ATV Trails & Quad Tracks
Appreciate life and nature – stop using illegal ATV trails
August 16th, 2007
By Tony Mikael (resident ATV blogger)
As an ATV enthusiast who's crazy about hitting as many ATV trails as I possibly afford to, I have seen many friends who are desperate enough for something fun to do to carve out their own ATV trails in some state National Parks. I won't name who and I won't say which…but the point is this, yes, we want to ride and yes, the authorities are way too hard on us. It's not our fault that some folks decide to defy the law of gravity and test out Murphy's Law by not wearing proper safety gear when riding ATVs and then getting themselves into a crash! We're pretty responsible ATV riders, I believe.
But there's something that we, ATV4kids.com, would like to highlight to everyone who has been using ATV trails that are illegal. Stop. At the risk of sounding prudish, we think that there are many valid reasons why we should stop and discourage usage of illegal ATV trails.
Charting out our own ATV trails
This is something very commonly done. You can see tire tracks all over the place outside of the official ATV trails in some (most) national parks in the country mingled with footprints. You don't need to be a forensic scientist to figure out that these are evidences left behind by renegade ATV riders who breached regulations of riding in the ATV park. What's even more alarming is the fact that there are footprints, which means to say that hikers are following in the ‘footsteps' of these renegade ATV riders! Imagine what kind of danger these people are putting themselves in without knowing the extent of potential danger there is.
ATV riding illegally can cause irreparable damage to the environment
We've heard those voices and arguments raised against ATV riding because they opine that ATV riding in the natural environment will put the flora, fauna and wild life in danger. We agree even though we are hard core ATV riders who would stop at nothing to find new ATV parks and trails to ride in. But that's where we'll stop the engine. Listen, Mother Nature has been kind to us and have given us lots of room to roam. We have beautiful ATV parks, trails and tracks to ride our ATVs on. Although ‘adventure' and ‘unchartered territory' is high on our priority list too, let's keep our riding to a place where we won't cause harm to other living things. The noise and pollution level arising from us riding our ATVs will scare the living daylights out of wild life and they will soon try to find another place to stay. And when they can't, they die. For plants, they're even worse off…they can't even TRY to find another place to stay.
Putting ourselves in danger when we disregard warnings
Even as I am writing this, I am beginning to see myself as my grandfather….but irregardless; someone's got to say it. When we take our ATV riding to a place where there's a sign with a picture of an ATV and a rider with a circle and a large cross…that means, no ATVs or off-road vehicles allowed beyond the boundary. Most of the time, the sign is there because of nature conservation activities but sometimes, it's because the terrain is deemed too dangerous for folks like us to ride on an ATV or any other off-road vehicle in! Appreciate everything living. Appreciate life. We appreciate our passion and love for ATV riding.
Therefore, we ride responsibly. OK, I'm done being prudish but sincerely hope that the message got across correctly.
Ride on, folks!