I am planning on moving from California to somewhere in southern Idaho in early 2007. My wife hates Ca. and I told her the only place I will move to must have dunes close by (Dumont is only 90 miles from me now). I have drove by St. Anthony and the dunes looked sweet but I did not have my quad with me.
My questions are-
#1 What is the riding season? we are winter (oct-mar) here, temps get to 120 degrees in the summer so no riding.
#2- besides a flag and safety gear, what are the regulations ie. db test, USF spark arrestors, etc.
#3- what is the crowd like? I have children and am past the party all night Glamis crowd. I like the family orientated Dumont type crowd although that has been changing the last couple of years.
#4- I heard rumors that you can ride snowmobiles there in the winter. Any truth to that?
#5- Lastly, here in Cali, 2 strokes made in 03 or newer are red stickered which means we CANNOT ride them on public lands from april 31-Nov 1. Anything like that there?

Thats all I got. Oh, what towns are good to live in ie. schools, property,cycle shops? I am a mailman and my wife graduates RN school in december 2006 so any town or city with a hospital or post office is on the looking at book. Thanks.

 

I'd take a good long look at Idaho Falls... Nice town, not too big, but enough there to call it 'civilized'...
Only 35 miles from St. A.... great place to live! Cost of living is pretty cheap too...

Riding season is pretty much what your able to handle... I'd say Memorial day to mid Oct is good... I've been snowed on over Memorial day, but I've seen it pretty warm too.. Welcome to the rocky mtn's!
I do understand that parts of the dunes are closed during certain parts of the year for animal migration or mating or ???? (Check BLM website for more info)
You could ride a sled out there, but the good snowmobiling will be up on the mountain where the pow pow gets really deep.

Not much of the same B.S. to deal with as Calif... Need a flag and a reg sticker... and wear a helmet (+ anything of good common sense)
No noise restrictions, no red sticker B.S.
There are some party crowds at the BLM campground, but nothing like what your used to seeing.
In fact, you won't see anything that resembles a crowd in your definition.

I'd give my right nutt to live in Idaho Falls...

 

^^^ Basically sums it up, need anything else let me know can help out too!!

 

Thanks for the replies. I just found out a house up the block from me sold for $299,000!!! I bought mine 3 years ago for $84,000 and now it is lookin like I can sell for close to $250,000 or so. real estate is through the roof here and the only way to profit is to get the hell out of the state. I have been looking at property online for blackfoot?, rigby, rexburg, and Idaho Falls. Dont really want to be more than a couple of hours from the dunes.

 

The wife has asked me to ask all of you, what is the winter weather like? I went to the weather channel online and it said basically that dec and jan were the coldest months with an average temp of 28 degrees. When it snows, does the snow stay for along time or is it gone in a couple of days. We were stationed in colorado springs colorado for 4 years and assume the weather is about the same as there. My wife is from N dakota and she does not like snow that is on the ground for months. Thanks again.

 

Pred can probably answer this better, but the times I've been up there during the winter... there's always been snow on the ground.
I'm thinking winters will be a bit more harsh than Colo Spgs.
My brother lived in I.F. for a few years, and I remember some below zero temps, and quite a bit of snow...

Winter in the Rockys!

 

Winter is usually not too bad south of me there may be snow but nothing too deep!! The temps are pretty damn cold though!!