Just got back from my first winter ride on the snowmobile trail. Burrr I'm cold.

Anyway, the question I have for you guys is, in your experience, why do snowmobilers dislike ATVer's? The reason I ask, is while I was riding, I ran into a group of snowmobilers who gave me a bunch of rude, mean, gestures. And before you ask, yes, the trail that I was on was ATV allowed, and Yes, I was behaving myself, only doing about 20mph (not much slower that I go on a snowmobile.)

I have to say that the experience didn't leave me feeling welcome on the trail and I am likely to not ride the trail as much because of it

 

That will do it right there.

I just sold my snowmobile recently, and absolutely hated rolling up at 70 mph on a group of atv's doing 20 mph. Not saying it's right to feel that way, but that's the way it is...

Even tho I've owned both sleds and atv's at the same time, I for one don't like sharing trails with atv's when on a snowmobile. To me atv's and sleds go together like oil and water.

Feel free to flame me on this, I don't care...

 

that's why there are both atv and snowmobile trail restrictions here. when anyone thinks they have more right on a trail than someone else, next thing you know, there are trail restrictions at the trailhead. the treehuggers think Birkenstocks are the only thing that should touch a trail. the cowboys just want horses on the trails. the mountain bikers are like that too. almost every trail closure here is at least partly "to reduce conflicts between users" and every time, the motorized users loose. sometimes both snowmobilers and atv.
why is an atv a problem, when it is just as likely to see a cross country skier (maybe even a dog sled)? i'm not flaming, just wondering what your train of thought is. is there not enough room for both? if the atv were not allowed, could you fly around blind corners at 70mph?

what is it?

monty

 

As an owner of both, I hate to see ATV's out when I am on the sled. Mainly because they cause ruts in the snowmobile trails.

 

Its kind of a fact of life. Some of the snowmobilers feel its their tax money and labor which made the trail, and thats a valid point.
Ive been on both sides on this, and i usually wait until the trail is rutted and down to dirt patches before using a quad on it, this reduces the chances of meeting snowmobiles, ....or go early in the season, before theres groomable snow.
Theres also the issue of going 20 mph and sleds going 70...youre probably both gonna get hurt if theres a crash, and the rutting is a problem too.
I think the biggest issue is sleds (especially the last 7 years), rarely have good enough snow to be used, and when they finally get the snow cover to ride, they dont want to share the trail with a vehicle that can be out there on any day of the year. Try to pick days which are bad for sleds, and youll have a more enjoyable day.

 

I agree. We moutain riders dont really ride trails but to get from the parkinglot to the mtn. And when the atvs try and go up the trails they creat ruts. When your going 50mph and your ski hits a rut it doesnt work out so swell.

 

I guess I can see the valid arguments here. Last year when I did have a snowmobile I didn't care one way or the other who I was meeting, be it ATV or snowmobile, but then again I don't go flying at 70mph. I take my time and enjoy the scenery, which IMHO is really hard to do at 70mph, and is what the riding is all about.

As far as riding oportunities go, other than one ATV park with only 18 miles of trails, about 10 miles away, there is no place for me to ride now that I only have the ATV, which I might add is all I can afford, and I can't ride the snowmobile trails when the temperature is above 28 degrees, which is to help avoid the rutting.

As far as riding before there is goomable snow, that isn't an option either because the trails are closed to everyone then.

Personally I feel that the numbers are a little lopsided, 18 miles for the ATV's vs. 2,200 for the snowmobiles.

Any suggestions as to how to fix this, I've spoke with some local clubs and did join one, they say that they are doing the best they can, but are meeting some stiff resistance from the county.

 

This is very similar to "Why motorcyclists hate 4 wheelers". It is sometimes because quad riders often do not respect and preserve the trails. Just because you can ride an ATV into some area does not mean that this is a good idea if you are leaving ruts and tire tracks and leaving damage behind. Not saying that motorcycles don't cause damage but the good single track motorcycle trail can be ruined be 4 wheelers just like the smooth snowmobile track can be ruined by 4 wheelers. So just have a little respect for other users of the country side and ride where appropriate.

 

Exacto, Turtle. If all of us don't start working together on this, there's not going to be anywhere for us to ride one day.There used to be tons of good riding here where I grew up, but it's not that way anymore. Partly because of growth and new development, but also because of bickering between public use groups. Some of the worst to deal with here have been the equestrian groups. I understand about the noise maybe spooking the horses from motorized vehicles, but they have went so far as to get both bicycling and even hiking eliminated from some trails here. My daughter runs on the high school cross country team and they have been told they cannot use some of the public trails which "ALL" of us pay taxes to maintain.I love animals and have some good friends who own and ride horses.(not in the aforementioned group) It really gripes me that there are signs up telling the horse riders that use the trails that they must clean up the parking areas and trails if thier animal craps on them. At most any given time you could go pickup a truckload of horse crap from these areas. I've yet to see where hikers,runners, bikers or motorsport enthuseist all combined have ever left anywhere near these types of messes on the trails. Most of the mountain bikers, hikers, motorcycle and ATV riders I hang with always make sure we leave no trash behind, and pick up after others that do. We've all got to get responsible and play by the rules we have now or soon we won't be playing at all!!!

 

I find it hard to believe that its worse in wi than in mn. There are much more miles of trails over there.
I believe the statewide atv organization is the WATVA, they have a website, and have ideas about making things better and they could use another member.