Questions about HM Trails

New guy here so thanks in advance for any help! I have never been to the HM trail system and would like to plan a few trips. I recently picked up the new Teryx 4 4seater and my 4 year old twins ride with us. Up here in PA I put a pair of standard child car seats in the back seats of the Teryx for the kids. My first question is will HM let me ride with this. I read somewhere that they might give me a hard time claiming that it is modified. Do you think I will have any problems? Second, my girls are under 30lbs so an MX helmet would give them whiplash. What we did was got them goggles and a ski helmet. Do you think they will give us a hard time about that? If so I could always pick up some DOT helmets and then just switch them once we leave the trail head. Any other recommendations for great sight seeing ride with the family at HM. Thanks again and I look forward to meeting some of you guys at some point!

A list off all the rules are listed on the website trailsheaven.com and look under the trails heading,,,there u will find trail rules,,by what I read, (unless u can call and get permission) you might have some problems,I hate to see u make the trip and not get to ride,but if u call first the most they can say is no, good luck

Hey! Congrats on the machine!

I think they will give you a hard time. I could be wrong. There's one way to find out.

Check out atvresort.com. That's Ashland and it is at a trail opening to HM. Very nice family place.

Hope to see ya on the trail!

What part do you guys think they will give me a hard time about? The car seats? If that's the case I will get them boosters. I'll give them a call. As for the rules I did read them but there is nothing specific about the actual seats. It is an 8 hour ride for me so I dont want to waste the time. Thanks guys!

Im sorry,when I first read I thought your teryx was one where u added the rear seat with one of those kits, ( what a dummy,sorry) since yours is factory u should be ok,but I still dont know about the helmets,,it says dot approved

Call to make sure,but I think u would have a good chance and again good luck,those are nice trails

i know mastiff keeps his kids in carseats in the back of his rzr4. the only problem i would see is the helmets. i have never heard of anyone being checked to make sure their helmet is dot though...

i was stopped by the ranger with my girl in a booster seat and he didn't say anything. as far as helmets, yes, they must be dot approved. i had the same problem with my 3 year old with the helmet being too heavy. the only advice i can give you is slowly work them into helmets. my kids are now getting use to wearing them. it just takes some time for them to build the neck muscles to susport the helmet.

H&M is a nice place to ride with well marked trails. If you can't ride, or get much grief over any of this, just hook up with some members on here for some really great rides at other places. There are really good places to ride with no rules or rangers that would be half the driving distance or less. We can keep you riding til the little ones grow enough to meet the H&M requirements.


on your new ride, and welcome to the club.

Hump wrote:

H&M is a nice place to ride with well marked trails. If you can't ride, or get much grief over any of this, just hook up with some members on here for some really great rides at other places. There are really good places to ride with no rules or rangers that would be half the driving distance or less. We can keep you riding til the little ones grow enough to meet the H&M requirements.


on your new ride, and welcome to the club.

Thanks for the info! less drvining distance is a good thing coming from PA! Really what I am looking for is "groomed" or nice open trails so my daughters are not getting hit by low limbs all day. I know that will happen anywhere but from the videos I have watched of HM those trails are huge ompared to what I am used to. Basically I am fitting a 62" wide machine down ATV trails all day so it takes a beating. And everything is rock up here, we dont have any dirts as it looks like WV has from the videos. I also like the scenic trails. When I am on my own I am pretty aggressive driver and like to push it a bit. I will make some "adults only" trips as well but my first priority is find a great plaec with nice SXS friendly trails that are long enough to put some real miles on. Thanks again everyone!

With the helmets for the little ones consider getting them a neck brace similar to these

http://compare.ebay.com/like/270800618492?var=lv<yp=AllFixedPriceItemTypes&var=sbar&_lwgsi=y&cbt=y

it will transfer some of the weight of the helmet to the shoulders and if they fall asleep while riding it will offer even more support.

Look on the dash of all your SxS, bet there is a decal warning no passengers under 12 and that is what all "legal" ride locations will go by. H/M will be risky. I ride my 2yr & 3yr old grandaughters all over the outlaw traile but stay far away from H/M. H/M is a gamble and may have no trouble but the rules are clear so when you run into Barney on the trail could be truble.

This has been my experience. I was stopped by a ranger with my 5 year old daughter with me. only thing he cared about was if we had our permits or not. he didn't say a thing about her being in a car seat.

I think the rangers enforce the rules when they want to......they want everyone to have fun and be safe...

I've never rode the HM trails either and I was wondering if anyone has rode the Rock House or Bearwallow and do these trails connect to each other..Is there camping connecting these trails also.. Thanks For the info...

chris50 wrote:

I've never rode the HM trails either and I was wondering if anyone has rode the Rock House or Bearwallow and do these trails connect to each other..Is there camping connecting these trails also.. Thanks For the info...

I've been to both and don't remember a trail connection. Rock House is more fun and has more riders. I've seen rangers there inspect for valid permits and let guys go on with bicycle helmets. I wear snow boarder helmets and have never been challenged. Wouldn't depend on personal injury insurance to pay out for an accident w/o a DOT helmet, though.

chris50 wrote:

I've never rode the HM trails either and I was wondering if anyone has rode the Rock House or Bearwallow and do these trails connect to each other..Is there camping connecting these trails also.. Thanks For the info...

The only H/M trails that connect right now is Pinnacle Creek & Indian Ridge and soon the new Pocahontas Trail system will connect to these also but eventually they are all suppose to connect.