4WHEELERS ATV

There are several 50 Inch Side by sides avail that will go on most any ATV trail. In AZ you can easily make them street legal as well. Polaris even makes the ACE that is a single seat side by side style vehicle.

We have a side by side in Arizona we have not had a problem in AZ. To be legal a 4 wheeler in AZ must have a back rest and a foot rest for the passenger.
We have not regretted the side by side as it limits lateral movement which makes for a more comfortable ride.

We have a 50" side by side that we ride in AZ, Utah, and WA. So far, we have only found two types of trails. They are either single track(dirt bikes)or double track(atv's, jeeps, etc). None of the double track were limited to 50" or less.

We could have purchased a wider side by side and we would have been able to ride any double track that we have seen.
I would suggest Google ATV trails in Alaska.

MACHZER wrote:
Hello

Kind of a crazy question!

As we plan on heading up to Alaska next year and then south during the winter into the AZ region.

I am considering purchasing a 4 wheel atv. But because I am thinking of bush trails in Alaska and Colorado ect, would a 4 wheel atv be the better choice rather than a 4 wheel side by side?

I am concerned that most trails would be too narrow for a side by side.

Hope to get some opinions especially those who have 4wheeled in those region

Thanks

I live in Alaska and only know of one place that you cannot go with a SXS, and that is a narrow bridge crossing heading north of Talkeetna. I've ridden ATV's and now a SXS all over central Alaska, that is why I have a camper....back country riding! Buy whatever you will enjoy!

I have a 2015 CanAm Commander XT 1000, and have found only the odd place I can't go because of the width. Those places were up old logging roads where there had been washouts over the years and it was also a risk for ATV's to pass by safely.
Up here in BC where we ride there are 1000's and 1000's of places to ride. We also have theses great books and or chips for hand held GPS that show us all these roads we can travel on.
Back Road Map Book Link
We looked and have ridden a lot of ATV's and UTV's before we choose our Commander XT.
What made we liked was the smooth ride, huge difference between a ATV and a UTV. Power steering was another thing we ( I ) I wanted and back in 2015 there weren't to many ATV's with that and very few UTV's. I also wanted storage room, which all UTV's have more of than ATV. (NOTE: some of the Baja style UTV's have no storage room at all)
The most important thing I looked for was what my wife liked ( grin) she liked the ride of the UTV's and as things go narrowed down on what brand of UTV we would buy she liked the comfort of the Can Am.
I did have to buy a bigger trailer for the Commander to be hauled around on as my snowmobile trailer has to Lite of a suspension for the weight of the Commander, so you should also take that into consideration.
I recently sold my 5th Wheel to buy a camper so we could take our SXS with us. Because my camper sticks out 4ft past my bumper I also had to add a hitch extension ( Torklift super truss) so I could hook up the trailer. Which did t matter if I bought a ATV or a UTV I still needed the hitch extension.
What ever you choose, I hope you have a blast with it as my wife and I have on ours.

Soup.

Thanks for all of the reply's.

My main concern was the width of course and being too wide for most off road trails particularly in the bush regions.

Thanks again

Ok, gotta weigh in on this one; ADF&G had the wisdom (???) this year to open the hunting in my unit (where the cabin is at) to a pretty generous draw tag season for cow moose, so I spent the past 10 days watching 1/3 of the slob hunters in Los Anchorage and 1/2 of them in Palmer drive by my cabin in every conceivable ATV or SxS setup. So some thoughts:

- Not everyone who hunts off an ATV is a slob hunter, but many are
- Rant Over

- I've got both an ATV and a SxS with a cab. Have used them over most of the road accessible areas of the state (and I've used the SxS in snow with tracks)
- If you're getting something for a one-time trip to Alaska, obviously get what works best for your home location...either SxS or ATV will work more than adequately for 1 trip up here.
- A good portion of the people with SxS rigs put cabs on them: great for staying a bit cleaner, drier, warmer, etc. Cabs do cut back on the accessibility of some brush-choked paths
- I'd generally agree with the previous poster.....almost any defined or existing TRAIL can be driven by both SxS or ATV
- That being said if I had to drive from A to B where there was not a known trail, I'd use my ATV: a bit narrower, a bit lighter, a bit easier to maneuver in tight spaces, etc.
- Regular SxS rigs are orders of magnitude better than ATV's if you're trying to carry either lots of gear or bulky stuff. That being said, I've carried gear and food for a two week camping trip on my ATV.
- If going off trail and burying the rig in a bog is a possibility, might want to consider an ATV. Getting truly "bogged down" is no fun nohow major-league PITA...but just slightly better if the rig that is stuck is a few hundred lbs. lighter.
- For incidental riding, it won't matter, but possibly consider how extra gas will be carried on the rig.

I must be old school. I prefer my regular quad (Honda Foreman) over a side by side. My Cousin has one and while it is nice, has a bed and room to sit next to each other, it cannot go through the woods whereas my Honda can. I've hauled deer out of the woods, moved trees, hauled feed and rode right through the woods, no trail, nothing. I also consider a sxs noisy. My Honda is so quiet you cannot hear it approaching. I like quiet. I use it around the farm too. Have a spray rig for it and use it for field scouting. Finally, it's easy to trailer.. My cousin, last time we got together camping, borrowed my Honda and came back and said he needed to get a regular quad too. I'm happy with it.

"Not everyone who hunts off an ATV is a slob hunter, but many are"....

What exactly is a 'slob hunter'. I'm curious.

Hopefully not me. I've hunted (hunt and stalk) from 4x4 pickup trucks in New Mexico for Mulies and Elk and in an old Suburban in Montana for Mulies and Antelope (amazing where an old Suburban will go with a set of mudders and a lead footed guide)...

SidecarFlip wrote:
"Not everyone who hunts off an ATV is a slob hunter, but many are"....

What exactly is a 'slob hunter'. I'm curious.

Hopefully not me. I've hunted (hunt and stalk) from 4x4 pickup trucks in New Mexico for Mulies and Elk and in an old Suburban in Montana for Mulies and Antelope (amazing where an old Suburban will go with a set of mudders and a lead footed guide)...

Alaskas a special place. Everyone and their dog, literally is out for huntin season.
There's more butt wipe in the bushes and on the trails than there are animals, maybe literally.

To the OP, the vast majority of AK and AZ is accessible by UTv or SxS. Pick what you want to ride or drive.
Agree w sidecar, atvs have their place over sxs especially in the tight woods.
Sxs are just too plush though. Nothing like having heat and riding in the dry while off roading. And most of them are super capable.
My vote would be sxs vs a 2 up 4 wheeler. If 4 wheeler, would have to ride separate.