Western MA trails?

[andreas970]

So, being a relative noob... just wondering where around here there ARE good trails..

There seems to be a distinct lack of 4x4 trails in the western MA area.

Anyone care to shed light?

Thanks!

 

[TekkaMaki]

There's more trails in Western MA than Eastern MA that's for sure! :laugh3:

Not sure if you're from the West Coast originally or not...but you'll find a very different attitude about trails in New England. You will not find published guide books or online maps or anything like that, and people will almost never reveal trail locations online, alot of people don't even mention a trails name online. There's just too many people in too small an area and the trails get shut down too fast when they get overused, so the result is everyone is very protective of the trails we do have. The best way to learn trails is to join a group (like this one ) or any of about 2 dozen New England 4x4 clubs. This way you are assured of riding on legal trails and trails don't get overused and you get out with knowledgable people who are way into the sport.

Anyways that's why...it's not that there's no trails. :sunshine:

 

[andreas970]

Thanks for the info, TekkaMaki!

The problem that I run into in terms of meeting up with others is that I end up wheeling most of the time at "unusual" times.

I work every weekend and every holiday... and my days off are monday/tuesday.... so most of the time I either go out solo or with one friend.

Perhaps trails will just have to remain a mystery until my job schedule changes.

 

[sidriptide]

So, being a relative noob... just wondering where around here there ARE good trails..

There seems to be a distinct lack of 4x4 trails in the western MA area.

Anyone care to shed light?

Thanks!

plenty of "LEGAL ROADS" in western Ma.. i can think of 3 VERY close to you.. i'm always out doing something somewhere.. hit me with a PM..

 

[aduke]

just look for a sign that say "unimproved road, proceed at own risk" there are lots of these around westernmass. thats what me and my friends bomb down after school everyday

 

[sidriptide]

thats what me and my friends bomb down after school everyday

thats a sure way to draw TONS of attention to yourself and every other Jeep/OHV that uses the road... repeated use is a killer....

get a TOPO map of the area you are interested in and take time to go over it looking for things like DOUBLE BROKEN LINES listed as "4wd ROAD" .... NEVER DRIVE ON IT IF IT IS LISTED AS A TRAIL!! rule of thumb for Ma.. it MUST BE A ROAD!! unless you have persoanl access to private property...

 

[ClassicXJ]

Mike... so since I am coming home to MA in a few months for good and want to start wheeling up there alot more with you guys.. where can I find some good TOPO maps of western MASS? IS the garvin maps that I can upload onto my GPS any good?

 

[Art Triggs]

I don't know abut the Garmin maps, they probably arent bad, DeLorme Topo map books are a starting off point, but are not always accurate. IMHO, the best are the usgs topo maps, there are any number of places on line, or in outdoor store, like EMS, etc... that carry them, you might try a google search for topo maps, for some on line sources. How good any of them are have to do with when they were made, even some usgs maps havent been updated in a long time. One of my favorite sites is this, http://docs.unh.edu/nhtopos/nhtopos.htm - these are historic maps of the area and have lots of interesting bits of info, as well as links to other sites, hope that helps!

 

[Eagle]

I don't remember the name of it, but there is a biking & hiking store in Williamstown that carries an extensive collection of USGS topo maps. If you're planning on checking out the Mohawk Trail/North Adams region, Williamstown is only about 10 minutes farther west than North Adams on Route 2.

None of the shops in North Adams carry the topo maps. Been there, done that. One of the North Ada,s shops was nice enough to send us over to Williamstown.

 

[sidriptide]

I don't remember the name of it, but there is a biking & hiking store in Williamstown that carries an extensive collection of USGS topo maps. If you're planning on checking out the Mohawk Trail/North Adams region, Williamstown is only about 10 minutes farther west than North Adams on Route 2.

None of the shops in North Adams carry the topo maps. Been there, done that. One of the North Ada,s shops was nice enough to send us over to Williamstown.

that would be "The Mountain Goat" in williamstown, art and i stopped in there for a few more last tiem we were up there... i have everymap they carry just about... i need to find another store to the east that has that area...

 

[Art Triggs]

I found a place on rt 7 on my way to mohawk madness last year south of rt 90 iirc..... what I do see is that shops like this will stock maps for the area they are in, (makes sense) you can get just about anything online though. The place in williamstown was pretty well stocked though.