Tread Lightly

As an ORV user, it is your responsibility to “tread lightly” and to protect Michigan’s fragile environment.

• Obtain maps and rules from the Michigan Department of Natural Resources, U.S. Forest Service, ORV dealerships, or clubs. Learn the rules and follow them.
• Attend an ORV class. If qualified, volunteer to teach one and pass on your skills to new riders.
• Avoid running over young trees, shrubs, and grasses, which can damage or kill them.
• Stay off soft, wet trails that are readily torn up by vehicles. Repairing damage is expensive.
• Travel around meadows, steep hillsides, or streambanks and lakeshores that are easily scarred by churning wheels.
• Resist the urge to pioneer a new road or trail, or to cut across a switchback. Cross-country operation is unlawful except in designated areas.
• Stay away from wild animals that are rearing young or suffering from food shortage. Stress can sap their scarce energy reserves.
• Obey gate closures and regulatory signs.
• Do not vandalize or litter. Repairing vandalized property and destroyed lands costs tax dollars and reduces trail riding opportunities.
• Respect wilderness and other non-motorized areas. They are closed to all vehicles. Know where the boundaries are.
• Respect landowner rights. Be a good neighbor.
• Thumbs down on sound! Maintain stock mufflers—loud noise in the forest setting is offensive.
• Use spark arrestors, which are a good idea and mandatory. They prevent hot particles of carbon and soot from escaping the vehicle and starting forest fires.
• Yield the right of way. Courtesy and respect for other trail users is a matter of safety and treading lightly.