13 replies to this topic

[ski3pin]

The entire state of Nevada went into fire restrictions this time last summer (2020). I have not found any notice of that yet this year, but it will come.

[JaSAn]

I guess I was being too obtuse in my question.

 

• No motorized vehicles off designated roads or trails.

 

Locating a Dispersed Campsite: Look for an area at the end of a spur road or a pullout that is clear of vegetation and has a hard, compacted surface. These sites might have a primitive fire ring. Stay on established roadways; do not drive off-road to camp. Try to select a campsite at least 100 feet from lakes and streams.

 

 

 

Driving on unmarked/non-numbered/non-designated trails is almost universally illegal on most federal lands.   

 

However on roads/areas open to dispersed camping (check the MVUM) you are allowed to pull one vehicle length or 300' from the centerline of the road (depending on area) to camp.    However, you should do this in established spurs/campsites where possible . . .

 

My question boils down to: What is considered off road?

 

Almost all of the dispersed campsites I have seen and used go off an unmarked track to a dispersed campsite 50 to 100 yards off the marked road.  Is this considered off-road?  I've been told by rangers explicitly, "Do not park on or next to a marked road.  Get off the road, preferably to an already established campsite."

 

I understand what is allowed in normal times; these special restrictions are not normal.  

[AWG_Pics]

I guess I was being too obtuse in my question.

 

• No motorized vehicles off designated roads or trails.

 

 

 

 

My question boils down to: What is considered off road?

 

Almost all of the dispersed campsites I have seen and used go off an unmarked track to a dispersed campsite 50 to 100 yards off the marked road.  Is this considered off-road?  I've been told by rangers explicitly, "Do not park on or next to a marked road.  Get off the road, preferably to an already established campsite."

 

I understand what is allowed in normal times; these special restrictions are not normal.  

 

There are far too many specific situations to describe in any regulation that could be read, let alone written. Fortunately, so far the land management agencies (USFS & BLM) merely expect people to use common sense. We have stayed over the last year in numerous monuments, forest service and BLM sites and have never been questioned by a ranger. Occasionally they drive by. Probably this is so because we look the site over, and if it looks fairly well used in the past, given the context of the location we are at (not many people try to elbow each other out of the way to secure a site on the edge of a old playa in central Nevada) we pull off the road or track a reasonable distance and pop the top up, break out the chairs, extend the awning if needed and enjoy the view, whatever it may be.

 

I try to avoid any location that seems to me likely to require some sort of extended explanation on my part about why I chose that particular spot.

 

This has worked at Vermillion Cliffs, Cedar Mesa, Wupatki, near Frenchglen, west of Mcdermit, NV, south of Austin, NV, in Death Valley NP and quite a few other places.

Edited by AWG_Pics, 26 May 2021 - 12:29 AM.

[rando]

I guess I was being too obtuse in my question.

 

• No motorized vehicles off designated roads or trails.

 

 

 

 

My question boils down to: What is considered off road?

 

Almost all of the dispersed campsites I have seen and used go off an unmarked track to a dispersed campsite 50 to 100 yards off the marked road.  Is this considered off-road?  I've been told by rangers explicitly, "Do not park on or next to a marked road.  Get off the road, preferably to an already established campsite."

 

I understand what is allowed in normal times; these special restrictions are not normal.  

 

The 'No motorized vehicles off designated roads or trails' is the same rule that applies even without fire restrictions.  I am not sure why they are reiterating it, but I guess it can't hurt.  Maybe there is increased danger from hot exhaust/catalytic converters in long grass so they want to remind folks not to head 'off road'.

 

  An established spur/camp site within 300' from a designated route is typically OK, and I would guess as long as the area is established as a camp it would still be OK.