No signs posted on this trail. Would you explore it?

[The Roadie]

East of the Rockies = Crappy wheeling, low hills mislabeled as mountains, mud pits called trails, shallow sand boxes confused for real deserts, runoff ditches mistaken for world-class canyons, a lack of thousands of square miles of unposted public lands where permission to wheel is the norm. That sort of stuff.



I *do* miss the history though.

[Wahugg]

Unless it's posted it's not trespassing...

And you home is different than a trail with nothing much near it.

And I've never once got permission to drive on FS roads.

All our properties are posted, gated, and locked but still people help themselves. I was just using a house as a comparative example. You could substitute a back yard instead of a house; I bet you wouldn't like it if people just started sun tanning or playing soccer in your back yard with out asking.

As for FS roads, it varies from state to state and even park to park. If you don't need permission then go for it; if a permit or permission is required then you should probably ask permission.

-Wahugg

[fishsticks]

In Oregon, if it has existing tracks and isn't posted prohibited, it's fair game. That's straight out of the mouth of one of the ODF guys.

[NC_IslandRunner]

Unless it's posted it's not trespassing...

And you home is different than a trail with nothing much near it.

And I've never once got permission to drive on FS roads.

All our properties are posted, gated, and locked but still people help themselves. I was just using a house as a comparative example. You could substitute a back yard instead of a house; I bet you wouldn't like it if people just started sun tanning or playing soccer in your back yard with out asking.

As for FS roads, it varies from state to state and even park to park. If you don't need permission then go for it; if a permit or permission is required then you should probably ask permission.

-Wahugg

I get what your trying to say but you can't compare a remote tract of land to someone coming in you house/yard, we are not discussing a residential area. I have a large field in my back yard and a neighbor rides his atv back there all the time, never asked but has never came up close to my house without introducing himself. I have no issue with him riding in the field, the next field over they get pissed when anyone rides there because they are "destroying the field", but it's just a field with nothing growing in it but grass and weeds. Can't see how it's being damaged, If they ever wanted to use the field the first thing they would do is disk/till the shit out of it, doing more to it than his little atv could do in 100 yrs in a matter of hours.

Riding ATV's in a sand pit near my brothers house we went deep into the woods and found a area with a shelter and campers by a small pond in the middle of nowhere, we back tracked and got out of there, no signs or gates to stop use from riding but it was some ones private campground and we wouldn't break that barrier even if it was legal, common sense comes into play. Ended up meeting the owners on the same questionable trails we were riding and got invited to hang out at their campground, great friends now and can stop in anytime even if they aren't there, they have phone numbers on the shelter to call them if any of their friends stop by and find anything out of place.

Sorry, Kind of off track but a good little rant, I've been up for about 25hrs now and starting to crash!

[Wahugg]

I get what your trying to say but you can't compare a remote tract of land to someone coming in you house/yard, we are not discussing a residential area. I have a large field in my back yard and a neighbor rides his atv back there all the time, never asked but has never came up close to my house without introducing himself. I have no issue with him riding in the field, the next field over they get pissed when anyone rides there because they are "destroying the field", but it's just a field with nothing growing in it but grass and weeds. Can't see how it's being damaged, If they ever wanted to use the field the first thing they would do is disk/till the shit out of it, doing more to it than his little atv could do in 100 yrs in a matter of hours.

Remote land and a house/yard are the same thing since they are your own property. It should be up to your discretion as to who is allowed on it or not. Also, people who happen to wander onto your land and get hurt by trails/rocks/equipment are a liability and can claim against you (ask me how I know).

Having said that, I don't want to paint myself as some mean person or as someone such as your neighbor. In the back 30 acres of woods we have tons of atv trails, and all of the neighboring farmers are allowed to use it. But all of them asked us permission first, and when they bring visitors they make sure it's okay too. We literally have about a hundred or so people looking for arrow heads in the fields every year. Only about 70 ask permission first, the other 30 we polity ask to leave and tell them to ask us first before coming back out.

Point being that I believe in sharing the experience of our land to those that take the time to ask, but at the same time I believe that people such as your neighbor have the right to deny someone from atv'ing on it, solely based up the fact that it's their property. It's a shame that they won't let the guy enjoy the land but it is their land and they can decide on what to do with it.

-Wahugg