I avoid responding to these threads for reasons others have pointed out and because it is hard to NOT sound like a jerk, but I digress. I post here only because I am sad to see the access become even more limited, and of course offer some advice without giving up more info than needed. I think one of the unwritten rules is it is okay to be a little selfish when it comes to disclosing riding areas or free information as to how that knowledge is obtained. Anyway.
A- You have to know the exact area where you want to ride.
B- Make sure you know the local ordinances and the land owners of the exact area you are going to ride in. (some areas are more snowmobile friendly, state and federal land rules may not even apply)
C- Know the boundaries of the land you are going to ride on, and more importantly stay within those lines. (power lines are tempting but definitely not all legal, you will piss people off in a quick hurry if you're ignorant)
D- Make sure that the route you are following or creating is also legal the entire way to and from the riding area. (other tracks do not make it legal)
Once you have this sorted, call who you must and you are probably going to get more accurate information.
If you cannot find the answers to these basic questions without posting to the world wide web, in my opinion, the rider should buy a sticker and just stay on the clearly marked trail to avoid unnecessary bad press for those who do their due diligence. It may take hours of map reading/planning to avoid a few minutes of expensive citations. If you read it on MSA or a Michigan website and it has a caveat such as "not marked otherwise" or other specific language that can be cited in a situation, you're probably good to go. Be prepared to show this and all pertinent, verifiable information of the area to the DNR/Officer and you will most likely be on the same page as the law and have no issue; that will be your ultimate test anyway because when you say, "yeah, they said over there on JohnDee" or "Steve at the MSA said it was okay" and it's not, you will pay.
State forest land is legal to ride on just as you read, which happens to be front page news on MSA so maybe that is why they were short??? but the state land has to accessed out of the deer season window, after Dec 1, and not posted or otherwise closed. Good luck in your search and I wont be offended if you dont post findings
Tell all posts here and on FB are cringe worthy. The honey holes would be more likely to stay honey holes if everyone did their homework, made decisions that would keep us in the good graces of Michigan landowners, and for the love of your favorite honey hole, don't post up specific information that will add another set of tracks in the worst keep secret in the Northwoods.
Just a thought-
