ATV Adventures: Marysvale offering more opportunities to ride OHVs this year
-
- Riding trails on the Paiute ATV Trail System.
-
- Riding the backcountry on the trails of the Paiute ATV Trail System.
-
- These are the kinds of trails you will ride at the Paiute Trail Jamboree.
-
- The beautiful trails you will find at the Paiute Trail Jamboree.
-
- Lynn Blamires
Marysvale is situated at the heart of the Paiute ATV Trail System, which is a good reason to visit if you ride an OHV. Their signature event is the Paiute Trail Jamboree scheduled this year for Aug. 9-12, but there are more reasons now to ride trails out of Marysvale.
Mama Bear and Papa Bear Runs
If this ATV Adventure writer wasn’t asleep at the switch, you would have heard about the Mama Bear Run held on Mother’s Day weekend in plenty of time. However, there is still time to plan for the Papa Bear Run on Father’s Day weekend, June 17.
These two rides are planned as poker runs — the Mama Bear Run starts in Circleville and the Papa Bear Run starts in Marysvale. They both run the same route, but they start at different staging areas. There will be catered meals for breakfast and dinner available for purchase when you register.
Poker hands can be purchased for $5 per hand or five hands for $20. You don’t need a poker face to play this version, but participants will be playing for some great prizes. The fun of a poker run is the beautiful country you ride through to draw your hands.
The Paiute Trail Jamboree
Now back to their signature event. There are no registration fees for the Paiute Trails Jamboree. Registration does not include choosing the rides you want to take. There will be a large ride signup board posted at 7 a.m. on Wednesday in the park. Rides are chosen on a first come, first served basis.
While there are no fees for the jamboree, you will need to buy meal tickets as a part of registration, which is open and online at https://paiutejam.com. The schedule of events has an active “Registration” button. Click on that and you will see the menus for the meals and this year’s event schedule. Registration can also be accomplished at https://www.facebook.com/UTVJAM.
After you arrive and pick your rides, there will be a self-guided poker run between 10 a.m. and 3 p.m. Hands can be purchased at the park. Events before the opening ceremonies at 6 p.m. include bingo and drag racing. Dinner is at 6:30 p.m.
Thursday begins with breakfast at 7 a.m. Rides start at staggered times with dinner in the evening at 6 p.m.
Right in the middle of this jamboree, which is Friday, there are no rides scheduled. They hold something called “Events on the Park.” If you haven’t witnessed this for yourselves, you are left to imagine what it is like. Even watching is something totally different than experiencing the event itself.
The first event is the “Blind Man’s Obstacle Course.” The driver is blindfolded and the passenger verbally guides the person through an obstacle course. This can be frustrating to the participants, but fun to watch.
This is followed by “UTV Soccer.” UTV drivers push a 6-foot-tall ball around a field on a timed event to get the ball through the goal posts. There is only one machine at a time to avoid catastrophic collisions. It looks easy until it is your turn.
The “King of the Trail” event is a timed event to test driving skills on an obstacle course. This is followed by a kid’s mud run and a belly flop contest into the yuckiest mud pit you can imagine. People actually stand in line to do this.
The “Events on the Park” make this a one-of-a-kind jamboree. Saturday is a day of riding with closing ceremonies and the awarding of door prizes at the 6 p.m. dinner.
The Halloween Howl
Rounding out the riding season in Piute County will be the “Halloween Howl” on Oct. 28. This ride will also be a poker run with prizes awarded at the end of the ride.
True to the season, the route will take riders through a haunted section of the Fish Lake National Forest. Awards will be given for the spookiest machines and for the best Halloween costumes. Participants are asked to bring Halloween treats to share in a trunk-or-treat event that will be a part of the Howl.
These events emphasize the social part of riding in Utah’s great backcountry and tap into our basic desire to belong. When you go, take plenty of water, keep the rubber side down and plan on howling with the best of them.
Contact Lynn R. Blamires at quadmanone@gmail.com.