MVUM Interpretation

I'm currently in the Superior National Forest in Minnesota and I'm a bit confused about whether or not I'm legal to drive on some trails in our 4Runner. The special designation describes "Four Wheel Drive Non-Highway Legal Vehicles Wider Than 50 Inches and ATV"

If I were a lawyer, I would interpret that to mean that I can not legally drive on it, but if I removed my license plates and was no longer legal to drive on the highway, then I could. This makes no sense to me, so I'm just wondering if somebody may have some insight into how some of these odd special designations are meant to be interpreted?

 

I think you interpreted right before removing your plate.

 

Sounds like UTV and ATV trails. That description seems unnecessarily complicated to me.

Here in Wisconsin, it usually says "all wheeled vehicles 65 inches wide or less", "high clearance highway legal", or things like that.

 

What is the rational behind essentially making all "Four Wheel Drive Vehicles" legal except those that are also legal to drive on the highway? There's another one that doesn't specify Four Wheel Drive, but just says "Wheeled Vehicle" while everything else is the same.

I guess I just don't understand the purpose of such a restriction. Is there any way around it, such as getting an OHV registration sticker? Does that technically make it highway legal and non-highway legal?

 

Since it's a National Forest, I would expect consistent definitions across different areas. I guess that's a lot to expect from a government agency!

It definitely seems unnecessarily complex to me. I would totally understand an upper limit on the width due to the actual width of the trail, but to only have a lower limit on width combined with legality on the highway just doesn't make sense to me.

 

Keeps the jeepers from rutting out the trails.

 

But if you had a Jeep that was modified in such a way to make it "Non-Higway Legal", then you'd be good to go? I know I'm thinking too much into this, but I'm just annoyed by the way it's worded. It's like it's just trying to give me false hope!

 

There can be a multitude of classifications for road/trail use. Here we have OHV, Highway legal 4WD, motorcycle, >50", pack animals and hikers. The classification you're describing has terrible verbiage. I pulled up the MVUM for that area you're in and it is very different from my previous experiences. "Large trucks" "Buses" Wtf?

 

We went through one today that said it was open to buses and motorhomes on the forest service app. I would love to have seen a frickin bus squeeze through a narrow 2-track where even Tacomas and 4Runners were getting pinstripes!

 

Forest service must be on something good up there in the north. They pulled a holiday rambler off Hagerman pass today. If there's a road someone will try to drive a bus on it.

 

Lol. My guess is that the verbiage used for the restrictions has to do with potential users in a particular area. Just guessing here, but for example, by saying 4wheeled vehicles only, it would eliminate skid-steered 6wheelers, tracked vehicles, or any other odd vehicles that may be more common in some areas than others.

Different vehicles, depending on weight and configuration, will impact a trail/road in different ways, and in different seasons of the year. My guess is the weirdness of restriction verbiage is related to the weirdness of vehicles in certain areas of the country.