Trail Etiquette Dispute results in arrest

[Backyard]

That's difficult as well, but a better option than the other. Your not going to get stuck trying to backup tho, you will still be able to drive forward.

Hmm. Not if you have to back up because the guy in front of you has the right of way going uphill and demands that you move first.
Anyway, thanks for the reply.

 

[RickH]

I drove through Silverton a couple days ago and probably won't be going back. It reminded me of being in an amusement park with no rules. I was up scouting unit 76 over Stony Pass. It was pretty much a constant stream of traffic from daylight to dark, insane dust and erosion. A lot of the ohvs are rentals with zero experience or education. I took a walk along a small stream and couldn't believe the amount of toilet paper and shit piles. My cat even buries it's own shit. I've lived in the area all my life and have never seen it like this. The businesses in Silverton must think it's another gold rush but the mountains are getting trashed.

 

[bigdesert10]

In all my life, I can count on one hand the number of times I've had to back up on a narrow mountain road to find a place to pull off and let someone through. The whole backing up thing is borderline irrelevant. There is almost never a time that you can't find somewhere between the two vehicles to get off to the side enough to let the guy heading uphill come by. There will always be exceptions to the rule and times when a little cooperation is needed, but 99.9% of the time, the guy coming downhill should assume he is going to need to yield. If you don't make every effort to do so, you're in the wrong.

 

[Squamch]

If we're talking log trucks, get off the active roads, or get a radio and use it properly. Then no one needs to back up.

 

[Poser]

Due to the amount of problems and altercations last year, the Town of Silverton voted to ban ORVs in city limits effective In June. In the past, they had designated ORV routes so people could leave from town to access ORV roads, but it was super disruptive and problematic for the locals as their were drag races and people blatantly disobeying the regulations. This is going to be a big change that I expect will result in some violations and confrontations this summer.

 

[Rob5589]

Due to the amount of problems and altercations last year, the Town of Silverton voted to ban ORVs in city limits effective In June. In the past, they had designated ORV routes so people could leave from town to access ORV roads, but it was super disruptive and problematic for the locals as their were drag races and people blatantly disobeying the regulations. This is going to be a big change that I expect will result in some violations and confrontations this summer.

As usual, people can't control themselves so the gov't does it for them. They have no one to blame but themselves.

 

[Antarctica]

Damn! I elected to delay a year, but I had planned to go and rent a razor In July in Silverton a few days for the family this year...

Dodged the bullet...

 

[Jellymon1]

Lived in Washington my whole life. Most everyone I’ve seen including myself gives the one going uphill the right of way. I give log trucks/equipment the right of way no matter what.

 

[Cameron.25]

If possible, i always give the other vehicle the right of way no matter what. Hate it when it feels like you're gonna get run off the road, people are nuts

 

[Poser]

Damn! I elected to delay a year, but I had planned to go and rent a razor In July in Silverton a few days for the family this year...

Dodged the bullet...

I’m sure the rental companies will set up transportation to the points where non street legal vehicles will be able to drive. Ouray, for example, has never permitted these ORVs on the roads in town. The downside is that the TH will all be jammed with trailers.

In the past, Silverton has been a big destination for full size RVs towing ORVs since an intermediary vehicle was not needed to access trails. That scenario will certainly change. In fact, seems like a great opportunity for a ORV shuttle service

 

[Fatcamp]

Jetskis of the mountains.

 

[MattB]

Interesting. Around the northwest the downhill traffic has the right of way.

Imagine telling a log truck to stop in a hurry coming down.....ain't happening.

Imagine a logging truck on an OHV trail.

 

[Traveler]

Due to the amount of problems and altercations last year, the Town of Silverton voted to ban ORVs in city limits effective In June. In the past, they had designated ORV routes so people could leave from town to access ORV roads, but it was super disruptive and problematic for the locals as their were drag races and people blatantly disobeying the regulations. This is going to be a big change that I expect will result in some violations and confrontations this summer.

This seems like a pretty common sense law and not that unusual. Even in the 90s atvs weren’t allowed in towns in my area.

 

[Poser]

This seems like a pretty common sense law and not that unusual. Even in the 90s atvs weren’t allowed in towns in my area.

It was a 5 year experiment and made Silverton super popular with the ORV crowd, bringing in a ton of business, however, it devolved into Mad Max. Living on Green St (effectively Main Street, the only paved street in town) became entirely undesirable with the noise and the dust. Lots of conflicts between locals and tourists who treat Silverton like a literal playground with no rules. This came to a head in 2020 with Covid. Despite no daily trains from Durango (the primary source of tourism), I understand it was a record year with people not having work obligations so they were staying for weeks and months and the Place was a mad house. Completely undesirable. I went to town up there once last summer and almost got ran over by a guy riding a wheelie down the street. My impression from the year round locals there is that most moved there to live in a quite mountain town and aren’t the least bit interested in trading off revenue for ORVs. The city council meetings were pretty explosive, I hear. Obviously there are some locals who have built businesses around this traffic and disagree with the policy. There are others who own season businesses there (almost half of the businesses are owned by part time residents) who welcome any and all paying customers, but, realistically, with the train running again this year and 300-1500 people a day spending 3 hours in silverton from that source, there will be no shortage of people buying burgers, ice cream and Cheesy t shirts.