By Michael Marino

While on-highway motorcycle riders can pull out an atlas or use an online mapping website to find new places to ride, off-highway vehicle riders don’t always have it so easy.

It can take hours of navigating many websites to find new places to ride. Then more research is needed to determine whether there are motorcycle restrictions (such as horsepower) or requirements (such as a spark arrestor) and what local, state or national permits are required.

Here are three OHV riding areas many riders may not know, but according to fellow AMA members, are worth a visit.

Porterfield Lake Motorcycle

 

Only Trail, Michigan

The Porterfield Lake Motorcycle Only Trail is one of 37 Michigan Department of Natural Resources-designated ORV riding areas in the state’s Upper Peninsula. The trail is in Humboldt Township in Marquette County. It can be accessed from State Route 95.

The 30-mile trail system is described by AMA member Dan Harvala as “scenic, diverse and awesome.”

“It goes from hard pack to sand to rocky to hilly,” he said. “It’s a hidden gem.”

Harvala travels to the Porterfield trails because motorized trails in his home state of Wisconsin are not open to dirt bike users.

He says Porterfield’s single-track trails are great for a wide range of motorcycles, including large-displacement adventure bikes.

The trail has been maintained by the Cycle Conservation Club of Michigan since the 1990s, said Lewis Shuler, the club’s executive director.

He learned of the trail in 1997 and, to help keep it open, has helped build decks over wetlands the trail crosses.

He describes the trail as a “destination trail.”

“It is a mix of tight technical single track and open two tracks, with some elevation change,” he said. “Gas, food and lodging are available nearby at Witch Lake.”

Shuler thinks the trail’s location in the state’s sparely-populated Upper Peninsula may be why it does not receive heavy use from off-highway vehicle riders.

“It is so far from our population base, and we have so many riding opportunities in Michigan,” he said.

On Jan. 1, 2018, Michigan opened 6,308 miles of state forest roads to licensed OHV use.

“There are nearly 4,000 miles of trails and routes and over 60,000 miles of county roads and state forest roads open to unlicensed ORV use, all mapped and available to the public,” Shuler said.

Fort Sage OHV Area, California

Another lesser-known riding area, according to locals, is California’s Fort Sage Off-Highway Vehicle Area. It is in a remote area about 45 miles south of Susanville, Calif., near Nevada.

The 28,598-acre area contains about 100 miles of trails for off-road motorcycles, ATVs, UTVs, four-wheel drive vehicles and equestrians. The site is managed by the U.S. Bureau of Land Management.

“Riding Fort Sage is like riding an outdoor motocross track, but bigger,” said Marisa Williams, an outdoor recreation planner for the BLM. “One loop around Fort Sage can be as long as 25 to 30 miles. Sometimes, you are on technical single track. Sometimes  on fast dirt roads. Sometimes you are skipping across the desert with speed like you are in a hare and hound event.”

She said the area is fun for people of all ages and riding abilities.

It also features signs to indicate how difficult each trail is, as well as which types of vehicles should use each trail, based on vehicle width.

The area also features the “Widowmaker Downhill,” a section that is 1,200 feet long with an 800-foot drop in elevation.

Williams said public OHV riding at Fort Sage dates to 1970. Its current routes were established in 2007.

The BLM recently added 1,100 acres to Fort Sage, increasing its acreage to 29,603. The additional acreage was acquired using California State Parks OHV grant funding.

The first motorcycle organization to hold an event in the area was the Lassen Motorcycle Club, which staged a hare scramble in the area in 1970.

Scott Maas is an AMA Charter Life Member who has been involved with the Lassen Motorcycle Club since 1975.

In addition to its hare scramble event, the club also puts on several family rides each year within the Fort Sage OHV Area.

Mass said the multi-use area is used primarily by dirt bike riders and that the soil type in Fort Sage makes it a unique riding experience. The soil is granite based, which provides good traction and is smooth to ride over.

The area features excellent staging areas, as well as scenic views, he said.

“Funding from the California OHV fund has significantly helped with acquisition, and facility and trail improvements,” Maas said.

Williams also says the BLM is hoping to build a trail connecting Fort Sage to the Dry Valley OHV Area in Nevada.

Hopkinton-Everett Trails Area, New Hampshire

According to AMA member Bobby Fitzhenry, while the Hopkinton-Everett Trails Area is one of 13 OHV riding areas New Hampshire has approved for dirt bike use, the lack of sufficient riding areas in nearby states has resulted in heavy use of the trails.

Still, it is Fitzhenry’s favorite area to ride in the state.

He is a member of the Merrimack Valley Trailriders, which works with the New Hampshire Bureau of Trails to maintain the routes.

The Hopkinton-Everett Trails Area is in Contoocook, N.H., and is situated within a 10,000-acre U.S. Army Corps of Engineers flood control project.

It has 26 miles of trails for ATVs and dirt bikes. It is closed in the spring, from the beginning of “mud season,” or the start of the spring thaw, until May 23. About 16 miles of trails are single track.

Fitzhenry describes the trails as tight and rocky.

“It’s pretty much what all the folks in my club want,” he said. “It just doesn’t get old. If I never get past third gear, it’s been a great day.

“I haven’t ridden outside of New England, but people say, ‘If you can ride here, you can ride anywhere.’”

Fitzhenry said that, despite the shortage of OHV riding areas, the size of the weekend crowds at Hopkins-Everett is a testimony to the quality of the riding.

“Hopkinton-Everett pulls hundreds of people on busy weekends,” he said. “Most are from Massachusetts and New Hampshire, and a few even make it from Rhode Island.”

The greater Hopkinton-Everett Lakes multi-use area also features opportunities for hunting, fishing, hiking and swimming.

More Trails

For recreational off-road riders, the AMA Trails Atlas online is a great way to find new OHV areas to ride.

Its contents are generated by AMA members, and it features listings of OHV riding areas in all 50 states.

Each listing contains location, ownership and contact information, as well as area-specific regulations. The searchable database can be found at
www.americanmotorcyclist.com. Go to “For Members” then “AMA Trails Atlas.”