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ATV Adventures: Riding responsibly more important than ever

By Lynn Blamires - | Jan 20, 2022

Lynn Blamires

In this undated photo, Reed Embley rides a street-legal ATV in Layton.

The idea that we can’t do anything without having an impact on something or someone has become an important topic to discuss. Between 2010 and 2020 Utah added a half million people to its population base, which emphasizes that point. Expressed as a percentage, Utah grew by 18.4%, making it the fastest-growing state in the union. Utah now has 3,271,616 million residents.

Now squeeze those people into an area that represents 24.8% of the state, because the other 75.2% is public land. Should anyone wonder why the cost of housing is out of control?

By the end of 2020, there were 217,874 registered off-highway ATVs, UTVs and motorcycles in the state. It is easier to spread out and not step on toes when such a large percentage of the state is backcountry.

Here is a review of the rules that make it possible to lessen your impact on people, places and wildlife in the backcountry:

Stay on designated trails. With 80,000 miles of ATV trail mapped in Utah, there is no need to go making new ones. When I am unfamiliar with a trail, I like to go with someone who has ridden it or download a GPS track that I can follow. If you don’t like to stay on the trail, play in the sand.

Never ride alone. I have come across lone riders before and I don’t understand their thinking. I have taken some pretty long rides into no man’s land and I have had breakdowns in the middle of nowhere. I was grateful for friends to help me out of difficult situations.

Don’t block the trail when you stop for a break. Find an appropriate place in the trail to pull off to the side so that other riders have room to pass. Coming over a hill or around a blind corner to find the trail blocked by a group of riders has scared me more than once.

Let oncoming riders know how many riders are behind you. Know your position in the line of riders you are with and indicate to oncoming riders how many machines are behind you. The last rider should hold up a closed fist meaning he is the last rider in the group.

Dealing with cattle or wildlife on the trail. You don’t need to ride right into a cattle drive. Turn off your machine and remove your helmet if you are wearing one, so horses and cattle know you are human. Ask the horse rider how he would like you to proceed. He will appreciate your courtesy. Cattle on the trail will act differently than wildlife. In either case, slow down and assess the situation. Once you do, you will see how to best proceed. Don’t purposely annoy or chase them.

Other trail users. Hikers, bikers and horse riders have as much right to the trail as you do. When passing, slow down to a crawl to avoid creating any dust as you pass them. We have the responsibility to be ambassadors for our sport.

Now, of those 217,874 machines, 34,277 are registered as street-legal. Bringing them out of the backcountry and into the community was bound to have an impact, and it has. It is still unusual to see a UTV on city streets. We have a need to bring some of those rules we keep in the backcountry onto the street.

They are not the nosiest vehicles on the street, but they are noisy. With the ways that people like to light them up, they are bright and flashy. The number of registered vehicles is proof enough that they are fun, but that fun can cross a line. You can’t ride city streets like you can in the sand dunes and not be noticed.

There are those who don’t like ATVs and will never like them. There is an element that has moved into Moab that not only doesn’t like them, they want to ban them. Not only do they want to ban them from city streets, but also from some the trails that surround the city.

We have the responsibility to earn their respect. We can do that by holding down the noise, turning off the extra lights, and respecting quiet hours. Don’t assume that all the attention we attract is positive attention.

When you go, take plenty of water, keep the rubber side down, and respect the rights of others. Otherwise we will have, “fun, fun, fun ’till her daddy takes the T-Bird away.”

Contact Lynn R. Blamires at quadmanone@gmail.com.

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