Wish I Could would like to thank Yamaha and Xtreme Products of West Monroe for their over and above sponsorship of the 2009 Marengo Swamp Ride.  

Xtreme is a locally owned suspension company, that specializes in 2-3” ATV/UTV lift kits, wheels, tires and accessories.

Wish I Could spokesperson, Jamie Parks said “Xtreme really stepped up to the plate this year, they were among our largest sponsors.

Xtreme pulled out all the stops and provided 3 side by sides and personnel fully armed for the recovery effort.

They gave directions, winched bikes, passed out water, bug spray and gas free of charge to weary, lost and stuck riders.

They worked tirelessly until the last bikes were out.

Xtreme also sold their own shirts and donated all proceeds to Wish I Could.”

Xtreme General Manager Joe Watts said “Xtreme found participating to be a worthwhile and rewarding experience.” He went on to say Xtreme has participated in the past and plans to be a regular and ongoing sponsor. They plan on working with Wish I Could to expand our advertising scope, as well as get the Wish I Could story spread to more ATV activist.

 You can visit Xtreme at 403 Downing Pines Rd. in West Monroe, LA or check them out on the web @

www. XPATV.com

Yamaha has been a faithful sponsor for the Marengo Swamp Ride for Many years. 

Yamaha donated a Big Bear 4×4 to be raffled off by Wish I Could.  This was won by “Wild Bill” of Columbia.    The proceeds from this years raffle will go to buy christmas presents for the Wish I Could Kids (Kids who have had wishes granted by WIC in the past)Yamaha also purchased the drinks and most of the food for the concession for the ride.   

This years ride had 2644 registered  participants.

A few of the numbers are as follows:
2004 . . . . 4290
2005 . . . . 3914
2006 . . . . 3520
2007 . . . . 3426
2008 . . . . 3416
2009 . . . . 2644

There have been numerous suggestions to improve the swamp ride.  If you have any worthy suggestions please suggest them here.

• GPS location points for the mile markers

• Better trail marking/higher visability

• communication access points every few miles for emergencies

If you have forgotten to purchase your shirts.  We have a few available.  The cost is the same as always.  $17 for each adult shits and $12 for each youth shirt.

Adult shirts are $17 ($15 for the shirt and $2 for S&H)

The adult sizes available as of June 17th are:

(2)   3X

(19)  2X

(55) XL

(17) L

(SOLD OUT) M

(6) S

The Youth sizes available as of June 17th are:

Youth shirts are $12 ($10 for the shirt and $2 for S&H)

(18) L

(26) M

(12) S

(4) XS

Please mail checks to

  Wish I Could of NELA

P.O. Box 366

Rayville, LA 71269

Please include a phone number and a return address in case there is a problem with your order

The ride this year will have different conditions in different parts of the
trail.
The road into the ride (dry and dusty)
mile 0 to .75 Muddy and rutted
mile .75 to 2.8 dry and smooth
mile 2.8 to 9.1 normal dry ground with severe spotted mud holes
mile 9.4 to mile 12.0 flooded with water between 12 inches and 5 feet
deep. (5+ feet deep in the creek bottoms where the trails cross the creeks)
The shallowest path that we found was 24 inches at the deepest point. This
shallow spot was about 1/4 mile upstream of the normal crossings.
http://www.wishicould.org/gallery/thumbnails.php?album=24
for pictures.
mile 12.0 to mile 12.5 rutted and slippery mud
At this point you are at mile .9 on the trail. Turn right to exit.
visit
http://www.wishicould.org/mappro/mapprow.html
for a map of the trail

If you want severe mud/water turn left at the fork. at mile 0.9

The river water level was 3 feet below the trail level at mile 7.
The river water level is slightly rising from the last time we were in there(0.08 inch rise according to the river guage 1/2 mile from the trail)
River level for Boeuf River

The mosquitoes were especially bad this year. I recommend a full can of repellant PER person. You will probably need to reapply repellant every hour or so.

To get to the entrance gate. . .

