My neighbor (who has a '93 Jeep Grand Cherokee with nearly a full foot of lift) and I ('96 4Runner Ltd) decided to play around in the the snow on Sunday with our rides. We're a couple of novice offroaders and were just seeing how our rigs would handle some deep snow. i wanted to test out my low range and rear diff lock, he wanted to test out his 4 low after modding his linkages. Drove in and out of a few ditches on some of the roads just outside town. Stayed out of farmers land. Crawled up on some frozen dirt piles on the edge of a gravel parking area beside railway access to test articulation of my truck. Drove home and I plowed over the large snow heap on my front yard (like a total jackass, but it's my yard!) Then my neighbor says "wanna go do some more in the Jeep?" Sure. So he drives to edge of town and whips into a contstruction zone (dormant for several weeks; they are waiting for spring before continuing a bunch of landscaping.) There are several frozen dirt heaps which we drive over with his Jeep. We did not damage anything. Still, it is trespassing and we were aware that there was a possibility of police telling us to go home if we were spotted. I know we should not have been there according to land use / tread lightly code. Trails are scarce unless you go for quite a drive from here or know somone with some obstacles on their land. Not trying to offer excuses, but overall, how bad was our behaviour in the grand scheme of things? Also, what about utility / pipeline right of ways, ungated lease roads? These are driven by company workers in quads or trucks. If they are ungated and do not have a no trespassing sign, are they fair game? Looking for places to explore, but wasn't too comfortable going through construction zone and I don't want to be an offroading jerk. Just wanting to know what kind of places you drive through to have fun. Not everyone drives on specific off-road trails all the time; I've seen pictures on YT of power line right of ways. Just want to know some more specifics on what is OK and not. I would like some places to play around which don't involve at least an hour's drive to get to trails. All responses are welcome.

 

Oh boy here come the opinons.

 

In my neck of the woods, if it doesn't have a "no trespassing" sign, and it's not obviously private property, and you stay on the trail, you're ok. But that's out here in the deserts of AZ...

 

Does this mean there are many different views about what is OK or not OK by the YT members?

 

Oh yeah... Some seem to think that anywhere their truck can physically go, they should be allowed to go. Some carry a more "conservative" view...

 

everyone ahs different opinions on what is right and wrong. this is going to turn into a never-ending debate. in my opinion, unless its an off-road park or something designated for it, you *shouldnt* go on it. that doesnt mean i havent gone to places with NO signs but were NOT designated for OHVs, but it wasn't right (in my opinion). just because there are no signs doesnt mean its not private property (laws vary by state). someone couldnt go wheel in my front yard just because i dont have a "private property" sign up...

 

Here's something to ask yourself: If someone who was NOT an avid wheeler were to observe what you were doing and where you were doing it, would your actions potentially harm the reputation of responsible wheelers? I try to ask myself that if I am in an area that I am not sure of.

 

For an example of the first part of your statement you only need to drive around with your eyes open during hunting season. Lots of city folk only come out to the wild during this time of the year and many of them drive where they please. Most are OK, but you sure notice a lot of complete muppets too.

 

Good point. I do this all the time with my other motor activity, which is motorcycling. I ride a sport-touring bike which looks like most squidly sport bikes, and try to be a good representative of the sport biking crowd, which has MANY people against (although not for good reason most of the time.) Does this also depend on the likelyhood of being spotted? If I'm out on the bike on a deserted road, is it wrong to open her up an do a wheelie? If the wrong person saw it, then I'm likely giving a negative impression of sport bike riders. I'm of the opinion (on the bike) that if it isn't causing any adverse effects to property or people and I'm by myself, what the heck, why not?

 

That's exactly why this issue is so polarizing. There are plenty of people who would say, "If you know what your doing, and you're careful, no biggie". Then there are those who would staunchly disapprove.

Like anything else along these lines, you do have to think of the potentials. Even on a "easy to moderate" trail run, you can encounter situations that could be dangerous, even deadly. I'm not sure how offroading is viewed in Canada, but here in the States, it IS polarizing, to an extent. We should be exampling good ethics if we expect trails to stay open. At the same time, if most of us ONLY wheeled at "off road parks", most of us would never wheel. Of course, that's easy for me. Most of Arizona seems to be an off road park...

 

I don't know if it's the same in Canada, but I used to do the same things, not damaging anything, but still, the police said that it's still tresspassing if you don't have permission to be on the private land....I would stay away from constrution sites....

 

I refuse to read paragraphs that dense. Break it up.

Being on land that is neither public nor yours without permission is trespassing, period.

Destroying land that is not yours or that you do not have permission to use is wrong, period.

Consuming private land that is yours or that you have permission to use is oftern irresponsible and insensitive.

Have a good time, eh?

 

Hey (comma) you know they have a button on the computer keyboard for adding those dots at the end of sentences (period.) You don't have to type it out all the time. Sorry, just couldn't help myself!

 

Use your best judgement, respect other peoples land, and if you get busted deal with the punnishment.

Thats how i roll.

 

For the literate among us, period can be a noun for a bit of punctuation that marks the end of the sentence. It can also be a noun used to define a sitauation in which there is no alternative.

 

All I have to say is that the Greenies read these boards too. Be careful what you say.

 

Hahaha,

It is also a noun for a certain time of....ah never mind...

I am one of those staunch "conservative" types, though i'm not really sure what that means. If it means that i will call you names and scream and yell, and turn you into the authorities for not treading lightly, then you bet i am. I'm not going to get on the soap box yet though. However, keep in mind that not treading lightly, if found out about by the moderators on this forum, is a bannable offense. And rightly so.

 

I too am of the conservative type. I am also know first hand the affects of seemingly innocent actions of offenders who are just out trying to have a "good time." Evacuation due to fires started, fences run over, and some of my favorite trails closed because someone decided to drive their vehicle off of the trail and up the side of a mountain and through the sagebrush (we have a lot of sagebrush here, thus the fires). You have to be mindful of what examples you are setting for those who are around you. Some people will use any excuse to make an example out of us. Get involved with a 4X4 group, hang out down at the local 4x4 shop, stop and talk to people with rigs they take off road (you can tell the ones that don't), just be proactive. Again this is a tough thing to define, and an even tougher thing to abide by, but try to set a good example!!!

 

I'm trying to do better and learn from these mistakes. I have been asking around some people I know who are nature enthusiasts (who also dirt bike) where they like to go, where they are allowed to go.

I've located a few county maps showing crown land locations. There are a few that are not too far away near the Red Deer River. I plan on doing some more research on the Nordegg area. I have a burning desire to explore the area and learn the history of this once booming town west of Rocky Mountain House, Alberta.

And I know about periods. Period. Just trying to keep things light and be a bit of a smartass... No nitpicking intended in any sort of negative fashion.

 

There is nothing wrong with exploring! Heck I do it all of the time, that is why I have my Runner. I did not mean to come across as 'stern.' Just had too many negative experiences with folks screwing it up for me. I think you are heading in the right direction though. You are thinking about what you are doing, and I see a lot of people doing the opposite. Many of us take it for granted that we have trails close by.
As for access on power line right-of-ways, talk to your local police. The power company owns the rights to use the land, not the land. These cuts criss-cross public and private lands. Also, it never hurts to ask! Ask land owners for permission to travel on their land. It is amazing what happens when you build a relationship with land owners, and if you hunt, it is not bad for that either.