The sport of ATVing is growing rapidly in our province, which may be creating challenges for your community. The most effective way to manage the use of off-road vehicles in your community is to develop a management plan. This plan would consist of designating specific routes in and out of small towns within the municipality that would lead riders to an area in which they can ride safely. Having riders join or form an ATV club is an excellent way to manage the sport. An ATVMB affiliated club holds organized rides, sets a rider code of conduct and overall, operates in a responsible, organized safe manner, working closely with the municipality and communities to ensure that club activity is within the law and is respectful of all citizens within a community.
ATV Clubs benefit a community by organizing the sport. Club members abide by a code of conduct and are expected to ride safely and responsibly. Club members work closely with municipalities to address any concerns that may arise, participate in community activities and will assist in times of community crisis, e.g. flooding, wind damage, etc. ATV clubs also participate in local fundraising activities and help to develop multi-use trail systems that have the potential to boost the economy of the community through tourism dollars. A well-maintained multi-use trail will attract tourists to your community. A well managed multi-use trail benefits the entire community and can be used by non-motorized as well as motorized users.
Setting up a trail system requires the cooperation of the municipality, the provincial government and the residents of the RM. Trails need to be designated as ATV trails, signage is required to ensure the safety of trail users and trail agreements must be signed, stating who will be responsible for maintaining the trails.
Just as having an ATV Club in your municipality brings organization to the sport, so will a designated trail. Providing a designated, safe system of trails will decrease or eliminate the unlawful use of private land; will decrease the danger of disturbing eco-sensitive areas; and over-all will bring peace of mind to residents within the community.
Once a trail has been designated as an ATV trail and trail agreements have been signed, local ATV Clubs are responsible for maintaining and managing the trails, which would include signage. ATVMB is available to provide guidance to Belair ATV Club Inc. to sign multi-use/ATV trails in their riding area and have developed a Trail Manual and Signage Installation Manual-Field Guide, which is available to all ATVMB clubs who are developing or maintaining trails.
All ATVMB affiliated Clubs carry 3rd party liability trail insurance.
ATVMB has partnered with Safety Services Manitoba and Canada Safety Council for ATV safety training. Please contact your local ATV club for more information or ATVMB.
The Off-Road Vehicles Act of Manitoba addresses legal ORV riding and it is recommended that individuals visit the Manitoba Government website to familiarize themselves with the legal aspects of ORV riding. If additional information is required please visit your local RCMP detachment.
At this time there are several officially designated ATV trails in Manitoba, One in the east beaches region http://belairatvmb.com , one in the Interlake, http://www.southinterlakeatvclub.com/siatv/Welcome.html; two in southeastern Manitoba, the Eastman Trail, https://eastmanatv.com/the-trail and the Little Big Foot Trail, http://woodridgesandhogs.ca/category/trails/. and one in the south west (Brandon) http://www.westmanatv.com.
Belair ATV Club Inc. continues to work with the Manitoba Government, Department of Sustainable Development, Manitoba conservation and water stewardship to provide the safest trail experience for all trail users and provide the best trail maintenance possible.