Bad OHV Publicity In Wickenburg, AZ

[TFucili]

This doesn't apply to TDR, but I thought I'd share a post(below)I made on a few OHV forums I am on, in hopes that they will spread the word. I live in an off-road mecca, and it is disgusting to have this kind of thing going on.


While there are thousands of miles of trails in this general area, one of the most popular destinations people seek out is Wickenburg's Box Canyon. Unfortunately, idiots have succeeded in stirring up a hornet's nest with the locals by trashing the place, even leaving buckets of human waste behind. "The Box", as we call it locally, has come close to being shut down by BLM before. Naturally, there are locals who just hate off-road vehicles of any kind, and would complain anyway, but clearly there is reason to complain. As a life-long off-roader this makes me sick. Please folks, pack out your trash, and show respect for folks who live nearby, no matter where you ride. Please pass it along.

http://www.wickenburgsun.com/around_town/image_f1ba16be-a02e-11ea-b7e9-eb01a1be938c.html

 

[dieselshadow]

That's just sad... And it's probably only a few to give all of them a bad name.

 

[TFucili]

That's just sad... And it's probably only a few to give all of them a bad name.

I won't say there aren't locals who dump trash, but one thing the article is correct about is that people come up here in droves from Phoenix, and they really have zero regard for anyone.

 

[DavidC]

Then when it's shut down they will be some of the first to wine and cry.

 

[TFucili]

There has always been tension here between the horse people, and the off-roaders, even long before ATVs were around, and it was just Jeepers, trucks, and buggies. Again, some of it earned by fools who try to spook horses, but much of it just because many(not all)horse people think their *&^% doesn't stink. There is good and bad in every stripe. We always stop and pull over when we spot someone on horseback. Generally don't even let machines idle if the horse hesitates or looks "spooky". Most riders appreciate it, and ease on by. Some insist on waving us by, and some just get all huffy that we even exist, like holding the door for a lady who gets all offended by it.

 

[Regcabguy]

The ATV's bother me more than truck's or Jeeps poking around. Anza Borrego's closed to non-licensed vehicles of any type.

 

[DHayden]

I didnt know you lived in Wickenburg. I have always liked driving through there, would contemplate living there if there was something I could do LOL.

 

[mwilson]

We’ve had a bad time up here keeping idiots off the trails until they are dry...

Terrible this year, and if the three big land owners in the state get pizzed off it’s game over...

Between people from away and locals turning their snotty nose brats loose on ATV’s with zero supervision it is bad..

Many of us have had it and support increased fines and even confiscation of machines..

The old fart demographic with a $25,000.00 side by side and a pocket full of disposable income putting along to go to their favorite restaurant will win out...if we don’t lose the trail system first...and yes I’m an old fart...

 

[TFucili]

I didnt know you lived in Wickenburg. I have always liked driving through there, would contemplate living there if there was something I could do LOL.

Yeah, work is scarce here. Bear Cat(paving equipment), and Triad Steel(steel fab)are about the only industry here. Every time somebody tries to do something that might create a few jobs the NIMBYs get fired up.

 

[DavidC]

Welcome to the old fart club Mike

 

[Wayne M.]

Watch those tree huggers. And any extremism (either way) is not good.

 

[TFucili]

Watch those tree huggers. And any extremism (either way) is not good.

For sure. The tree huggers conspired, and I mean conspired literally, with BLM a few years ago to shut down Box Canyon, due to the sighting of an endangered bird. Some kind of yellow billed cuckoo, literally, no joke. After more of a public uprising than they bargained for they had to admit that there was NO SIGHTING whatsoever, and this was not really its normal habitat. Behind the curtain was The Center For Bio Diversity, and many believe the local preserve. The CBD is an instrumental group of bio-hoodlums who also tried, with some success, to shut down the Imperial Sand Dunes, namely Glamis. There it was for a plant, Peirson's Milk Vetch. The American Sand Association was formed to fight this BS, and was eventually successful in getting a large swath of the dunes re-opened. They proved traffic helps the plant propagate. Unfortunately, there is not enough population here to mount such an effort if the opposition gets some traction.

 

[Wayne M.]

Oh wow and I thought this garbage was limited to hard left areas. A similar group prevented the highway network from being developed in my area. They succeeded, and now we’re stuck with most of the original roads laid out by the Dutch and the Indians and the British.

 

[TFucili]

Oh wow and I thought this garbage was limited to hard left areas.

Well, the Imperial Sand Dunes is in Commiefornia, after all. It's only about 170 miles or so from here. There are some decent BLM folks, but for the most part BLM has been totally infiltrated by the greenie-weenies. Plus, locally, the Preserve has now been purchased by Maricopa County Parks. Now, they are going to spend a bunch of money creating a multi-purpose land use area on land south of town, that already has a bunch of trails. Being the cynic that I am, I see the storm clouds gathering for them to create a designated OHV area where everybody is on top of one another, and systematically close down existing trails.

 

[Wayne M.]

I see. I didn’t see the boundaries, and now it’s all too clear. I recall the issues between the BLM and ranchers using the land. I can imagine how it can be.

 

[TFucili]

I have not camped or ridden there yet, but near where DavidC is in Flagtown, is The Cinders OHV. There are trails, and steep hills on/around a volcanic cone. The plague of locusts from Phoenix swarms up there during the hot months, so I bet there is trash by the rolloff load up there, too.

 

[SnoKing]

I jeep'd a lot in Box Canyon out of Florence, Az a few years back with a friend that had a really nice Rubicon bus. Place was decently clean back then. Now with the number of side by side's I see heading East out of Gold Canyon every day, I am sure the same issues are happening in the East Valley.

I think this photo was West of the B-line, where we could see the fountain and Fountain Hills. I always got the shotgun seat in the Red Bus, as I left 20 bucks for gas on the dash each we went out.

Box Canyon, Florence.

 

[Wayne M.]

This is getting interesting. Look at that cacti in that last shot. Just like in the cartoons!
So after seeing that guide person in full anti sun gear, I started thinking. In terms of temperature and sun protection, what are we talking about? When is the no go time to be out there? What other trivia would a back East city boy like me find interesting?

 

[SnoKing]

This is getting interesting. Look at that cacti in that last shot. Just like in the cartoons!
So after seeing that guide person in full anti sun gear, I started thinking. In terms of temperature and sun protection, what are we talking about? When is the no go time to be out there? What other trivia would a back East city boy like me find interesting?

Stay away from the jumping cholla's. My friend Bryan in the top picture (White shirt and hat) got attacked on one of our outings. And yes you would not want to do this in the hot summer days well over 100 degrees.

In the top picture we had to turn back at a sign saying that the area beyond this gate was closed for a couple months for some migrating bird or animal. We had planed to go down and ford Verde River and come out at Fountain Hills, but turned back and took a bit of a different route back to where we started in. Where we started is a popular spot for shooters and they leave big messes, of stuff they shoot at.

 

[SnoKing]

This is getting interesting. Look at that cacti in that last shot. Just like in the cartoons!
So after seeing that guide person in full anti sun gear, I started thinking. In terms of temperature and sun protection, what are we talking about? When is the no go time to be out there? What other trivia would a back East city boy like me find interesting?