Courtesy of the Full Throttle Saloon – Full Throttle Saloon proprietors Michael and Angie Ballard and partner Jesse James Dupree will re-build the Full Throttle Saloon months after a fire destroyed the legendary landmark. The new location will be a 600-acre attraction allowing the trio to host RVs and unlimited campers for the first time in the saloon’s history. Honoring the rally’s founder, plans to name the facility “The Pappy Hoel Campground” have been announced.
Ballard shares, “When the purchase was in motion to move the Full Throttle Saloon, it simply felt perfect to honor the family who founded this event. Although I never had the honor to meet Pappy, his wife Pearl was in our life and his son Jack continues to be. We are very proud to have been chosen to manage the brand on behalf of the family. When he began this rally in 1938, his vision impacted motorcycle culture in a profound way.”
Full Throttle Saloon partners Jesse James Dupree and Michael Ballard announced their intentions to rebuild the brand at the 600-acre location of the old Broken Spoke Saloon Campground off Hwy. 79 near Bear Butte. They will also be opening a small venue at the original location “in tribute to the landmark’s history.”
Reservations are available as they break ground this week by calling 605-490-2140 or clicking here: www.fullthrottlesaloon.com. The new location is five miles down the road, formerly the Broken Spoke campground. The property is turn-key, including the ever-popular pool of the old Broken Spoke and a permanent bar bikers can drive through. Over the past two decades, over six million motorcycle enthusiasts have entered the gates of the Full Throttle Saloon.
The Ballards and Dupree have announced initial confirmed headliners for this year’s event. Those performing artists include Ted Nugent, Zakk Wylde and Jackyl. Additional artists appearing will be forthcoming in the months to come.
In September, 2015, the establishment burned to the ground in an overnight fire. At the time, Ballard offered, “Over the last two decades, The Full Throttle Saloon has been the epicenter of my life. Walking the grounds following this tragedy is simply devastating. We created a destination that resonated with working class America, and became over time a landmark for this great town which is Sturgis. To everyone who made the Full Throttle become the special destination we all came to love, simply thank you. The support from the local community and those across the globe has been humbling.” Ballard’s best friend, and business partner Jesse James Dupree offered, “Michael created not just a bar but a destination point. People come to see Mt. Rushmore, Crazy Horse, The Badlands, and the Full Throttle Saloon when visiting South Dakota.”
Prior to the fire, the saloon was renowned as the “World’s Largest Biker Bar,” with 30-acres featuring an enormous indoor/outdoor bar with several large stages, a burn-out pit, a tattoo parlor, zip lines, a wrestling ring, restaurants, dozens of stores, hundreds of cabins for rent and parking for thousands of bikes. The new establishment will afford the developers to deliver a new property with limitless potential, welcoming RVs, unlimited campers, and more cabins for those visitors to Sturgis who want to reside on the grounds for the rally in proximity to the attractions the saloon has to offer.
This year, the location of the original saloon will open with a small build in tribute to the landmark’s history. Just a few miles down the road from the original Full Throttle property on Hwy. 79 at the base of Bear Butte, the new property will open for its inaugural year on Friday, July 29th. Aerial photograph of the new site follows below.
