First of all, welcome to the fun world of ATVing!
Our club is a member of the Ontario Federation of ATV Clubs (OFATV) which is a province wide organization which includes many ATV clubs. When you purchase a trail permit for any of these clubs you can ride all of trails in the OFATV trail system, including our club trails. There is a “Purchase Trail Permit” button right on the main page of our website which will take you to the OFATV permit system (https://permits2.ofatv.org/). Once there and when buying your first permit, you are required to register on the OFATV permit site. There’s a “registration” menu item at the top of the page. Click on that and fill in the required registration information. Make sure to use your correct address, email, etc since this information will be used to send information to you, including your trail permit sticker.
When you purchase an annual trail permit, you select which club you want to join. We suggest that you join the club that you plan to ride with, but since membership in any OFATV club means you can ride on all the trails you can join the club of your choice. Here’s a link to the OFATV’s QuadON trail map which shows all available trails and their status. We suggest that for your first time out riding, to stay on the rail trails, these are blue on the map. They are the easiest trails to ride yet still provide some nice scenery. Trail map: https://quadon.evtrails.com//#
Beyond this, we recommend that you attend club rides as they come up. As a new rider, this will give you the best experience. Club rides are guided and they are typically set to accommodate the people who have joined the ride. A description of the expected ride usually accompanies the ride posting.
As soon as you purchase a trail permit from the OFATV system, you will get a confirmation email showing that you have purchased a permit. Print this email out and take it riding with you. This serves as your trail permit until the trail permit sticker arrives in the mail. Getting the sticker can take a week or two depending on how busy the OFATV and Canada Post are.
Make sure to carry your ATV’s ownership (or a copy of) plus proof of insurance when out on the trails. This is required by law and the OPP officers are out on the trails making sure you have it. Also make sure that everyone is wearing their helmets and that they are properly secured. This is for safety of course but the OPP will be checking this as well. If you plan on driving along any roads or crossing any roads, a driver’s license is required (at least a G2 or M2). Note that many trails use roads to make connections and almost all cross over roads at some point.
For your first ride, a nice one is the Glen Tay Rail Trail. There’s a parking location near Perth on Hwy 7 where you can unload and ride from. You can’t get lost, just stay on the rail trail. It will take you right into Sharbot Lake where you can continue north, south or west on more rail trails. There’s also a restaurant right in Sharbot Lake if you would like some lunch. Here’s a Google Map link to the parking area: https://goo.gl/maps/VkEFBuzA6T7yu3nMA
A good resource to have is the QuadON app that’s available for both iPhone and Android phones. This has the QuadON trail map on it so you can see where you are and where the trails go. There are links to the app right on the OFATV’s QuadON trail map page (on the left). You can also search the Apple App Store or Google Play for the app as well, just search for QuadON.
Make sure to join our members community. It’s a place where you can ask questions, get answers, set up a ride with a friend, or just have a chat online. This is a service provided by the OVATVC and registration for this is free and available to all OFATV members. Just click on the following link and follow the registration process. Note that this registration is different from the OFATV permit system registration and they are not tied together. Request Site Membership
Enjoy your ride and we’ll see you on the trails!