There are several ways
Go to google maps at
http://maps.google.com/maps?hl=en&tab=wl
enter the following in the search box
32.1379,-91.9383
Click get directions
Enter your starting address

Or

Go to the Marengo map page at
http://www.wishicould.org/mappro/mapprow.html
left click on the green pin
left click the “to here” link
fill in your starting address

or

use a map/gps to get to Hebert, Louisiana follow the thousands of ATV’s heading to the ride

Vehicles other than ATVs and UTVs are NOT recommended on Lawrence Road.

Parking is along side La 848 from Hebert to the end of the road.  After parking proceed down La 848 to Lawrence Road. Turn left on Lawrence road (gravel road past corn field) travel 1 mile to entrance gate proceed 1.5 miles to beginning of ride turn right follow someone who knows where he is going.

NO. It’s another ridiculous rumor, The Swamp ride is an annual event that benefits Wish I Could of Northeast Louisiana and will continue each year in its present location .  This makes our 24th year at Marengo.  We are NOT associated with Roosters and any other ATV  parks.  The only change this year besides lots of rain  is the loss of our original FREE PARKING field.   We were unable to secure a place to rent because most of the residents plan on charging to park in their yards/fields.   Look at previous posts in this blog to get details of other camping alternatives.

DO NOT MAIL IN PREREGISTARTIONS!

There is not enough time to return them to you by mail. All preregistrations must be purchased in person at one of the following places:

Cat Island Grocery .::. 1244 Hwy 848 .::. Columbia La .::. (318)649-7884

Columbia Kwik Mart Chevron .::. 125 Ballpark Rd .::. Columbia La  .::. (318)649-5889

Stuart’s .::. 214 Expo Circle, Suite 5 .::. West Monroe La .::.  (318)325-4040 Until June 5th at 5 PM

Wish I Could of Northeast Louisiana .::. 711 Louisa Street .::. Rayville La .::. (318)728-2300

 The Wish I Could OFFICE WILL CLOSE FRIDAY June 5th AT 8PM  and move all operations to the gate. 

Preregistration is $15.00 PER ATV

Registration begins  June 6th  and is $20.00 PER ATV

Registration is available at the entrance gate to the Boeuf Wildlife Management Area on Lawrence Road Hebert La

A few people have been calling about the Louisiana Department of Wildlife & Fisheries (LDWF) requirement for a valid hunting /fishing license or Wild La stamp. The free fishing and day in the park opportunity offered by the LDWF for the weekend of June 6th does NOT affect the requirement for riding atvs on the Boeuf WMA.

LDWF rules state:

Persons using WMAs or other department administered lands for any purpose must possess one of the following:

1. a valid Wild Louisiana Stamp
2. a valid Louisiana fishing license
3. a valid Louisiana hunting license

Persons younger than 16 or older than 60 years of age are exempt from this requirement.

The forum developed issues and I do not have time to fix it until after the ride.

Until that time enjoy the blog  

Use the comments option to ask questions

There is not a free parking/camping field this year.   We apologize for the delay but owners kept changing their plans and are wanting to charge each vehicle  $5 to $40 to park on their land.   Wish I Could was unable to rent a field from anyone within a reasonable distance (5 miles). 

As of Sunday night All FREE Overnight Camping must be at the WMA campgrounds.      There is a WMA at the entrance to the ride and there is another on the other side of the river 6 miles from the entrance by road.  Space is limited and No reservations are available.  It is first come first serve.  They are filling up as we speak.

OR

There is a PAY TO CAMP offered by Jeff at 318.614.9710 and Ralph at 318.376.2121   They have a LARGE secluded area by the water at the end of Heather Lane. It is 4 miles from the entrance gate and you can ride your ATV from their site to the gate Saturday morning.

They offer reserved areas.    Their rates are $20.00 PER DAY for camper/Rv. Accompanying vehicles are $5.00 PER DAY.  PROCEEDS FROM THIS AREA DO NOT BENEFIT WIC.   They do not have Hookups however they offer access to fill up your water tanks on site.    Their land includes a recently harvested/burnt/cultivated wheat field located across the gravel road from the campsites.

CHECK THE MARENGO 2009 MAP FOR ALL LOCATIONS / DIRECTIONS

Contact Ralph of Jeff