Montana Bozeman, MT

[vabuckaroo]

Curious.....I'm wondering if someone were to purchase a couple hundred acres (something away from civilization) lay out an enduro course (all levels including hard enduro stuff), may be an endurocross course as well, are there enough riders to make it work. It could be set-up as an annual membership, open year round. Depending on acreage hold races there also. Annual budget once up and running around 9-10K. Membership of maybe $100 per year. May be Shane Watts or Graham Jarvis could come out for riders clinics.

Let me know what you MT folks think.

[eastreich]

You hinted on it in your question: there really are not enough riders to make it work.  What it really comes down to, is that there are not enough riders willing to pay any amount of money to ride on stuff that is similar to what they can ride for free.

 

There are two "clubs" in the state that are similar to what you are thinking of, with the Billing Motorcycle Club property being the most obvious comparison.  The BMC is one of the oldest motorcycle clubs in the country, and have a very large amount of acreage with MX/SX tracks, multiple hillclimb courses (google the Great American Hillclimb), and also hold cross country races.  It not easy to get to be a BMC member, and I am pretty sure that the membership is capped (there is a waiting list).  Everything around Billings can be ridden year round as long as the ground is not wet (clay base in the soil is bentonite).  This is the long successful version of what you are thinking of.  Billings is by far the largest city in MT (105,000?) and has the population to make it work.

 

The other "club" is/was the Rock Pile Club between Helena (30,000 people, with lakes and boats) and Great Falls (60,000).  The location outside of Cascade is good as you can ride for most of the year.  The issues (depending on who you talk to how mad they are at the people running the place) was when they could ride, changing membership costs and requirements (with ownership changes), and if/when people could bring friends/guests with them for riding.  Probably the biggest issue is that there were not enough people willing to pay to ride stuff they could ride for free (for the same drive, you could get to the Little Belts and phenomenal single track).  This place changed owners again (fourth time?) and the rumor is that all OHV use is done.  I haven't really heard yet.  My family used to have a membership out there (with the original owners) but the next owners would honor any old ones (we had bought a lifetime membership for $1000), and then after my dad bought his membership with the new outfit, he couldn't bring my brother or I out there as guests the one or two times a year we would come home with our bikes to visit.  Next up, parts of the club would be closed off during hunting season.  I have been out of the loop out there for a long time now as apathy pretty much set in for everyone I knew that used to ride out there and they all bagged it and went elsewhere.

 

They have held a National Enduro at the Rock Pile club before.  Also riding schools with Shane Watts and Jimmy Lewis, IIRC.

 

A big thing that you may not think of is that even land way out in the "middle of nowhere" (of which 99% of Montana is the middle of nowhere) is worth a lot of money.  Say that I have a big ranch, and I could do something like this.  I want to make money as well.  A bunch of dirt bikers pay up, but at best that would be maybe 30-40 people.  So let's add some ATV trails and get those guys in.  Well, I am still not making much money.  What is a guy to do?  Hunting season is approaching.  With out of state hunters willing to drop $10-20k for licenses and guides to bag that trophy elk, guess what I am going to do with my property when bow season opens?  That's right, I am going to make bank signing an agreement with an outfitter to turn my property into a private hunting area while I go ride my bike in some place that costs me no money to ride.

 

The other thing to think of is that so many out of state people with money move here to buy these out of the way places because they can have their own little section of "paradise."  Even stuff way out of the way is priced out of what anyone short of a Powerball winner can buy, unless the place is near impossible to get to (which isn't conducive to the clients you are trying to get to show up to ride).

 

You can be riding down some dirt road in what you think is the middle of nowhere, 90 miles from anything resembling a town, and all of a sudden there is a 5 million dollar home on some "ranch" with the requisite no trespassing signs on the fence posts for the next few miles.

