Forum Discussion

azdryheat's avatar
azdryheat
Explorer
May 20, 2021

Avoid Silverton Colorado

If you RV and own or rent an OHV (Off Highway Vehicle) you can take Silverton Colo. off your list to visit as the town council voted yesterday to BAN ALL OHV traffic inside the city limits. I'm just trying to get the word out as Silverton is a very popular destination for RVers with OHVs.

We were in Silverton last September and fell in love with the town and surrounding area. Friends and us have toyhaulers and OHVs. We enjoyed driving our OHVs around town to go to restaurants, shopping, and to get to the outstanding OHV trails leading out of town.

Our basecamp was Silver Summit RV park, in town, and it was packed with campers and most had an OHV. The ban will not allow OHVs from this park to access the riding trails. During our stay there we saw all the other RV parks and boondocking sites were also full. Most of these campers were also OHV owners.

I don't know the rational behind the city council 4-3 vote yesterday to ban OHVs but it seems to me there is going to be a huge loss of revenue with the absence of OHV people. Time will tell.
Toy Haulers
  • WhitehouseLV's avatar
    WhitehouseLV
    Explorer III
    Jun 14, 2021
    FWC wrote:
    I entirely understand the residents of Silverton objection to ATV/UTVs, living with this on a day-to-day basis would have a major impact on quality of life. This is also not just a Silverton issue, Moab and lots of other towns are having this same discussion.

    To start with, there are no street legal ATVs/UTVs in Colorado, and by default it is not legal to ride these on public streets. Silverton had made an exception to allow these on roads in town (as had Lake City etc) however I don't think anyone quite realized the volume of vehicles that this would eventually turn into and the resulting noise, dust and bad behavior. Not allowing ATVs on roads is really just going back to the status quo, not banning something that is otherwise allowed.

    While I am sure the people who profit off ATVs are not happy about this, everyone else in town was bearing the brunt and reduced quality of life and have now spoken up about it. This is further exacerbated by the fact that many of the UTVs are rentals by folks with little experience in riding these, and little respect for public lands and the residents of Silverton. There has been discussion of a moratorium on any more ATV/UTV rental outfits in the area (as Moab has done) to try and reduce this impact.

    I also hear you about loud Harley and other street legal motorbikes, but that is a very hard thing to enforce on a local level. I do wish the national parks would install decibel meters near the entrances and if you are above the legal limits they would not let you in.


    quality of life is reduced because of an ATV/UTV?...seriously?
  • Y-Guy's avatar
    Y-Guy
    Moderator
    Jun 12, 2021
    Thanks deltabravo for sharing, for those that don't facebook...

    CLARIFICATION ON VOTE REFERENDUM FOR ORDINANCE 2021-05

    Citizens of Silverton:
    At this time, OHVs/ATVs/Unlicensed Motorcycles are ALLOWED to operate within the Town of Silverton during the Summer of 2021.

    We continue to ask that all OHVs/ATVs/Unlicensed Motorcycles continue to adhere to the rules and regulations set forth by the Model Traffic Code and the Town of Silverton.

    Designated OHV Route maps are available by following the link below:
    https://drive.google.com/file/d/1duiTWF3xXK0M0X5HAuQRtJ6xvy6Fgrtw/view?usp=sharing

    For the most up to date information, please visit:
    https://townofsilverton.colorado.gov
  • Grit_dog's avatar
    Grit_dog
    Navigator
    Jun 11, 2021
    Chalk up a small reprieve for the good guys...
    Maybe the NYC and Cali transplants will tire of Silverton and go back home...
  • Tvov's avatar
    Tvov
    Explorer II
    Jun 11, 2021
    So after reading this (very interesting, actually!) thread there is no ban yet? Still has to go to vote this fall?
  • timn's avatar
    timn
    Explorer
    Jun 11, 2021
    Now I am confused can or can you not ride in the town of silverton?
  • Bad_Brad's avatar
    Bad_Brad
    Explorer
    Jun 06, 2021
    dedmiston wrote:
    mr_andyj wrote:
    One down.
    Have you been to Sedona? The worst thing about Sedona is those side-by-sides! They suckk. Noisy, and totally trash the dirt roads. They are rented by vacationers that shoulda gone and rode the roller coaster. They treat this nice peaceful wonder like a race track and think they are not annoying.
    Did I mention that the dirt roads are destroyed all the time because of these side by sides?
    Worst thing ever!

    That’s definitely a minority opinion here in the Toy Hauler Forum.


    Totally agree that it's a minority opinion here.
    However, I'm very disappointed in a few folks who ruin it for everyone. It is certainly a small fraction of the owners who behave like idiots and tear things up. I'm also disappointed in the folks who think sXs's are the worst thing ever. Again, I don't see what some of these folks see in how badly things are tore up...and I ride many places and thousands of miles per year. I personally think there's a jealous factor involved in many of these statements.

    I sure wished that law enforcement would do a better job managing the rowdy and noisy crowd. Lots of screaming, but very few tickets or citations.

    BTW, there are many merchants in Silverton who are not happy about this ban. Given the mayor is from New York speaks volumes all by itself.

    -Brad
  • Dirtclods's avatar
    Dirtclods
    Explorer
    Jun 01, 2021
    (BAN ALL OHV traffic inside the city limits) If your a plated legal vehicle they can not prevent you from driving in their town. They can stop you for frivolous B.S. .

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