Texas Hogwallow Mud Racing

If you like being ear-deep in mud, atop a beerstocked ATV (all-terrain vehicle), along side a monster truck, then the Labor Day Bogging Bash at Texas Hogwallow family amusement park in Deweyville is where you want to be Aug.  Martinez was one of those embracing a mud-as-sun block concept.

And a place where it seems necessary to post rules like “no nudity.” Its seven square miles offer lakes, ditches, a drag strip and miles and miles of trails that promise tons of fun for the redneck in everyone.
Hogwallow plans to add lawnmower racing and will have representatives from the Lonestar and Cajun Louisiana Lawn Mower Racing Associations there.

Carl Gantt, a 43-year-old Deweyville resident and selfdescribed redneck, said there was no where he’d rather be on a hot Southeast Texas summer day than out at Hogwallow.

An army of four-wheelers cruised Hogwallow on Saturday, in and out of shallow ditches and ponds and across fields.  Zebras, buffalo, elk, Watusi cows, peacocks, and snakes roam the park, which late owner Frenchie Longron visualized as an exotic game preserve.  “It’s Deweyville style sun block,” the 27-year-old plant maintenance worker said.
Longron’s son, Artie Longron, kept the animals and added mud.

“Oh yeah.

The 26-year-old Deweyville housewife, clad in a tank top emblazoned with the slogan “Behold the power of Hooters,” said her husband introduced her to the sport.

ATVs and trucks fly in every direction, missing each other by inches.

Throw in some ‘gators, a few world class mud holes and a corndog or two, and you might just have a redneck’s dream.  Oddly enough, it does.  Amenities include showers – outdoor showers to deal with the hardcore, caked on mud as well as indoor showers – a concession stand, a convenience store that sells everything from camping supplies to souvenirs and baby wipes; and campsites with water and electricity hookups.
3.  “Before, I wouldn’t ever get muddy,”Amber said.

Exotic game is just another perk.

Martinez attended the grand opening along with his wife, Amber Martinez.
Souped-up pickups, SUVs and monster trucks carelessly litter the terrain.  People run into each other, fall over – it’s all part of the fun,” Heater Martinez said.”As long as no one gets mad, it’s all fun.”

Experienced four-wheelers advise drinking plenty of water and Gatorade between beers to avoid heat exhaustion, a malady suffered by more than one visitor on Saturday.

At a 4X4 mud bog event, trucks labored to make the best time around a horseshoe track so muddy that as the truck wheels spun, the air around them filled with a mud ball storm.
In fact, her fond memories of her courtship days include her husband “accidentally” dumping the ATV and throwing her off into the mud.

Gantt, along with 20 or 30 of his closest friends, was one of perhaps thousands who turned out to spend a hot August day riding trails, watching off-road races and generally getting dirty while having some good clean fun.
Mud spattered folks of every age, gender, size and shape were everywhere, charging around with surprising vigor on a day designed for drinking iced tea on a vinecovered veranda – if you had to leave air conditioned interiors at all.

Amber Martinez grew up in Little Cypress, where people played more sports and didn’t go in for muddy sports like four-wheeling so much.
But it also looks a little intimidating.

It isn’t exactly that fourwheeling in mud holes doesn’t look fun.  “Oh yea – it’s fun!” she said.

In the works is a lodge for visiting entertainers or hunting parties, a swimming/ fishing hole, lawnmower racing, paintball courses and more.

Thousands of self-proclaimed rednecks gathered there last weekend for the grand opening.
Alligators have their own fenced enclosure.  31 to Sept.

Hogwallow is the kind of place where conversational offerings like, “Where are the ‘gators at?”and “Is that a Toyota four runner under all that mud?” roll off the tongue easily.
The grand opening weekend events featured 4 by 4 and ATV competitions, a country music concert and a greased pig competition for the children.  There are trucks so high off the ground a family of four could camp underneath them.
Mud fills the air and disaster seems imminent.

Hogwallow aspires to be the finest ATV amusement park in the country, with regulation racing courses and deluxe facilities, said Hogwallow spokesman Mark Sowders.

“We love being rednecks and this is the kind of thing we like to do,” he said.

But Heater, a Deweyville boy, grew up with the stuff.  But enthusiasts are nonchalant.

For information on all events call 746-2020 or visit www.texashogwallow.com. Tickets are 45 one rider with 4 by 4 and $15 for spectators. RV sites will be $15 a night with electricity; and $10 a night for camping with water

Sarah Moore of The Beaumont Enterprise and Donna Rae Wisor of The Beaumont Journal contributed to this article.