I live outside of a town in Iowa that has a perfect place for a ATV park... There is one other city owned park here in Iowa and this could be the second... The problem we are having here is that a few of the city council members feel that the only people that have these machines are people who are only out to check their meth lab.. I have yet to find what kind of person really owns these machines and would like to have a informal unscientific survey to present to the council to hopefully open up their eyes to the real financial opportunity that is staring them right in the face...A few questions.... male or female...how many in the family rides... money spent at the towns visited with parks(meals, gas etc etc)...education level..occupations.. and (I know it's nosey) household income....It's important info and thanks for reading...

 

I guess where lucky up here ,we can ride for 500 miles in on direction if you want from the out side of town,no trail fees or private property to care about. Same trails we use for sleds but no trail fees for ATVs,unlike sleds.

 

I would like to weigh in on this thread...Here is my situation...I teach elementary PE and my wife teaches third grade...yearly household income is approx. 90 g...we started riding about five years ago...I bought a new quad two and a half years ago and at that point in time my dad and my brother also bought...since then we have ridden about a thousand miles a summer on average...we tow with a one ton chevy and a 24 foot enclosed trailer so gas mileage is something that I guess is not a huge concern...we have ridden hatfield mccoy twice this summer (amongst about 6-7 more local trips in Ohio)...the last trip's expenses are as follows...truck fuel (approx. 250), fuel for three quads (40 a day for 4 days), one meal out and one meal in (45-50 a day...we were there sat-wednesday), cabin rental (545 for 4 nights), passes (50 each), misc. (another 100 at least.), stop at the visitor center (100). That all works out to about 1500 for a vacation! In an area that depends on coal mining and atv income that is pretty good...

When we stayed the first time we were told that Marshall University did a study on Hatfield McCoy and on average every person spends about 175/trip to the trail system...Newspaper Report-10 year anniversary of Hatfield McCoy-35000 passes sold this year. 26.50 in state and 50 out of state...if this is averaged that is 38.25/pass times 35000=1.34 MILLION BUCKS! Not too shabby!

Just my experience over the past five years...most people don't use these machines to check any drug activity...most people are there to enjoy their time and do something that they are passionate about. Sure you get the dumbasses in any group...but their money spends just the same! Wish you luck and keep us posted.

If you need more paperwork check out trailsheaven.com and then find the economic impact report on there...it is lengthy but if you are serious about it you will take the time to read it!

 

thanks for the input and keep them coming

 

I encourage what you are trying to pull off. In a time when everybody is trying to close down our riding areas, it is great to see someone trying to get one opened up. I have been riding for a couple years now and have found that riding different areas generate different amounts of income. Our local trail system has a town about 10 miles away that we stop on the way in and way out to eat, occasionally stay in a hotel, and fuel up the truck. I would say we spend about $100 a trip per day in the trail region. The particular trail system is relatively small, but when eating breakfast at the McDonald's there, you can expect to see at least 5 other trucks and trailers going to the gas station, stopping at walmart, and eating at McDonalds or the Bob Evans on the other side of the parking lot. When riding a larger system like Hatfield McCoy where you can do everything on the quads, we spend considerably more money for the convenience. We don't carry our gas in because it is easier to buy it there. Same with food, etc. I would say the closer your system is to a town, the revenue it will generate, possibly even double or triple if the system connects to town. I myself am the only person in my family to ride (no kids and wife doesn't like getting muddy). My wife and I are both teachers with masters degrees. We have a household income around 90K and spend a couple thousand of that on every year! I do drink a couple beers now and then, but never when riding, and sure do not use my quad to check meth labs. If people are using quads to do that, they are going to do it whether there is an atv park or not. The city may as well open the park and allow others to enjoy quads. Hell, giving people something to do might help them spend their time doing something other than drugs.