle for our members during the lunch break too with prizes supplied by our event sponsor Style My Ranger. After drawing names out of a hat, member Scott got to take home some brand new Bundu Basher rubber floormats.

After lunch we ran any remaining zones of the course as well as some of the obstacles in reverse, which made some of the challenges easier but others much harder. It was also another chance to get those trucks even muddier than before! Nige kindly ended the day by walking us through some of the future zones which were still under development as well as explaining their plans for a new camping ground with potential views of the Northern Lights.

All-in-all we had an excellent and enjoyable day at Dalton 4x4. The staff were lovely and couldn’t do enough to help where needed. Nige and the team had such a wealth of experience which defiantly goes a long way in giving you confidence when driving over unfamiliar terrain.

Dalton, we will be back!