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Northumberland forest motorized trails and a bear
- Thread starter basmn
- Start date
Well that's unfortunate. Do you know anything about the trails west of the forest (near Turk and Bowmanton)? I've never found any official information about them. East of there is signed northumberland forest, west of there is signed NDATV. In the middle are a few trails and a poverty track that are unmarked.
I wish organizations would just publish maps so you could easily see who controlled what and where you were allowed to go. Most treat their trail maps like a huge secret that you can't know about until you are part of the club. I don't understand. Ticket the vehicles without a permit, who cares about the maps?
My parents have a UTV and live on the edge of Northumberland forest. I don't spent enough time there to justify buying a pass so I search out places I can get to without using trails that require permits. Obviously the size of the UTV limits the size of the trail that I can explore. That unmarked section at Turk and Bowmanton is mostly slow and technical (with the width of the UTV, part of the trail has enough side slope that the machine is close to its balance point). The "track part is a bit narrow for the UTV to safely go balls out without great sight lines. I haven't given it the beans in there as I don't want a dirtbike as a hood ornament.
Turk and bowmanton are unasumed roads...and mostly boarder the forest..but some parts pass through the trail system..if you get caught there they will ticket you..I take bowmanton to the hydro fields and ride that area until the trails open... oftr. Permits are cheap and money from them goes to maintaining the trails...5.5 thousand acres to ride through...lots of trails are un marked and are a blast to ride or ATV through...you just have to put some time in to find them....we usually do about 80k per ride and rarely ride into places that we have already rode through that day
Mad Mike
Well-known member
I spent a lot of time in my youth exploring the bike and 4x4 trails around Cloyne. There are some great hydro and fire roads between the town and around Lake Skootamata.
Lots of bikes and quads in the parking lots around the forest. Trails were clearly marked closed and barricaded. Not sure if people were just ignoring those or stayed on the perimeter.
The utv had a fight with some rocks in a bog and lost.
https://ibb.co/6b4sw0B]
The utv had a fight with some rocks in a bog and lost.
https://ibb.co/6b4sw0B]
Underdog
Well-known member
Opened Wednesday may 22
So my wife and I are out riding the quads today...on our way home on a trail running beside hwy 45...I stop dead in my tracks....why u ask ???? A fuckin 300 lb. Brown bear 50 ft in front of me...wholey **** I say...now what do i do ??? I can't turn around..no room....so now what....lucky for me he wasn't hungry and he scampered back into the forest....very closet to having to change my undies ?
Iceman
Well-known member
I've had the same experience near Algonquin on a trail. Once with a black bear and once with a moose, both times less than 20 feet. I think the moose scared me more. They are huge.So my wife and I are out riding the quads today...on our way home on a trail running beside hwy 45...I stop dead in my tracks....why u ask ???? A fuckin 300 lb. Brown bear 50 ft in front of me...wholey **** I say...now what do i do ??? I can't turn around..no room....so now what....lucky for me he wasn't hungry and he scampered back into the forest....very closet to having to change my undies
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Supernam
Well-known member
So my wife and I are out riding the quads today...on our way home on a trail running beside hwy 45...I stop dead in my tracks....why u ask ???? A fuckin 300 lb. Brown bear 50 ft in front of me...wholey **** I say...now what do i do ??? I can't turn around..no room....so now what....lucky for me he wasn't hungry and he scampered back into the forest....very closet to having to change my undies
I saw 2 of these on the side of the road on Skyline Drive. I never thought about carrying bear spray while riding until recently.
Most likely, they were just ignoring the signage. When I was the VP of an ATV club this was a HUGE, issue. The trails, (for the most part), opened 01 May, every year. Sometimes we would have to delay opening some trails as they were simply too wet. I get it it is fun to ride on trails like that but it causes massive damage. Large parts of the trail system were on a combination of private property and crown land. The MNR, gets ******, and it costs the club bucket loads of money to fix, (some bills were in excess of $50,000), just so a few jackwagons could "enjoy" themselves.
The private landowners, (it is happening more and more), simply say get off MY property and play the never ending game of barricading, and signing their land. But within a few days, some idiot comes along and tears down the barricade and signs or "builds" a go around. We actually caught and charged one guy who brought his own chainsaw the "cut his new trail"
The normal answer was it is an ATV trail it is meant to be rough and hard to ride. Unfortunately, you have lots of novice or people who get out 2 - 3 times a year and have NO ability to ride terrain such as that. Not to mention the trails are a shared resource for Dirt bikers, cyclist, hikers, and horse back riders, snowmobiles, and in some cases Jeeps.
The club, would budget at LEAST $50,000 per year to try to maintain 180 km of trails.
The private landowners, (it is happening more and more), simply say get off MY property and play the never ending game of barricading, and signing their land. But within a few days, some idiot comes along and tears down the barricade and signs or "builds" a go around. We actually caught and charged one guy who brought his own chainsaw the "cut his new trail"
The normal answer was it is an ATV trail it is meant to be rough and hard to ride. Unfortunately, you have lots of novice or people who get out 2 - 3 times a year and have NO ability to ride terrain such as that. Not to mention the trails are a shared resource for Dirt bikers, cyclist, hikers, and horse back riders, snowmobiles, and in some cases Jeeps.
The club, would budget at LEAST $50,000 per year to try to maintain 180 km of trails.
Lots of bikes and quads in the parking lots around the forest. Trails were clearly marked closed and barricaded. Not sure if people were just ignoring those or stayed on the perimeter.
The utv had a fight with some rocks in a bog and lost.
https://ibb.co/6b4sw0B]
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