Edited October 25, 2015 by eastreich

[Hotlugnuts3]

I live in Glasgow MT it's a rich farm town there is a off highway vehicle park open to the public year round awdome trails and some decent jumps

[DK15]

Any one know of any single track trails in the Bridger's? I've ridden pipe stone quite a bit and Radersburg a few times. I am looking for something a little closer to home. I have asked around but there are no maps for any where around here like there are for pipe stone or the little belts. 

[Wild Alaskan]

Any one know of any single track trails in the Bridger's? I've ridden pipe stone quite a bit and Radersburg a few times. I am looking for something a little closer to home. I have asked around but there are no maps for any where around here like there are for pipe stone or the little belts. 

There are several trails, most everything north of sypes canyon is open at some point during the year, look at the trail head signs. Cottonwood is the easiest on the west side followed by truman then corbly. The forest service ruined corbly and made it so any joe can make it half way but the upper part is still quite difficult. Wouldn't recommend going up it unless you know what you are doing. all these trails converge at Ross Pass which connects now in to fairy lake. the east side trails are easy.

 

here is a ride through of the old corbly trail

 

past the 8:00 mark  the trail is still like this, before this point its pretty much quad trail.

 

during winter pipe stone and raiders are the only options, i spend my weekends there.

Edited March 5, 2016 by Wild Alaskan

[dirtrulz]

Are the trails at the top of bear creek canyon still open. You used to be able to ride up mount ellis too.

[vabuckaroo]

I'm thinking about riding the Middle Cottonwood & Truman Gulch trails this weekend. It looks like I may be able to make a loop using Walker Rd. Anyone else planning to head up there?

[vabuckaroo]

Thursday I had a great ride from Bracket Creek TH up to Skunk Creek Road over to Olsen Creek and then up to Fairy Lake. Trails were a little rutted up in places with some occasional snow, ice and mud. Was able to bypass the bigger holes. Views were amazing. Saw a very fuzzy black bear about a mile or two up the Fairy Lake rd.

 

 

The view from Olsen over towards Fairy Lake was amazing

 

[Wild Alaskan]

Thursday I had a great ride from Bracket Creek TH up to Skunk Creek Road over to Olsen Creek and then up to Fairy Lake. Trails were a little rutted up in places with some occasional snow, ice and mud. Was able to bypass the bigger holes. Views were amazing. Saw a very fuzzy black bear about a mile or two up the Fairy Lake rd.

 

 

The view from Olsen over towards Fairy Lake was amazing

 

hey I had forgotten about this thread, I go to pipestone every weekend through the winter, PM me if you want to get in on that. we generally ride fairly technical trails.

[vabuckaroo]

I've been thinking about heading up to Radersburg this weekend. How do the OHV places bounce back from rain?

[Wild Alaskan]

I've been thinking about heading up to Radersburg this weekend. How do the OHV places bounce back from rain?

both pretty good, neither raiders or pipestone get as much moisture as bozeman, in fact there are catus in pipestone. Raidersburg is fun for a couple trips but you can finish every trail there in a day and its all double track. When radersburg does get wet it turns in to a very slimy mud pit. Lately they have blocked off large portions of it for the mining operation.

[vabuckaroo]

Other than the limited access of BMC, is there any place that offers some enduro cross stuff? I had heard there was a place in Anaconda, but it closed.

Edited November 4, 2016 by vabuckaroo

[Wild Alaskan]

Other than the limited access of BMC, is there any place that offers some enduro cross stuff? I had heard there was a place in Anaconda, but it closed.

don't know of anything nearby that is not private, you pretty much either have to know somebody with one, or know somebody who will let you move a bunch of junk on to their land.

[vabuckaroo]

I'm thinking about riding fire roads around Wheeler Mtn this weekend, if anyone would like go. Heading up Little Bear Rd and explore.

[vabuckaroo]

After looking closely at the GNF map this morning, it looks like alot of the trails in that area are closed. Weird how there are trails between closed trails that are open. I'll probably head up to Pipestone. Anyone else heading up there this weekend?