When you’re ripping down the trail, the last thing you think of is the dirt under your tires. It’s just there to get rolled on right?
Maybe not. In the USA, there are over 900 million acres of public land, but that doesn’t mean it’s someone else’s problem if it gets rutted up, eroded, and overused.
You don’t have to get mushy or philosophical to agree with us though. If the land gets abused, access will be restricted for the primary suspects, like UTVs.
Here’s what you can do to make land stewardship a priority and keep the trails open for you.
The easiest thing you can do to take care of the trails and the land that you use is to stay on marked trails.
Why? Your big honkin’ off-road tires are designed to grab dirt and move you forward no matter what. When you go off the trail, you wreck everything your tires touch.
Basically, you cause erosion, and that’s real bad for the land. When you kill plants and turn over soil, there will be less stuff to hold the dirt together. That can lead to washouts, disrupt the ecosystem, and destroy the trail you were supposed to be riding on. Stay on the trail to protect the land. That’s pretty much the definition of land stewardship.
We’re guessing this is the one most of you think of at the mention of land or trail stewardship. It might seem like a thing you tell school kids to do, but it’s important for everybody to keep in mind when you make use of shared trails.
What it boils down to is:
This isn’t as simple as it sounds though. A lot of trash that makes it to the trail gets there because it wasn’t secured properly.
So take one of our mesh UTV trash bags with you the next time you go for a ride. It’s reusable, and it’ll keep all the trash you pick up from blowing away when you’re not looking.
If there’s a huge rainstorm and the trail is soupy, don’t ride on it. This will tear up the trails and cause major problems for the folks charged with maintaining them.
This one can be incredibly difficult to follow, especially when you’ve prepped your UTV, loaded the trailer, packed your bags, and got your campsite reserved. But riding on saturated trails can irreparably damage them—the next time you visit, there might not be a trail there at all.
This one’s easy. Just follow the rules. Everyone will be happier if you:
When you treat your fellow UTV, dirt bike, ATV, and horse riders with respect, everybody will be on the same team when it comes to land access.
The last thing you want is for “those side-by-side people” to get a bad reputation—you’ll end up with more rules just for you that way.
When you’re way out on a multi-day ride, you always need to know whose property you’re on or need to pass through. Crossing property lines happens all the time, and there can be big consequences if you make a mistake.
Some property requires a permit. Don’t have the right one? You can get a fine and get kicked out. Are you one of many offroaders that cut through a piece of non-public land? You might turn landowners against the entire hobby if you don’t get permission first.
Don’t make this mistake. It can be very costly.
But how can you make sure of exactly whose property you’re on when you’re out in the middle of a huge swathe of public land?
That’s where onX comes in.
Planning your ride is a challenge. You need to make sure every trail, connector trail, and campsite you want to use is accessible to you. Or you need to make sure you have the proper permission to use them anyway.
How the heck are you supposed to know exactly where public land ends and private land begins? And even if you figure that out, how are you supposed to know who owns the land?
That’s exactly what onX is for. It’s a mapping app that’s built for off-roaders who need to navigate land respectfully. It shows you trails, property lines, and exactly who owns what.
When you plan your ride with onX, you’re never more than a tap away from property owner details, so you can easily get the permits and permission you need.
Land and trail stewardship doesn’t just benefit the dirt, plants, trees, and animals on public land. In a very real and tangible way, it benefits you too.
When you’re out on public land or borrowing someone’s private land, make sure you leave it better than you found it. If you do, you’ll be able to keep riding with every other outdoor enthusiast. If you tear it up, leave trash, and don’t follow the rules, you can expect to be booted out of there faster than an angry property owner can call the cops… or maybe exactly that fast.
So get onX, get geared up, and get riding—just make sure you make lots of friends along the way.
