Trail Update: 3/22/2012
Submitted by: Ronnie & Emily Green
***ATV TRAILS ARE***
***CLOSED***
The recent warm temps and drying weater is getting us excited about the upcoming ATV season. It is still winter and we may have a long mud season ahead, let's hope not. ALL trails are CLOSED with a tentative opening date of 6/15/2012 and maybe earlier if the Trail Master deems they are dry enough.
Anyone caught riding CLOSED trails will be subject to a fine. PLEASE let's respect our landowners and stay off the trails until they are legally open.
We have checked ALL of the CLOSED signs and replaced a few. It is a crime to remove these signs, they are the property of the State of Maine.
Trail Update: 2/26/2012
Submitted by: Ronnie & Emily Green
We went out yesterday and inspected several trails in hopes that we might be able to get back to grooming with a little more snow. We found in most places that the snow that dumped on us early Saturday morning was fast to settle. Where sleds have been on the trails, or on plowed portions, mud and dirt are showing. We also found that the recent heavy rain opened a few of the tiny streams and water holes that have remained frozen ALL winter. We were surprised and happy to find the two waterholes on the Twitchell Farm Trail frozen solid and passable, and The Village Trail to the Plymouth Store was not too bad either. We ended up on the Rutland Road and made the determination that even if we were to get snow we probably would not groom that section in cluding the Tuttle Road as a two large logging projects on either end and the CMP power line project has both roads down to mud and LARGE open water holes.
We are just as anxious to get out there as you are but old Mother Nature is not cooperating this year. Also we have put over $2000 in upgrades to the Sno-Cat and the drag this year and we really don't want to damage it with marginal snow conditions. We will keep you posted.
Trail Update: 12/26/2011
A very small group of volunteers have been doing a lot of work trying to get trails ready for snowmobile season and we don't seem to be getting caught up regardless of the amount of time dedicated to the projects. We have completed some major projects so far including two trail re-routes and some water hole repairs. We still have fields to stake and trees to be cleared before we can get going as well as some major work to the Sno-Cat. If anyone is willing to take some time on their own and do some trail work, let the Trail Master or one of the officers know and we can point you in the right direction. Come to the meeting Tuesday night and we'll get you up to speed.
Email Recieved from an ESR Member on 2/2/2011
We have a camp on Tuttle Road and were up there for four days last week. We left on Saturday morning.
Our son was visiting from Portland Oregon, and he had never done any sledding for any distance before.
We were delighted with the great condition that the trails were in. Like riding on an interstate.
We saw no one, we had the place to ourselves. It was wonderful.
Thanks so much for all your up to date reports and to all your groomers for a job very well done,
Reg & Loretta Pelletier
The following question was submitted by one of our members:
Dear Endless Season Riders,
My wife and I have just completed another great day of riding on the ESR Trails, but have a question to ask. If there is no hunting on Sundays, why are the trails being closed on 10-19-08?
I understand the hunting situation on all days but Sunday. Can the trails be ridden on Sundays after your announcement to close them??
Thanks for your help.
ESR Member
Dear Member,
Thanks for inquiring about the October 19th trail closings. We hear your concerns but the answer is NO, the bottom line is that we ride on land that is owned by others and we have to abide by their wishes if we want to continue to use their land. That being said, we have a few landowners that have asked we CLOSE the trails across their lands prior to hunting season (we know for fact a couple of them put tree stands right on the trail and don’t want them tampered with any day of the week) and they have made it clear that “we will not be welcome back next season if do not adhere”.
We (the club officers & trail crew) made the decision last year rather than try to close sections of trail and give some riders the opportunity to come to a closed section and say “I know where to go and they won’t even notice”, we decided to close everything prior to hunting season, and try to avoid any problems that could hurt us in the future. Another factor that led to us choosing the weekend before Youth Only Hunting Day is that last year we were riding as a club (on an open club trail) in another area, not realizing it was Youth Day when we drove out of the woods late in the afternoon, into a field where a Dad and his Son where in a tree stand, we're sure the two deer we saw a short ways back in the woods did not follow us out into the field, and we're sure that boy went home empty handed. Who can feel good about taking that opportunity away from a young boy?
Even after we closed the trails last year we had people riding them, they didn’t care. Once the trails are closed by the club, you are considered trespassing if you ride them. We are taking this so seriously this year that we have asked the Game Wardens to summons anyone that continues to ride the trails after they are CLOSED.
In a perfect world we would be able to close some trails and leave some open until snow flies, and every rider would abide by the wishes of the land owners and NOT ride where they’re not welcome. The reality is that there are still a few people that do not belong to clubs and do not belong to ATV Maine where they would be educated on such issues, and there are some that just don’t care and think the rules don’t apply to them. The two big one’s we hear all the time “it’s a snowmobile trail why can’t we ride on it?” and “it’s a marked ATV trail, I can ride on it anytime I want”. NO and NO! It is privately owned land that we have been granted permission to use as long as we respect it!
We encourage ALL ATV RIDERS to join a club and become affiliated with ATV Maine.
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Endless Season Riders Snowmobile / ATV Club - Plymouth, Maine
