Why is off trail riding more fun than trail riding in your opinion?

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7707

New member
chevytaHOE5674 said:
I prefer off trail riding mainly because there's no traffic (ie less chance of some racer running me off into the sticks), get to enjoy sights that most others never see, and I also enjoy the challenge. I like riding the unplowed roads and trails until I find some hills to climb of ravines/river valleys to drop down into and play in. Many times I will be out "riding" all day and put on less than 50 miles, spend lots of time digging, unsticking sleds, and exploring.
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kevisip

New member
People please! Stay on the trail. Read the marked signs. You should take full responsibility for the full knowledge that if you leave the trails it is entirely possible your fate will be met with a bigfoot or even the more submissive but nasty sasquatch. Leave the backwoods riding for the truely adventurous people.
 
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Skylar

Super Moderator
Staff member
What does a person do, who needs a curve ahead sign on a trail, when they are riding off trail, and the logging road/skidder trail goes left or right? Do they just continue straight becase there was no sign telling them to turn?
 
indy_500

indy_500

Well-known member
kevisip said:
People please! Stay on the trail. Read the marked signs. You should take full responsibility for the full knowledge that if you leave the trails it is entirely possible your fate will be met with a bigfoot or even the more submissive but nasty sasquatch. Leave the backwoods riding for the truely adventurous people.
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peter

Member
As long as I can remember it was just snowmobiling. In my eyes its both on trail and off trail. Ride trail jump off trail then up and over hill to some clearing then through the woods to some other spot or "secret place" in the woods play around, take a dare or challenge to see who has the cooler sled and more guts, take a break, go to lunch now back on trail.

I never knew there was different kind of sledding till I started looking at this thing called the internet.I just thought everybody rode on and off trial.
 
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jonw

New member
I learned to ride, and rode for my first 10 years on the trails in Northern wisconsin ( basing out of St. Germain, which is how I found this site). Over time I became more and more uncomfortable riding trails due to throttle jockeys invariably sliding around hairpin curves when they were trying to do 70 mph on a curve that could support maybe 20mph. I thought about giving up sledding because it felt so unsafe until I made my first trip up to Houghton and rode off trail...I had WAY more fun and felt WAY more safe.

I have since moved to Victor, ID (at the age of 49, I'm 52 now) and ride the Tetons, Big Holes and Pallisades mountain ranges 3-4 times per week and never see a trail. I'll be happy to never ride another trail in my life (mainly from the fear of the jerk that will be sliding into me around the next curve). Not to mention the fact that, in my opinion, off trail riding offers infinitely more variability, requires significantly more skill, is a great workout, gets you much closer to nature and is much more fun than trail riding.

When I moved out here I hoped to have 10 years (until I am 60) to do the kind of back country riding I love to do. But after living out here and seeing the physical fitness of the people out here, I hope to keep it up until I am at least 65...God willing. There is nothing I enjoy more.

On a related note, a few of us out here took a buddy riding in the Tetons for his first snowmobiling trip last weekend. He is a backcountry supreme athlete -- backcountry skier, mountain biker, runner, etc. Riding in the back country kicked his ***. He could not believe how much work it was to ride a motorized machine -- of course he was working for the sled vs. making it work for him. Still it was fun seeing this extreme athlete dying while we were running around like energizer bunnies.
 
C

cuzzinolaf

Well-known member
The funny thing with this thread is that you can have perfect conditions and still have a bad time. You could end up with the wrong group, not knowing any "good" places, and the worst... not knowing some of the right techniques and spending more time stuck then riding. Off-trail riding isn't just going into the shrubs on the side of the trail or riding 100 feet from a marked trail. I've seen people do some dumb stuff out there because they didn't know any better. I've seen sleds wrecked because people didn't know what they were doing. I have seen people stuck, sunk, and stranded having to leave their sleds (not mentioning names LOL) and lost. If you don't know what is at the bottom of a hill and don't see a way out DON'T GO down the hill. If you see trespassing signs, don't know if you're allowed to ride the area, or see tracks that you want to follow but don't know whose they are... DON'T GO. Off-trail is becoming very popular in the UP but will soon be ruined for everyone if people aren't careful.
 
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