I just got a letter in the mail from the DNR and as of 1/1/08 all jackson county wisconsin ATV trails are now closed to "off-road" dirt bikes, the only thing left open is a couple rinky dink "enduro" trails over by crawford hills...


so, anyone who likes to, or plans too, ride a dirtbike in jackson county wisconsin might as well forget it...

why? what reasons did they cite?

well, heres what it states...
JUSTIFICATION OF RULE CHANGE

1. off-road motorcycles are not allowed to use any public highways that are designated as ATV routes. there are no statutory provisions to allow this, and local law enforcement has taken issue with the danger to other motor vehicles using the roadways (but ATVs are?)

2. there are no statutory provisions to prevent or deter intoxicated use of an off-road motorcycle on public trails(and all the ATVers that are complaining do is ride from tavern to tavern...)

3. there is currently no mandatory safety education program in place to addres off-road motorcycle use. this creates safety concerns for all users on the public trail, including those ATV operators where safety training is mandatory

basically its all boils down to a few old people on their big 4x4 ATVs that want the trails perfectly groomed and all to themselves, and are finding anything and everything they can to whine about because the average dirt biker doesnt fall into they're parameters of what a "trail rider" should be... its BS, I've ridden these trails for 30 years

man...well knobby ridge is a MUST ride place for a mid experienced trail riding

I am interested in riding off road just for recreation, long distance, which state trails can I ride?


I know bong is one, but all they have is 7 miles, and maybe one other.

Why are there so many ATV trails? Why can't you ride a dirt bike on them?

isn't a dirt bike "all terrain"?

huh. I know you guys are right about Jackson County, but the website still is showing it open.
http://www.co.jackson.wi.us/html/forestry/atv.htm

edit: I guess they updated one portion of their website and not the other. The fineprint is that the atv trails are still open to dualsports...only it doesn't really say that clearly on the atv section.

Here's the off road motorcycle links though, with the straight shooting facts.

http://www.co.jackson.wi.us/html/fo.../motorcycle.htm
http://www.co.jackson.wi.us/html/fo...cle%20Trail.pdf

Knobby Ridge is gorgeous, but, yeah, skills help. Corey told me he got his butt chewed by some FIB's who brought the whole family up and found the trails too tough.
I've seen kids riding up there who ride a helluva lot better than I do. Still, I think the FIB wasn't totally wrong. I won't be bringing my kid there this summer.


zuki- here's the dnr's link. I never thought I'd say this in a nice way, but....Wisconsin is no Michigan. sigh.

http://dnr.wi.gov/org/caer/cfa/LR/m...roadtrails.html