I am willing to travel some this summer after the family is done with school. Hope to find a local place.
Please post here if ya find somewhere to go and if any of you want to ride together let me know! I know a while back I was invited to winchester, Va (can't remember where?) but it was $20.00 to ride all day. I think it was at a camp ground? Stay in touch and I am going to check out Geico real soon!! Thanks!!

 

I don't think $20 is all that expensive... it sure is a lot cheaper than paying for a ticket... The days of just firing it up and riding where ever are over unfortunately. The local authorities have heard enough complaints from land owners and developers that they have no choice but to take action. I hate to say it, but I think there appears to be an undeclared war going on right now with many types of recreation like skateboards, mountain bikes, ATV's, Dirt bikes you name it. And the locals are going ape-s#!^ right now... unfortunaely, if they would listen to the riders, and provide alternatives, none of this would be necessary.

I can't really blame the land owners because generally, all you see is the damage being done to the environment, and people are getting hurt, which in today's era of sueing everyone, the risks are way to high. And that is generally why you have to pay higher fees these days to ride. the insurance costs are way out of sight.

Just out of curiosity, have you priced a days rental of the motocross track at Budds creek lately? (Not the same as the ATV park mentioned in an earlier post) It is several hundred dollars and limited to 10 riders I believe. It works out to over $50 a person for a day... so $35 is not such a bad deal at the ATV park. You can purchase a family riding pass for a grand that is good for a year... but you would have to make several trips to make it worth it's price. In my case, I'd have to take the family and go 13 times to make it pay off. I think I'd be bored if I hit the same park that many times in one season. Still they have a business to run, and I appreciate the fact that they have set it up as an ATV park, and not just another camping park with walking trails for the bird watchers and flower/tree junkies...

 

The place you may have heard of in Winchester may be "The Cove Campground" which is actually near Gore, VA (about 12 miles west of Winchester). They had an arrangement with the Northern VA Trail Riders club (NVTR) who designed and laid out a trail system for off road riding. Several hare scramble events have been held there since the opening of the trails. Last I knew they charge $20 per day to ride (does not include fees for any other activities they charge for there). I did check their web site before posting this (if you do a Yahoo search on "The Cove Campground" you will find it) and no mention is made of riding (but then there never was any mention of it to my knowledge). However details are provided on the NVTR web site. I do not know if riding is restricted to NVTR members & their guests or not, but you can call and find out. The Cove has always had a "call before you come to ride" policy since they have special events at various times during the year where riding is not permitted. Last I knew (it's been a year or so since I've been there) they had about 20 miles of trails on the 3000+ acre property. Riding is restricted to the trails made specifically for that purpose (and not the camp roads or camping areas). The club I belong to was also initially involved in the production of the trails and I logged many hours producing maps of the trails using a GPS and mapping software...

 

As mention before the NVTR has a link to information on the COVE. The URL is http://www.nvtr.org/cove/index.html. I was there last weekend. The riding is pretty good. It is less rocky than Taskers Gap and has a little more mud and stream crossings etc. You should call ahead before you go to verify it is open. The cost is $20/day and you do not have to be a member of NVTR to ride. I think they have around 35miles of trails now.

Andrew

 

Thanks for the information!!! I will check it out if I don't sell my Atv first! Have a great day!!

 

if your willing to drive a few hours here in south west va an east ky 1000's of miles of rideing in a 60 square mile area.....from windrock in tn to r/ blue --to tac- creek to stone mtn to black mtns......there not a place in va to compare to it......not mtn city wagon wheel or gore...its free here in va an ky...i guide windrock atv club here once a year for a club ride...it be work your$$$$ to try it one time

 

I travelled down Rte 17 towards GEICO and attempted to find the trails that were mentioned to me but had no luck. If anyone knows of trails in the area please post. Thank you.

 

I went down by Geico Friday and could not find a place to ride as well. Not sure where it is but I hope someone will respond..!! If you know or find out, please post here! Thanks!!!

 

I would have thought that a state as big as Virginia would have so many places to ride but from reading the replies I can see that isn't the case.I live close to Cape Cod and we have also have our problems with finding areas to ride.The only legal areas to go riding are at least a 3 hour drive for me but at least it's still in my state and my ATV is registered and it's free.The ATV club I belong to does maintenance work on the trails in state parks which helps keep trails open.There are a total of over 100 miles of trails in these state parks,and the parks are within a half hour drive of each other.

 

There is a place not too far from you in Freetown, MA off of Route 24. Do search for Freetown State Forest and you will find that there are some trails to ride. It should only be about a 30 minute ride at most for you.