Our American history of conservation and outdoor adventure has preserved land for every purpose – wildlife refuges, plant conservation, camping, hiking, prairie restoration, city parks and National Forests comprising about 8.5 percent of our total land area. It is this national belief that we all have a right to enjoy the gifts our land offers that enable ATV owners and riders access to some of our nation’s most spectacular scenery.

Here are seven “must rides” for ATV enthusiasts who live or are visiting the Eastern United States.

Black Mountain

There’s a lot of reasons to visit Kentucky: the International Bluegrass Music Museum, the Oscar Getz Museum of Whiskey History, the waterfall-lined Kingdom Come Scenic Parkway, the Mine Portal 31 coal mine tour in Lynch and, best of all, the incredibly challenging AtV trails of southeastern Kentucky’s Black Mountain Off-Road Adventure Park in Harlan County.

You’ll be hard pressed getting your ATV over 30 mph on most the trails of Black Mountain, the highest point in the state, but there are places to wind it out and you won’t get bored working your wheeler to its limits on formidable high-country trails.

Brushy Mountain Motor Sports Park

The charming Brushy Mountain Motor Sports Park in western North Carolina is a relaxing haven for high-intensity riding tailored toward riders of utility quads, dirt bikes and sport ATVs.

Located near Taylorsville, Brushy Mountain Motor Sports Park has challenging, one-way trails that allow riders to motor without worrying about oncoming traffic. Its 37 miles of ATV trails (plus an MX track) offer many quick spurs back to the clubhouse, and countless alternate routes to wander throughout the grounds.

Carolina Adventure World

Located within an easy drive of Charlotte, N.C., and Columbia, S.C., Carolina Adventure World is a growing private facility offering more than 100 miles of ATV trails, three MX tracks and an enduro track. There’s also the Blue Sky Zip Line that brings willing participants on a personal thrill ride over the Appalachian hillsides.

Carolina Adventure World aims to be an everything-in-one-stop shop with on-site ATV storage, mechanics, camping, ATV rentals and food. The trails are fast, fun and vary from wide open and easy to athletic, narrow woods trails.

Durhamtown Plantation

Georgia’s Durhamtown Plantation Off-Road Park has 150 miles of one-way trails for dirt bikes, ATVs and UTVs, with nine tracks, a drag strip, mud pit and freestyle park all in one enormous facility. It’s one of the country’s most popular privately owned riding areas, and it’s located in the central pine forests of the state near Union Point.

With cabin and RV rentals, on-site ATV rentals and storage, four service bays, a pro shop, bike and skateboarding areas and a restaurant, Durhamtown seeks to be an all-in-one family vacation with amenities and trails to match every member of your riding family.

Hatfield-McCoy Trails

With one of the largest trails systems in the U.S., West Virginia’s tremendous Hatfield-McCoy system is comprised of more than 500 miles of ATV trails divided into six individual segments, with more trails coming on line every year.

Located in delightfully rural, unconventional areas, each of Hatfield’s six chunks offer some of the best ATV riding you’ll find – easy high-speed trails, challenging technical segments, incredible valley views and many areas open to UTV traffic, as well.

Jackman-Moose River

Explore one of the remotest pieces of land in the entire United States and keep your eyes peeled for bear, moose and many other animal residents of the Jackman-Moose River area near Maine’s border with Québec.

The Jackman area itself has more than 250 miles of maintained ATV trails, and the system interconnects with The Forks, Bingham, Rockwood and the Greenville trails for an additional 300+ miles of secluded riding. Most trails are UTV-friendly.

Ocala National Forest

Smack dab in the middle of central Florida, the Ocala National Forest is one of the most popular ATV riding areas in the state, with 35 miles of ATV and UTV routes and trailheads at Big Scrub, Wiregrass and Lake Delancy. In an effort to encourage riders to appreciate the sub-tropical scenery and wildlife, most trails are designed for slow-speed riding.

Ocala National Forest is the oldest national forest east of the Mississippi River and the southernmost forest in the continental U.S. The surroundings include longleaf pine and wiregrass vegetation, sandy trails and the Big Scrub, which is the largest contiguous block of sand pine scrub in the world.

Contact information for each of these ATV riding destinations can be found at http://www.atvmagonline.com/2009/06/america%E2%80%99s-26-greatest-atv-destinations/

John Prusak is the Group Publisher of ATV magazine and SnowGoer magazine.

John has been riding and writing about off road vehicles for 20 years. To learn why he and his staff selected these seven specific Eastern U.S. destinations as “must ride” atv spots, visit http://www.atvmagonline.com/2009/06/america%E2%80%99s-26-greatest-atv-destinations.

Often referred to as “the Outdoor Adventure Capital of the World,” one would be hard-pressed to not find an ATV trail or activity they wouldn’t enjoy in Moab, Utah. In fact, you’d have to pretty much despise the outdoors all together.

The thousands of miles of ATV trails in and around Moab present rock crawling enthusiasts with some tough challenges and the most breathtaking scenic back drops in the world. Names such as “Hell’s Revenge” and “Metal Masher” suggest what lies ahead, and these are some of the easier ones! Read more

At about 3.79 million square miles, the United States is a vast nation – the world’s third largest by land area. The diversity of our terrain provides off-road riders with an all-you-can-eat buffet of ATV riding choices available for the taking -deserts and dunes of the southwest, towering peaks in the Rocky Mountains, dense forests and the countless lakes of the Midwest, stunning views from atop the Ozark Mountains and the colossal riding areas of the rolling Appalachians.

If you live in the Western United States or want to travel out there for a change in your ATV riding terrain, here are six great spots in the Pacific U.S. region to get you started. Read more

1. Dampen the winch cable. During winching, it’s a good idea to lay a coat, blanket or even tie a bag to the wire cable to dampen it in case of failure. If it fails and you don’t do this, the wire rope could potentially become a high-speed whip – crack!

2. Off the hook. When feeding the winch cable (whether its wire or synthetic) back into the winch, never hold the hook (clasp). Warn includes a Warn-signature red hook strap with all its winches. Hold the hook strap when feeding the cable. If your winch doesn’t have one, get one! Warn sells replacements. Read more

Kids’ quad bikes are also known as mini ATV or youth quad bikes. Both young children and adults love the idea of quad bikes. There is an adventurous side in everybody. Kids always want to own what they see adults like their parents using. However kids cannot be presented the same vehicles adults drive, but can certainly be given a mini ATV. It will be the perfect gift to your kids this Christmas.

Kids’ quad bikes are available in different models and colours, which is great considering children tend to be very choosy about their favourite colour. On average these bikes are about 44˝ in length and 28˝ in width. Seat height is about 24˝, though this varies according to age group. A 50cc bike will be best suited for kids of age 6 – 11. A 90cc or more will be fit for age group of 12 years and above. Read more