ATV Florida Forum

I have never ridden at ONF before. The family and I will be going up in a couple of weeks. I have a few questions that I have not been able to find the answer to: 1) Do you need a GPS to navigate the trails or are they well marked? 2) I understand that the green registration stickers are required, helmets for anyone under 18, double riding is allowed, have I missed anything that I need to know? Any help would be appreciated.

The trails are marked, you do not need a gps.  Everything else you say is correct.  Call me if you have any further questions   352-680-9717

Terry

I went there once.. never again. its whooped out and the death rangers are all up on you if you go .5" past the marker. I hope the close the whole place down. I rather not ride at all then ride there.

well then maybe thats just were you rode. because iknow people that have a home up there and they drive their quads around with out any problems from the local rangers. they even ride to the gas stations to fill up their quads and no one bothers them.

p.s. is ONF better than croom?

O.N.F. is way better than Croom(for quads. any way)theres no comparison.
ONF has made a new trail system which I never been but if I was to go I would prob. hit the trails around Big scrub.
Just have to have your quad titled & registered(sticker).
And stay out of any mud puddle.

LOL those people you know .... well i hate to say it but ummm.... they lied to you.. and ps croom isnt anybetter its smaller and matches whoops for whoops.  Death rangers are out to get ya... my buddy came close to a marker and like a bat out of hell a death ranger going about 90mph came up pissin an moaning about how we cant be on that side.. I thought he was going to pass out from being out of breath. All the same to me if the whole place burns to the ground. It sucks the whole place sucks croom sucks we have no cool places to ride. To many cheifs not enough indians... Rangers on a power trip i have seen enough.. Down with Ocala...

I havent been in awhile but I usually stay away from the power lines(bring a G.P.S.)

I enjoy onf alot, yea the rangers can be a pain, so... get on some trails and ride away from scrub, and you wont be bothered  check out blue sink, let the kids swim, and just  stay on the right side of the markers so the power rangers wont bother ya!

Captainmuddin if you go there and abide by the rules you and your family will have a good time. there is miles of trails and I ride there all the time and the rangers never have stopped me. Make sure you have a map before you ride.

Please, please don't discourage people from riding at OFN.  Most people's experience is awesome, and the minority are making things worse for the majority.

Apparently anyone who states the rangers are hassling them must be doing something wrong.  I've been there dozens and dozens of times and I follow the rules (which are very reasonable) and I have NEVER felt the rangers are hassling me or my family.   They are there for a purpose and we need to repect that.  When you see them, wave!  And say thank you!

If we can all follow the rules then there will be more and more areas that the forest service will provide for us to use.   The reason we are losing ground is clear.

#1 - Forest impact, look at the evidence, it is compelling. Stay on the marked trails and don't tear it up on purpose.
#2 - Noise!  Put the damn stock pipe back on your machine.  You don't need to be loud to go fast.   If you think I'm kidding, let's go ride together.

Keep the peace and all will be well...

I really dont understand how noise is a problem . Everytime i go riding in the forest and stop to take a break you know what i hear. Nothing because the forest is big and there is no one around to hear you so whats the big deal.

Noise is a concern for all public land use.   Think about it.  Let's say you are a person that is not into our sport but you like using the forest for other activies like hiking, camping, horseback riding and your activity area is near our trail system.  You know they will complain about the noise.   This will lead to that group getting more land and us getting less.  I dearly hope that the forest service imposes a noise limit of let's say 95 Db.   The stats are there...  I met a rep of the Blue Ribbon organization and they gave me several examples in California where noise was the final death nail in the riding area closings in several areas in California in the last 12 months. 

I hear Croom is going to impose a noise limit too and that is a good thing.  I was getting gas clear across the interstate and I could hear the loud pipes over the highway noise.   Trust me that the neighbors are complaining..

I have sport quads & they are loud, I also agree that noise is a problem. When I was a kid there was a shopping center being built & they dug a square shaped retention pond for run off. Some guy's had R.C. boats & would go to that pond on weekends, they put 4 crab trap looking floats in each corner & had a little track. I would ride my bike up there & watch them, they were fast.
The neighbor's complained about the noise & they stopped them from running there R.C. boats there.

 Whenever I'm close to a house I tone it down, but if i was still a kid I prob. wouldnt care & just keep on tearing it up(not even realizing it). It's funny how when you get older you start to think a little different.

I dont know about the stock pipe being reinstalled but a suitable low Db high flow pipe is definately available. I am running the White Brothers E2 with quiet core. I have the performance without the excessive noise

I have a banshee with shearers=LOUD....But not as loud as a 4-stroke with an exhaust

How about the evidence on the clear cutting impact no one ever says anything about that ? Why because it makes them money. In my 33 years of riding I've never seen an atv or a motorcycle make the impact of logging an area.

 good point i've seen more destruction by dozers and tree cutters than we could ever do.and as far as the noise issue if they would leave the trees alone that would knock the noise level down. i just purchased 50 acres in north georgia and you can barely here our race quads from one side of the property to the other.

I've seen the mess they make when clear cutting also, I've even seen 5 gal. buckets of gear oil out there right after they were doing it that they either forgot or didnt care about leaving it there, kinda sad they can make such a mess & we can't even ride our bikes there.
IMO thats because somebody's making $$ on the trees but there also making $$ on us too lately w/ the registration stickers & all the fine's the ranger's have been giving out.

I just hope they don't close the whole dam thing down because of these new budget cut's, but I would think the T.Schmidt law would prevent that I hope.
Or maybe there won't be any Ranger's anymore & be like it use to be, that would be cool.

I was down at delancey this weekend Thur - Sun. I rode all the trails put about 140 miles on my 4 wheeler and about 20 on the dirt bike. I saw evidence on a few trails of trying to groom them IMO i think they should focus on the main artery's that feed all the trails as in the delancey woops It makes a long day of riding go alot better than having to travel on 8 - 10 miles of woops to get back to camp. Also saw more clear cutting this time in the seed orchard area. Also something to think about I talked to a guy who was telling me that they just built 6 cozy host camp sites at the seed orchard complete with water , sewage, and electricity. I also saw a lot of work has been done at the trail heads with new facilities as in parking area's and bathrooms. I still think clubs should adopt these trails and do routine trail clean up . Some of the trails are overgrown a lot and trees have fallen on the trails I moved them as I came acrossed them. Also saw 2 bears, 3 deer, and 6 turkeys.  ;D