Posted December 22, 2006

How to Find Where to Ride

By Steve Casper, NOHVCC director of communications

We wish we could point you in the direction of a book entitled "Every Single Ride Area in the U.S." We can't.

So how can you find a new close-to-home ride area that would allow you to take a quick ride on a Saturday afternoon? Or for those big riding weekend plans, where are the best, most scenic trails in your part of the country that is worth the 3- or 4-hour drive?

Short of buying the magic know-it-all book, there are in fact quite a few resources. The best place to start is at your local dealership. Usually the folks who work there have info on the most popular local ride areas. Often times as well, dealerships have bulletin boards and posters that tout upcoming local riding events and riding parks.

The dealerships are a quick and easy place to begin your ride area search, but the folks who really know about local ride areas are the ATV club members. These highly motivated enthusiasts treat riding as a religion, and their best trails as shrines. Maybe they’ll let you in on their cherished secrets, and maybe they won’t. Many club members are a bit gun-shy about showing strangers their best ride areas. What if you were to go in and trash-up the site, or break all the trail rules? The next thing you know the trails are being shut down. The best way to get in on the good side of an ATV club is of course to join them!

Federal and state government agencies that manage trail systems can also fill you in on what they have to offer. In many cases, they’ll have a brochure describing the locations of all their trails and the rules and regulations associated with them, and to get the brochure it’s usually as easy as just giving them a call. Look in the phone book Government pages under Federal Bureau of Land Management (BLM), National Forests, State Forests, Department of Natural Resources (DNR), Department of Parks and Recreation, Department of Tourism, Chamber of Commerce, or State Fish and Game or Fish and Wildlife. Not all of these agencies exist in all states, nor do they all necessarily have anything to do with managing off-highway trails, but if they do, they’re the ones with all the maps and brochures and it’s their job to give you the info.

© 2006, All Terrain Vehicle Association