Annual 'Frostbite' event set this weekend

Participants in last year's Frostbite event at Kansas Rocks Park gather for the drawing, which this year will feature some $15,000 in products and certificates. Kanrocks Recreation Association Founder and President David Killion is at the microphone. Lunch is served beforehand. (Submitted Photo)

Off-road enthusiasts will have a chance to enjoy a little off-season fun on Saturday during the annual Kanrocks Recreation Association's Frostbite event.

The seventh annual fest will take place at Kansas Rocks Recreation Park, 2051 130th St. near Mapleton. Gates open at 7 a.m.

"This is the biggest event of the year," founder and president of Kanrocks David Killion said. "It kicks off our wheeling season. We'll have probably 230 vehicles and close to 500 people there. A lot of those are staying Friday night and/or Saturday night in town."

Drivers in last year's Frostbite at Kansas Rocks Park near Mapleton arrive for lunch. Preregistration is $35 and includes a ticket for the meal, drawing and T-shirt. Participants can buy additional tickets for each. The day of Frostbite, registration is $35, but participants have to pay separately for the meal, drawing and T-shirts. (Submitted Photo)

Guided trail rides and free trail rides are offered "for people who want to go out and hit it on their own," Killion said. A catered lunch and drawing of about $15,000 worth of retail products and certificates will also be featured, he said.

Some 52 sponsors put up items for the drawing, Killion said.

Most off-road parks have big events in the summer, but "we just wanted to be different," Killion said. Many people actually go wheeling in the winter to avoid the heat and bugs that can be so pervasive in the summer.

The idea for Kansas Rocks Park was formed in 1997, a year after Killion founded the Kansas City 4WD Association when he realized there was a growing need for recreation land in the Kansas City area. Many options were explored, including developing a relationship with landowners to be able to use their acreage for recreation, leasing land and buying land, the Kansas Rocks website said.

Killion's research led him to a federal grant available through the Kansas Department of Wildlife & Parks for developing recreational trails. Initially called the TEA 21 program, it is more commonly known as the Recreational Trails Program.

Funds for the grant are collected from a portion of gasoline taxes to provide opportunities to enhance existing parks and trail systems or develop new parks and trail systems, the site said. Generally, the funds go to state and local parks. Killion was the first non-governmental Kansas entity to ever apply for the funds, which are 80 percent reimbursable, the site said. Killion was responsible for organizing up-front financing and developing sponsorship. Many clubs and individuals put in numerous hours helping develop the park that made up the 20 percent match, the site said.

Killion got grant approval in December 2001, then called together several outdoor enthusiasts to create the Kanrocks Recreation Association Board of Directors. After two years of planning and looking for "the perfect piece of land," the group obtained the site and opened the park to the public on Aug. 2, 2003. The grand opening was Aug. 30, 2003, the site said.

The park, owned by Kanrocks Recreation Association, encloses 220 acres and more than 65 trails and obstacles.

"We have a big rock pile and obstacles at the front of the park that a lot of people play on," Killion said. "They can kind of name their own poison. They can do something not so tough or do something really tough. It's really family oriented. Just come out and enjoy the camaraderie, or get out on the trails and just enjoy trail riding."