ATV Trails Link-Up Project Gets a Boost

RENOVO, PA – A recent state grant will help move along a growing tourism opportunity for the Renovo area. It has all to do with the growing use of all terrain vehicles in the mountains of western Clinton County and the tourism dollars ATV use will bring.

A $78,000 grant was recently awarded to Central Mountains ATV Association from the state’s Department of Conservation and Natural Resources. That money will be used to complete the design of an approximate 1-mile connector trail on private property in the Brewery Run area of Renovo. The plan is to then get funding to support actual construction of that trail. This specific connector is one of several links that need to be made in order to complete the full trail connecting the Whiskey Springs and Bloody Skillet ATV trails.

The trail link has been in the works for at least five years as the Central Mountains ATV group, Clinton County government and the Clinton County Tourist Promotion Agency continue their initiative to expand on the growing interest in ATV use of the state forest trails in the county.

County tourism director Julie Brennan said from a tourism perspective, the grant announcement is an important step needed for the overall Whiskey Springs to Bloody Skillet project to become a reality. According to DCNR, there are several “missing pieces” to accomplishing the full connector trail and this is one of them, Brennan said, adding, “The project has a lot of moving parts and we are working with DCNR to chip away at them.”

Brennan offered up considerable background on the boom in all terrain use locally: ATV ridership has exploded in Clinton County, across the state and beyond, she said, and statistics from the state support that: According to DCNR, as of August, 2020, there were 178,627 registered ATVs in PA (registration is renewed every two years) and 118,919 limited registrations (limited means the ATV is used only on the farm or on personal property, not on state trails, and the limited registration plate is a permanent one). The total of 297,546 ATVs compares to 280,174 just three years ago in 2017 (171,580 registered, and 108,594 limited registrations). Brennan said, “You can see how the numbers continue to grow substantially.”

She noted it was five years ago the Clinton County Commissioners conducted an economic impact study on ATVs that showed riders spent on average, $1,700 per year on ATV recreation in the county. “We feel that has only grown. Our trail system has been heavily used and even more so during the COVID pandemic; Route 120 is like a super highway every Friday with traffic headed to western Clinton County with their toy haulers, ready to ride their ATVs.”

Brennan said the TPA participates in six different promotional shows each year: “Requests for ATV trail/usage information is one of our top requests….typically about one in three people we speak with is asking about ATV trails. We also see more and more people asking for what we would call “destination” trails – ‘where can I ride but then stop and have dinner, see a local attraction, stop in a town and purchase goods and services.’ That’s how the local snowmobile trails were originally set up…..the trail saw stops at restaurants, for example. Both ATVs and dirt bike riders want that same type of opportunity and rural towns need that type of economic support. That’s the logic behind the Northcentral PA ATV Initiative that Central Mountains ATV Association is leading: make more ridable miles available and support rural economies by bringing ATV traffic into small towns.”

What is out there now, according to Brennan: “We have three ATV trails classified as summer and winter trails in our immediate region (Whiskey Springs – 50 miles; Bloody Skillet – 38 miles; and Haneyville – 18 miles). This represents a little more than 100 miles of trail, which is not much in the grand scheme of things. The trails, Whiskey Springs in particular, are heavily used. We (through the Northcentral PA ATV Initiative that is spearheaded by Central Mountains ATV Association and supported by our Tourist Promotion Agency, the Clinton County Commissioners and many others) have been working with the state and other partners for several years now to increase the number of ridable ATV miles.”

She said that happens in a few different ways:

– A number of municipalities in the region have opened their roads to ATV travel, which has connected some trails and created economic activity in small communities like Renovo and Cross Fork, for example. Renovo Borough passed an ordinance a couple years back that permits ATVs on borough streets.

– Another way is to create more trails on public land, and/or on private land….both of which we (the CMATVA, TPA and County) are working on locally.

– Another way would be for the state to allow ATVs (and dirt bikes) on forestry roads and on small sections of state roadways, which has not yet been accomplished.

Nearly 60 percent of Clinton County is state-owned land (about a quarter of a million acres), so the thought is that there is plenty of opportunity to develop trails.

She noted too that snowmobile registrations continue to decline (as of August 2020, there were 30,690 snowmobiles registered in PA; in 2017, that number was 37,891). One way to look at that, she said, is for every registered snowmobile, there are nearly 10 registered ATVs, “so we feel that we are justified in wanting more opportunities for four-wheelers.”

At this point, dirt bikes are not permitted on the state’s ATV trails, but Brennan said that may change. “We are hopeful that someday that will change so the trails can be multi-use trails. State Rep. Matt Gabler (75th District, representing parts of Clearfield & Elk counties), has introduced House Bill 1706 (which we support), which, in general, would allow people to register their dirt bikes with the state and give them access to public trails. 76th district Rep. Stephanie Borowicz is a co-sponsor of that legislation, which is currently in the House Tourism & Recreational Development Committee. Just a couple of weeks ago, we provided information for Clearfield County’s tourism director to testify before that committee in support of the measure.”

Brennan said that.in addition to supporting ATV opportunities, the Clinton County Tourist Promotion Agency supports opportunities for motorcycles. The TPA works with the Durty Dabbers Motorcycle Club, which hosts several moto-trials and dual sport events that annually bring in more than 1,000 people. The area is also host to a national Enduro motorcycle race that sees about 500 participants and their families come annually. Events such as these have a very positive impact on our local economy, she said.