TLC, the trails you show in your pictures are pretty narrow, but I believe if they were used by wider machines like side by sides on a regular basis, they will become wider by themselves. It is just the nature of the beast.

 

There is no trail width laws up here , if a person thinks his 4wd truck will make it he has the right to give it a try.

 

I don't think widening trails will make them safer. One trail I rode was widened and the effect was that everyone rode faster. It was still only one lane with two way traffic but now that traffic was faster than ever before. Head on collisions would be more likely and cause more damage when they did occur.

 

Nailed it, wider trails equal faster speeds for everyone except the widest machines.
I never understood this topic. If a machine is to wide for a atv trail dont use it on a atv trail.

 

USFS Trail width is set at 50" for trails and depending on the district you will or won't get the ticket for squeezing a side by side on one of these trails. Most trailheads have instituted a 50" gate to keep bigger vehicles out (not always successful). Even some of the side by side manufacturers have tried to combat this with the solo and 50" wide models. A trend in Colorado has been to close trails as budgets are cut. It's been a bummer.

 

I certainly do not support mixing ATV's with full sized road vehicles. The weight difference being the biggest factor. I hear your arguments, and I guess there really isn't a good right or wrong answer.... thanks for weighing in ...

 

The trail width issue I see is how wide the trail actually will become. You can have a 50" gate to keep the trail at 50". Ever been on a trail that the majority of the trail was the exact same width as the tire path? The vehicles aren't on tracks and will drift from side to side. No one will follow the exact same path. So you wind up with an extra 2-4" (maybe more) of trail wear on each side. Now the 50" trail could be 58". Honestly, I don't think there's anything that could be done to prevent that. But you may have some outside environmental groups that will use that as an argument for fewer trails.

Like Dragginbutt said, it's just the nature of the beast.

 

I certainly agree with Jumbo Frank too. I know what it is like to ride logging roads, and coal mine roads versus fresh cut trails that wind in and around trees, roots, streams etc. I agree wide roads tend to ALLOW a person to open it up more. ANd we all know, that when faced with the opportunity, few if any will resist the urge to nail the trottle. I mean, that is one of the reasons we spend all that money in the first place. I guess having less obstacles is one way of looking at it, but wider isn't the panacea I was looking for. I guess we have to accept the fact that we have to take advantage of existing roads when converting an area into a riding area. I think one point we can all agree on though is that we need each other if we are going to be successful in combatting trail closures, and directing funding decisions in the future. So whether we are single trackers, ATV enthusiasts, Snomobilers, Side by Side explorers etc., we are all in this together.

 

I believe it should be left up to the trail system. A system like hatfield mcoy is created for all to use and nothing wrong with that. Now in my area the trails we are trying to save and work on are 20-30 year old logging/mining roads. They are just wide enough to fit atv and smaller sxs in. We would like to keep them this was for a few reasons, it maintains the beauty and nature of the existing trail and area, If it gets made wide enough for the larger sxs then the trucks and such are going to start coming in and destroying the trail. If the trail is naturally wide enough for the larger sxs then no problem.
Their is one trail system that we are getting designated as a atv/sxs trail. A few atv'ers outside the club have taken it upon them selves to widen the trail. Its now wide enough to fit a full size truck in it. Honestly now it looks like a roadway so far the only this stopping the trucks from coming in is the very unsafe bridge they have built.

 

I support ATV only trails and I support trails for all off road vehicles; they don't always need to be one and the same. I would even support 2 wheel only trails. I have seen places where the trails are wider but the trailheads have narrow gates that only allow vehicles up to a certain width.