I've been hearing rumors that it's legal to ride on county roads in parts of the eastern UP. Can anyone who lives there or rides there regularly shed some light on this? I'm kind of planning a trip to the Luce County area next month and would like some info. Is this for the entire UP or certain counties?

Thanx.

 

Most of the Counties in the UP you can ride on the far right hand side of the road. And all the forest roads are open. In MarQuette County, Where I live you can ride just about anywhere. Plenty of places up here to ride. The Newberry area has some pretty good riding from what I have heard. Hope this help..

 

you guys are lucky up there. Here in Florida its
hard to find places to ride.
Now on the other hand we have more places to
ride jetskis.

 

Just make sure you purchase a Michigan ORV sticker in case you come across some ORV trails. I don't know how they are in Southern U.P. however in Northern Lower they are very strict. The sticker is like $16 however the ticket is like $50-60.
Oh... and Floridian, we have plenty of water to ride Jet Ski's as well.

 

It is also legal to ride on the side of the road in Dickinson County.

DO NOT ATTEMPT THIS IN WISCONSIN $150n fine for riding on the side of a state highway.

 

It is safe to say that many of the roads are open in the UP, but not all of them. The rule is that it is similar to sledding as far as what roads are open. However, not all counties have opened the roads.

Marquette County, for instance, has shot down a proposal to open the roads to ATV use on the advice of the sheriff. Some townships have passed local resolutions to legalize it. Forsyth township was one of the first to test the waters in MI agaist the Road Commission. They won and the roads in Forsyth are open.

We are talking about paved and dirt roads as long as they are not state of federal highways. This pretty much eliminates US 2, I 75, M 28 and a few others.

Chippewa County has not passed a resolution legalizing ATVs, but several of the townships have including Hulbert, Chippewa TWP and Trout Lake TWP. We have had lots of bikes up to our hotel this summer to ride including a poker run that we ran in July. We will have another one next spring.

If you have any questions, I would be happy to find out. I have spent several hours on the phone with Law Enforcement Div. of DNR.

Happy Riding

Rich
Tahquamenon Hotel
Hulbert, MI

 

Well, I see there are some folks from the UP that do ride in the UP. Here in Delta County just south of Marquette County and east of Menominee you can not ride on any roads gravel or shoulders of secondary paved roads. In Dickerson and Menominee Counties you can ride on gravel roads but not on the shoulders of any paved roads. As Rich says contact the counties you are going to ride or contact the DNR web site and call them up. You have to a an ORV sticker to ride any where unless you ride on your own property only. You can purchase one anywhere that sells a fishing or hunting license like the Holiday gas stations for one.

Mac The Red Rhino

ps: Mark, Jack from Norway is planning a ride on August 19th, Why not come on down and join us???!!!!!!

 

In talking to the DNR in Newberry, they will not enforce the ordinances and resolutions of the counties and townships.

For instance, if the county ordinance says they have a 25 MPH speed limit on the extreme right of way of county paved roads, the DNR will not pull you over if you are going 40. However, if you are in violation of state law, no helmet etc., they will pull you over for that.

I have pushing the idea around of starting a new club or assoc. of ATV riders and sledders to open new trails and maintain them with a pool of money instead of 2 seperate issues. It would help in markings, legislative crap and trail development.

Another note about riding. Remember that there are restrictions during hunting season about ATV riding and the DNR will enforce that to the T. They don't want to battle 900,000 hunters on opening day because somebody rode their ATV across their pile of carrots.

The good news is, is that the Tribal Police at Bay Mills (Brimley), will let you ride wherever you want, as long as you're going to gamble.

Happy riding.

Rich
Tahquamenon Hotel
Hulbert, MI

 

You may have more time to ride jetski's, but I think the places to ride them would be pretty close. There are lakes rivers and streams all over up here, not to mention the Great lakes all around.

 

That sounds like a plan Mac, I can probably do that. I will see if I can get a couple of others to come with and we will do that. Keep me posted.