My first atv was bought new in 1987, a Suzuki LT125. Currently I am running a 2005 Sportsman 500. The SxS bug has bitten me recently and I have been watching a lot of videos on YouTube. One thing that started bothering me the more I watched is the trail destruction on many of the videos. The newer larger machines on any kind of soft ground just rips up deep ruts in one go. SxS's seem to create more destruction than almost any ATV can do. Some of what causes that is they take the SxS in places an ATV would never dare attempt to ride. They also have to take multiple attempts to get through, and when they do, they are not easy on the loud pedal when they do.

Many people in those videos I am sure don't ride on property they own. Many also don't go to off road parks like Hatfield&McCoy where they maintain the property and can clean up the roads on a yearly basis. Does that destruction of trails and property not concern anyone else.

 

Unfortunately a lot of users do not care about anything but fun. Its whats hurting our sport and making it hard for the rest of us to get things done

 

Been around ATV and UTV for longer than I care to admit, and I agree with you to a point. My experience has found extreme power to be the real culprit. Nobody want to go a reasonable pace anymore, it is ***** to the wall or nothing. This hard acceleration and high speed it what tears up the trails. Back when we didn't have 1000cc turbo charged engines the trails were in much better condition. I know some owners of the trail systems and after grooming trails it is a matter of days before they are rutted and whooped up. All due to rapid acceleration and speed. In areas where speed limits are imposed the trails are in much better condition for a longer period of time.
If people were required to put in the time and effort to repair the trails they might think twice about ripping them up!!

 

Most of the trails I ride are only wide enough for something like a 50" RZR and they can't go very fast. I haven't seen them do much damage yet, but I think I read that some of the trails are being widened by 10" or so. There will be plenty of opportunity for higher speeds and hard acceleration. And more accidents. The trails will still be one lane wide with 2-way traffic. The real damage I see is from motorcycles spinning their wheels.

 

I remember in the early 90's when Tread Lightly!!! was a big deal in every magazine. Heck, even on a bad day we were never even close to how bad a good day is today.

 

Go back an look at the Blackwater race and what shut it down. That is nothing compared to today.

 

We gave up riding at local trail due to being in such poor condition. Every spring the stare grooms the trail but withun weeks it is so bad you cant ride on it. The hotshot riders just hold there machines with the throttle wide open and do excavating with the rear tires, then move a few yards and do it again! They spray everyone with dirt and rhe DNR wont stop it. When they do ride it is nothing but ripping soil at every corner. They have churned ruts a couple feet deep in a matter of weeks, those fill with water then ....well you know how fast this destroys trails

 

Here where I live most of the trail damage is done by the bigger SxSs.

They don't seem to understand why we have soo many 50" trails and they constantly tear down our gates or cut down trees to get around them.

There's a reason for our 50" trails and we're not going to open them up t bigger machnes for ll kinds of reasons. The two biggest reasons a legal and cost.

The Paiute Trail's intent is to provide a scenic trail system for families to enjoy.

Here in the Fish Lake National Forest there are 2884 miles of roads/trails that can be ridden by all OHVs. Of those 2884 miles 508 of them are restricted to 50" machines. That's less than 18%.

We wont open equestrian trails to motorcycles or ATVs. We won't open single track trails to ATVs and we wont open up 50" trails to the bigger wider machines. We have a very diverse trails system and we are going to keep it that way.

I am constantly telling people that if they wanted to ride the 50" trails they should have bought a 50" machine. Then they tell me they have kids and don't make a 50" machine that seats four, that's not my problem. They should have bought 2 50" machines.

The new 120 hp turbocharged machines are not trail machines, they are desert racers and sand machines and more suited for places like Moab UT. Please use them accordingly.

The new "me" generation seems to thing they don't need to abide by the law for some reason.

We have a new Forest Ranger that patrols the trails and two State Park Rangers. They love issuing tickets and our Committee is in the process of purchasing new trail cameras for the Forest Service Ranger because his tickets hurt more the ticket from the Park Rangers.

The Federal Rangers can also take your machine and you will never see it again.

We are tired of it and are fighting them.

Some of the biggest violators of riding off the trails are the shed hunters and the biggest pigs who leave tons of trash behind are the hunters.

I know not all shed hunters and game hunters are bad but there's always a piece of **** in every crowd.

 

I've been on many trail projects in the past. It's always a few bad apples ruining it for everyone else. Kids riding down streets they aren't allowed on, doing donuts in parking areas, buying loud exhaust systems, and riding off trail are reasons our trails get closed. Most of the trails in New England are on private property where a kind landowner lets us ride. If the disrespect of the land and the owners' of the land keep happening, the trails get closed. Then those causing the problems in the first place whine about there not being anywhere to ride.

 

There are several places on our trails that people have gone off the trail so many times that split rail fences had to be put up to stop them. Some of the fences are quite long to keep people from going around the end of it. I'd rather have the money I pay for trail permits used to properly maintain the trails, instead of being spent on putting fences up. Some trails are impassible, or close to it, from lack of maintenance. All the money is being spent elsewhere.