Off-Road Vehicle Park

2012
Creative Enterprise
Center, Ripon College
Prepared by: Matthew
Fischer
-Off-Road Vehicle
ParkMarket Research Report
Contents
Executive Summary
2
Recreational Vehicle Park Industry
3
Existing Riding Opportunities
4
Level of Difficulty
10
Diversity
11
Operational Time
11
Special Events
11
Proximity to Towns
11
Collecting Payments
12
Revenue Projection
12
Conclusion
12
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Executive Summary
The Wisconsin Off-Road Vehicle Park, Inc. [the Client] has given the Creative Enterprise the opportunity
to conduct market research on the off road vehicle park industry, with an emphasis on larger off road
vehicle riding areas. The Client hopes to open a large park in northern Wisconsin on approximately
10,000 acres, which would allow ORVs, ATVs, and OHMs along with snowmobiles in the winter.
The Minnesota Department of Natural Resources does a good job dividing off-highway vehicles into four
sections which we will use for the remainder of this report. These include:

Off-road vehicles (ORVs), motorized recreational vehicles capable of cross country travel on
natural terrain.

Off-highway motorcycles (OHMs), motorized off-highway vehicles traveling on two wheels.
OHM’s have a seat or saddle designed to be straddled by the operator and have handlebars for
steering control. Motorcycles may be legal for highway use and still considered to be OHMs if
used for off highway operation on trails or natural terrain.

Two classes of all-terrain vehicles (ATVs), motorized vehicles with at least three but no more
than six low pressure tires that have an engine displacement of less than 1,000 cubic
centimeters. Class one consisting of vehicles less than 1,000 pounds and class two from 1,0001,800 pounds. This is in dry weight, which is the weight of the vehicle without fluids.
Also according to the Minnesota DNR, “Vehicles not considered ORVs include snowmobiles, ATVs,
OHMs, motorcycles, watercraft or aircraft. Farm, logging, military, emergency, law enforcement, utility,
trail grooming, and construction vehicles are not considered to be ORVs when used for their intended
purpose.” These defined off-road vehicles are used because of Wisconsin’s failure to define any vehicle
besides an ATV in their published ATV laws. Wisconsin DNR describes ATVs as having more than three
wheels, less than 900 pounds, engine driven, width of 50 inches or less, and a seat made to be
straddled. This definition is noteworthy because some of the researched riding areas limit the width of
vehicles used to 50 inches.
The CEC looked at parks and trail systems located across the country to analyze the possibility of success
of a northern Wisconsin park. These riding areas are located in Minnesota, Missouri, Michigan, Illinois,
West Virginia, Arkansas, and Tennessee. The CEC used information from these parks, along with other
findings, to assess the market for off-road vehicle riding.
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Off Road Vehicle Industry
The market for places to do off-road vehicle driving using ORVs and other off highway vehicles (OHVs)
has been growing over recent years. According to a memorandum from the Wisconsin secretary to
natural resources board members dated December 29, 2008, between 2000 and 2008, registrations of
ATVs in Wisconsin grew by more than 240 percent. 1 And between 1994 and 2009 there has been a 75%
increase in off-highway vehicle driving participants in Wisconsin.2 The Michigan DNR saw a 46-percent
increase in licensed ORVs from 1998-2008. In 2007-2008, Michigan issued 23,727 ORV licenses to nonresidents, of which 40.3% or almost 9,600 were from Wisconsin. The rising number of Wisconsin
residents who hold Michigan ORV licenses has not been accompanied by new trails and parks in
Wisconsin. This leads to the opportunity for creating these trails and parks in the Wisconsin market.
By looking at existing parks throughout the United States we can better analyze the potential for a new
Wisconsin park. The parks and trails that were researched include both public and private and offer a
variety of opportunities for off-highway driving enthusiasts.
1
Memorandum from the Secretary of the Wisconsin DNR to the Natural Resources Board, December 29, 2008.
2
Wisconsin DNR
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Arkansas
Arkansas features two large national forests with trail riding opportunities: Ozark National
forest and Ouachita National forest. Within these forests are seven well-known trails and trail
systems. These are split up between different ranger districts and range from 25 to 45 miles of
trails in each area. Each trail system accommodates a variety of vehicles including ATVs, OHMs,
and other ORVs. Some trails are also mountain bike, hiking, and horse friendly.
