Pinched on public land

[Sard]

That's a problem up here as well. If you want to ride you are pretty much doing it illegally. All the nice trails are in municipal boundaries and my community is changing the by-laws to prevent any kind of off-road vehicle use (this is being slipped in during the off season with little public notice, I pay more attention to local and provincial politics than average, but the month it was up for review completely slipped by me), and with recent changes in the petty trespass act for private land, there have been a lot of convictions so you don't want to risk the sections of trails that go over private land. There is lots of public land, but its all leased to oil and gas, and forestry companies who are almost impossible to get permission from either because they won't give it or there is no way of contacting the right person. Not to mention our new land use framework which is still being rolled out for the regions of the province.

Part of the problem is that a lot of the guys out there are leaving garbage not picking it up. It gives everyone a bad name. The other is that the type of equipment you run determines where you can go. There are a lot of nice snowmobile trails but unless you are part of the association and run a snowmobile (other vehicles with tracks don't count) I'm told you can't go on the trail because it is leased.

You can still ride in wildland provincial parks (and there are some really nice ones) as long as you are careful to stay only on existing trails and keep your registration/insurance up to date.

I make a point of only riding where I am supposed to, to try to keep good public will. But given all the guys that think atv use is about getting drunk on a trail and leaving garbage everywhere, I think its a lost cause. Too bad AATV's get blamed for it as well.

[Czechsix]

Maybe I'll just register mine as a boat, ride wherever I want, and point out to the helpful ricky rangers that it's gonna be a helluva lot of paperwork if they write me up for anything

[Adondo]

Not a bad idea about the boat thing. That should confuse issues in a court of law. I've thought about should I ever get hassled about somewhere there's an NO ATV sign. Hey, it's a AATV, it's not an ATV, so... what's the problem??

[Czechsix]

Not a bad idea about the boat thing. That should confuse issues in a court of law. I've thought about should I ever get hassled about somewhere there's an NO ATV sign. Hey, it's a AATV, it's not an ATV, so... what's the problem??

Exactly....I'd take a close look at the laws, and I'll bet that there are no specific injunctions against boats using roads. Might get away with it a few times, but I'm also planning on keeping the ride as absolutely quiet as possible while still retaining some performance. Pretty much the same thing you have to do here if you're on a dirt bike. Luckily my bike is street legal, but still a dirt bike so I can ride almost anywhere there's a road, but I really want to be able to take the Hustler out to many of the same places I take the Rokon out to. The other thing to concentrate on, at least from my angle, is getting out as far as possible. Even the rangers don't like to get into the boonies too much, so you're safer there.

[tracmaster]

I ride mostly on coal property in ohio...the way I do it is ..find a place that looks promising... take gps reading ...I use a garmin 60csx....go home and upload to google earth...I can then see the entire area for miles around...you can measure how far from pond to pond......etc...you can see houses roads, ponds, even atv trails... goggle earth is the best thing that has ever happened for outlaw atvers.... I try to avoid deep mud and look for large area that have multiple ponds....stealth is the way to go..i bring nothing shiney....my brake and taillights are switched so I can turn off them when my headlights are on...I usually go for 2 or 3 days..and am dropped off before first light...I never leave my truck parked on the road or path...I like to drive around the pond until I find a suitable camp out of view from the trail....no one has any idea I am there...and thats the way I like it..I do generally call home a leave my gps reading of my camp..just in case my bones need picked up....believe me you can find your own places this way...

tracmaster

[tracmaster]

Funny about the boat registration...they changed things here in west virginia..by giving you an atv reggy with boat tags...just had mine done..

[tbone9]

One time I was at the boat landing with the max and amphitriler loaded up ready to go camping on an island. The warden asked why I needed a boat registration on it. After I explained it to him he was alright. Then swam it to the island pulled straight up the bank just enough to get the trailer out of the water. That afternoon another tree cop gave me grief about riding on the shore. After a few exchanges I pointed to the adjacent island where a group drug there boat up on the shore such as me. He reluctantly said he'd let it slide this time. I guess it's all about educating these guys.