Hi there DRN members,
I've been a guest for a while and now as a member I hope to extract even more expertise from you all. You have a great forum here.
I haven't rode a bike in about 25 years and my wife & 2 children started learning last fall. The best thing about quitting the nicotine habit was that I could afford a couple of bikes. We've been learning to ride on the cornfields & cow pastures surrounding our home. The kids now would like to do some trail riding. We're simple folk, our equipment consists of goggles, helmets, jeans and workboots. (If I had a drinking habit I would quit that so that I could afford some proper equipment)
We like to tent camp, so we could probably trip maybe 150-200 miles for a weekend ride.
We don't have the desire (ability) to race, just lookin for some good trails to experience.
Hope to see our first race this weekend out at Sunset Ridge here in Walnut, Il.
Thanks,

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Jeff
'94 xt350
(2)-'01 ttr125L

Have you ever gone out to Buffalo Range in Ottawa?

Hi Ken,
Yeah I've seen posts here about Buffalo Range. Is it "beginner" friendly? Any costs or requirements to be met? I've seen that some states require children to have safety certificates to ride certain trails. Can the kids go riding off on their own or does an adult need to ride along with?
Thanks.

Buffalo has a wide range of riding terrain. There are trails, open fields, an mx track, a sand area, I didnt ride the trails, but I was told that a 60 mx bike would get stuck in some of the ruts. It was $20 for an adult, $10 for the kids, (I dont know till what age}. for more info you can call 815-433-2471

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KX250 my toy
yz80 kids toy, kx60 other kids toy, jr50 other, other kids toy

[This message has been edited by WaltCMoto (edited 03-31-2001).]

Try Monroe WI. its called the cheese trail(I'll bet you could have guessed that)Anyway if you are just starting out this is a good place to take your family.It is an old railroad that the tracks were taken out.It is about 50mi long and very easy to ride. You have to buy a sticker at the local gas station, I think they are less than $10 and good for all year

Women and children at Buffalo Range are $10 a piece, Men are $20. Since a woman owns it, she gives the ladies a discount also.

The Badlands in Indiana are also a good place to ride with the family. Plenty of open space and lots of sand.

In addition, if you would like to camp and ride, you can go to Park Hills, Missouri. They have state park where you can camp and ride right from your camp site. And it is ridicoulously cheap! Something like $5 to camp and $2 to ride, if I remember correctly. We plan on going there this year a few times.

Good luck and have fun!

Thanks Anne. Those 2-5 dollar fees are a liitle easier on the wallet. So I checked out some previous posts about Park Hills and some other sites in MO. Two sites were helpful.....ridemrta.com & goodguys.dirtrider.net.
Sounds exactly like what I'm looking for. Would there be any other trail sites similar to Park hills in our area (Northern Illinois).
Thanks to all for the help.

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Jeff
'94 xt350
(2)-'01 ttr125L

The club I belong to has about 30 acres that we lease and you can ride anytime and camp if you are a member. I know 30 acres is small but it is somewhere that is legal. We also put on a hare scramble, enduro, and offroad poker run. Please email forestcityriders@msn.com for more info.
The club grounds is south of Byron, IL. Most of the club members are from Rockford.

You can also go to Motosports park in Byron. They have a motocross track and trails that you can ride, both are beginner friendly.
They have a web site Motobyron.com Check them out, Aaron the owner is extremley nice.

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Team Funmartcycle.com
2000 KTM 200EXC & 250EXC

The CIDRA motorcycle club is sponsoring 13 off-road poker runs this year. They are usually held somewhere between Peoria and Macomb. These are not races, you ride at your own pace and can ride all day long. I think the charge is $10, but you need to join AMA. If you are interested I can email you a schedule.

Yeah send over the info. jtwag@cin.net
Thanks

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Jeff
'94 xt350
(2)-'01 ttr125L