Minnesota
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Iron Range off-highway Vehicle Recreation Area is located in Gilbert, Minnesota, about an hour
north of Duluth and three hours north of the Twin Cities. Iron Range has around 1,200 acres of
trails, scramble areas, hill climbs, and rock crawls. The park offers OHV training and hosts
special events. This park is for the use of OHMs, ATVs, and ORVs. A total of 3,712 total offhighway vehicles used the park in 2011, including 1,844 ATVs, 1,359 ORVs, and 507 OHMs. This
number was down from previous years because the park was shut down for part of July, which
is normally the park’s biggest month. In July alone the park normally has around 3,700 vehicles,
but only had around 1,500 in 2011. Iron Range normally averages between 5,000 and 6,000
off-highway vehicles and, according to the park records, had around 8,000 in its first year. The
park is managed by the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources and does not charge
admission. Because it is managed by the state, the park also has camping sites and other nonmotorized activities.
Missouri
St. Joe State Park is one of two state-run off-road parks located in Missouri. This park offers
2,000 acres of trails of which 800 acres are sand flats. These trails are for Motorcycles, ATVs,
four-wheel-drive vehicles, dune buggies, side-by-side vehicles, and snowmobiles. The trails
through the woods are not open to the larger vehicles, but the sand flats are for all vehicles.
The ORV attendance for St. Joe State Park was 39,187 people in 2011 with their biggest
numbers coming in April, May, June, and October. The number of ORV users follows the same
trend as total park visitation and was the smallest attendance in the past 10 years.
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Finger Lakes State Park is the second Missouri state park with off-road areas. This park offers
riders 5.25 miles of trails through a wooded landscape formerly used for coal mining. The trails
offer different difficulties for riders with varying experience. They are maintained by the park
staff. There are also trails in the open riding area that are not maintained and users ride at
their own risk. The limit for off-road vehicles (ORVs) is a maximum of width of 50 inches.
Riders must purchase a $5 per day riding permit.
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Michigan
Michigan DNR
Michigan trails and scramble areas, marked with blue dots, are located throughout the
northern part of Lower Michigan and in the Upper Peninsula. These trails and scramble areas
are all run by the state of Michigan. There are 3,200 miles of trails which include 960 miles of
motorcycle trails, 1,600 miles of ATV trails, and 640 miles of ORV routes. According to the
Michigan DNR, these trails are lightly groomed, but riders can experience narrow trails, rough
moguls, steep hills, stumps, rocks, brush, loose surfaces, and other hazards. Some of these
trails are connected, but most are separated by location and vary greatly in size. The scramble
areas in Michigan are spread across the lower state and offer riding for all types of ORVs with
permits. These areas include:
o St. Helen’s Motorsport area, 1,280 acres3 of trails and scramble area. This
scramble area is almost 2 square miles and is surrounded by different trails in
every direction and is open to all types of ORVS.
o Black Lake Scramble Area, which is also surrounded by trails, but features a
scramble area only for ORVs less than 50 inches in width.
o Silver Lake State Park, featuring a 450-acre off-road vehicle area. This area is
mostly a sand dune area for all types of ORVs. It is open April 1st through October
31st.
o Bull Gap, surrounded by around 100 miles of trails. This hill itself is a dune and
features hill climbs.
o The Mounds, for all types of ORVs. This area is located within the 100 mile trail
area around Bull Gap. Open year-round, it is closed for trucks from March 15th
until May 15th and limits all other vehicles to the eight-acre scramble area during
this time.
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Illinois
Cliffs Insane
Terrain
Rockport
Cliffs Insane Terrain Off-Road Park is located in Illinois featuring 300 acres of easy to hard trails.
This privately owned park allows all types of ORVs including ATVs, Dirt Bikes, UTVs, three
wheelers, trucks, Jeeps, and go carts. The price to get into the park is $20 for one day, $14 for a
half day, $10 for an extra day, and $5 for any passengers and bystanders. The park also rents
out helmets and flags and sells flags and t shirts. The park is open year round with different
summer and winter hours and puts on some special events throughout the year.
Rockport Off-Road Park, located in Illinois featuring 700 acres of trail riding along with 900
more acres for guided group riding. This park has an annual fee of $180, daily pass of $10, or a
family of four pass for $350. This park allows for ATVs, OHMs, and ORVs.
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Tennessee
Coal Creek OHV
Coal Creek OHV area is located in Tennessee and features 72,000 acres of off-road riding area.
This OHV riding area allows almost every type of vehicle including ATVs, ORVs, OHMs,
Mountain Bikes, and Rail Buggies. Within the 72,000 acres there are over 250 miles of open
trails with varying levels of difficulty. Within these trails, some are marked specifically for
certain types of vehicles. The park requires a land use permit for each person and a copy of the
permit with them at all times. The price ranges from $17 per day to $88 annually for adults and
is about half the cost for children 12 and under.
