Riding an ATV is fun, in fact, it is a whole lot of fun. Safety is a big concern when riding your ATV, but there is another concern you should have when riding your ATV. The effects on the environment can not be discounted.
When riding your ATV stay on marked trails and never go trailblazing as most ATV trails are carefully maintained to allow riding on one area of an ATV trail, and then periodically those ATV trails are retired and the land is allowed to reclaim itself and different ATV trails are opened up. This careful planning and rotation of ATV trails insures that there are good rides for you now and future generations of ATV riders.
Also, Treadlightly.org has published some fantastic standards for ATV riders that protect the land and wilderness and most are just mainly good old common sense. Learning proper handling techniques is a great way to help protect the land your ride your ATV on, a really big issue is many inexperienced ATV riders try to navigate hills and other inclines by going slightly sideways on their ATVs, this not only wrecks the land beneath your wheels, it puts you in great danger of having your ATV which weighs in the neighborhood of 200+ pounds of turning over upon you.
Another careful consideration when riding your ATV is the navigation of creeks and streams, most ATV trails have carefully constructed crossing areas so there is minimal damage to the water areas.
If everyone adheres to these standards when riding their ATVs there are good times in store for all ATV riders now and in the future.
