ATV Riding

NEWSRELEASE

To:	All News Media
From:	Ken Krueger, Operations Superintendent - Customer Service
Subject:	Mountain Bike and ATV Trails to Open April 11, 2012
Date:	April 10, 2012

IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Ken Krueger, Operations Superintendent – Customer Service, has announced that all of the mountain bike trails and horseback riding trails at Nine Mile County Forest Recreation Area will open to the public at 12:00 Noon on Wednesday, April 11, 2012. All trails will open at Noon daily through the close of the spring Turkey season on May 22, 2012.

Trail passes are required for mountain biking for ages 12 years and older. Daily permits are available for $4 and an annual pass is $25. Passes are available at the self-registration stations at the parking lots at Nine Mile County Forest Recreation Area or at the Park Office, 212 River Drive, Suite 2, Wausau.

ATV trails at Burma Forest Unit and the Edgar to Fenwood trail will also open on Wednesday, April 11, 2012.

Have a safe and enjoyable season. If you have any questions, please contact the Park Office at 715-261-1550.

General Information:
There are two ATV areas in Marathon County. The Burma Road ATV Trails and the Fenwood ATV Trail. The Fenwood ATV Trail is an abandoned railroad grade trail that is 5.5 miles long and connects Edgar to Fenwood. It is closed only during the deer hunting season; when posted closed; and after the first snow until the trail has been groomed by the local snowmobile club.

Burma Road Forest Unit ATV Trail Map (39kb PDF) The ATV trails in the Burma Forest Unit are closed annually to ATV traffic during October and November for fall hunting seasons and mid-March through April during the wet, spring thaw conditions in order to avoid damage to forest roads and trails.

From the date the trails open in May through September 30 annually, the trails are open from 6 a.m. until 11 p.m. daily. ATV operators must obey "TRAIL CLOSED" and "STAY ON TRAIL" signs to protect areas that are environmentally sensitive or being rehabilitated. Additional trail information can be found here (1,103kb pdf)

Riders may contact the Park Department at 715-261-1550 or the Mid Wisconsin ATV Trail Blazers, the local Marathon County ATV club for more information.

A listing of Wisconsin ATV Clubs can be found here. The privately owned Embarrass River ATV Park located in Shawano County offers another ATV/UTV riding opportunity.

Utility Terrain Vehicles (UTV's):

On April 1, 2010 the State of Wisconsin - DNR enacted a two year UTV Pilot Program. Marathon County will not be participating in this new program and all Marathon County ATV and snowmobile trails are closed to UTV's. UTV's are not all-terrain vehicles and do not meet the statutory definition for an ATV and are not permitted on ATV trails. Marathon County trails are not capable of safely accommodating these off-highway vehicles. Existing trails are not wide enough for two-way traffic with these larger vehicles.

A new website is available at www.wiutv.org that is continually updated with those County's electing to participate in the pilot program. Informational pamphlets put together by the DNR are available here as a pdf (135 kb) or in WORD format here. A second pamphlet is also available in pdf format here (289 kb pdf).