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West Virginia
Hatfield-McCoy Trails are located in West Virginia featuring over 500 miles of trails. This trail
system includes six different sections including Bearwallow, Buffalo Mountain, Little Coal River,
Indian Ridge, Pinnacle Creek, and Rock House. Each set of trails offers a little different setting
with a different amount of trail difficulty and length. A pass for the trails is paid per user at a
cost of $26.50 for a resident and $50 for a non-resident. The trail system has passes available
at the trailheads and other places in the area and sold 33,122 permits in 2011. Hatfield-McCoy
trails also offer trails to local towns in the area.
Level of Difficulty
In looking at the different parks and trail systems throughout the country, there are a few
aspects these parks have in common. The first is that all trails and parks, whether state owned
or private, have trails with varying level of difficulty. The larger trails and parks tend to have
this more so than the smaller ones, but having more diverse trails will give a park more
potential to thrive. This is because the park will have the ability to draw trail enthusiasts of all
age groups and skill levels as well as family and single riders.
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Diversity
Another aspect is that the different parks have trails as well as scramble areas, hill climbs, and
other opportunities for riders besides only trails. This is not included with trail systems such as
the Hatfield-McCoy, but is a major part of many of the parks throughout the country. These
different areas offer opportunities for the riders to do something other than the normal trail
riding offered at parks.
Operational Time
A third aspect that is similar for parks is that they are open year round. Many of the parks
throughout the country have different climates than a northern Wisconsin park would, but
northern parks such as the Iron Range in Minnesota are open year round except during firearms
deer season. The November 1st until April 30th hours change to Friday, Saturday, and Sunday
only, but they are still open through the spring thaw. In dealing with the environmental impact
during the spring thaw, weekend only hours could help lessen any seasonal environmental
impact thus assuring the integrity of the trails while still bringing a consistent number of
customers to the park. Sections of trails may be more impacted by seasonal conditions, lower
areas or weaker soils, can also be closed to minimize this impact while still providing riding
opportunities in the park.
Special Events
The final aspect that all the parks and trail systems have in common is that they host special
events throughout the year. These events range from something as simple as a free ride day to
more complex competitions at some larger parks. These events create extra awareness of the
park and can be a great tool to bring in new customers.
Proximity to Towns
Along with the different aspects that all the trails have in common, there are also some things
that differ between different trail systems and parks that can be useful in deciding how to set
up a new park. One thing that was noteworthy about the Hatfield-McCoy trail system, as
mentioned in the earlier description, is that this trail system has trail routs to off highway
vehicle friendly towns. This could be a great asset because it can bring business into small
communities that will encourage them to give support to parks and trail systems. This also
makes it easier for people traveling because they can go from lodging areas straight to the trails
without having to go to the main parking lot. This is not something that is possible in all parks
because of different methods of payment and management of the trails and parks, but is
something to keep in mind.
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Collecting Payments
The different methods of collecting payments is another thing that differs between parks. The
state run parks and trails are obviously cheaper to ride on than private parks. Prices for parks
and trails run anywhere from $26 a year to almost $200 for an annual pass. Passes are also
given out for a day, two days, three days, family, and seasonal. Many places offer passes to be
bought online and at the actual park or trails. The biggest difference between parks and some
trail systems is that parks generally only have one entrance which makes it easier to make sure
everyone has paid whereas some trail systems have multiple places to enter and someone
making sure people have a passes on the trails. To minimize employees and maximize paying
customers it would be beneficial to have one entrance. This entrance should be placed near a
town to provide easy access (as in Hatfield-McCoy system) while still being able to minimize
employees and non-paying users.
Revenue Projection
After researching different parks throughout the country we found that prices for private parks
range from $10 to $20 per day. Public parks charge much less for OHV use—from $5 per day to
$26 per year. Because of the strong price competition from state run OHV areas in Minnesota
and Michigan with $21 and $16.25 yearly registration fee for vehicles, we are not comfortable
giving a revenue projection at this time. Before we can project revenue for a proposed OHV
park in Wisconsin, the CEC will need to do primary research in the feasibility stage, talking to
prospective customers from different OHV clubs and organizations. This will allow us to better
estimate the cost per day which customers would be willing to come to the park instead of
going across state lines to less expensive state-run parks.
Conclusion
After conducting extensive research on the off-road vehicle industry we have gained a strong
understanding of the market which the client is planning to enter. With this understanding we
believe that there is enough information to move onto the next step, which is a market
feasibility study. In a feasibility study we can contact potential customers from different clubs
and organizations to gauge their willingness to pay for use in a more expensive Wisconsin ORV
area. We would then be able to give a revenue projection and possibly move on to a business
plan.
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