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Roxbury ATV Club Eyes Linking Their Trails to Bethel-Area’s Network

October 17, 2011 - Roxbury-The Roxbury ATV Riders Club, located 30 miles north of Bethel, boasts more than 300 members, 75 of them from the Bethel area.

The club’s treasurer, Jane Ryerson, is a Bethel resident, and there are two “supporting businesses” here, Sun Valley Sports and Stony Brook Campground in Hanover.

But the club’s extensive trail system of more than 220 miles has no direct way of connecting to the trail systems here, according to club President Mike Worthley.

The lifelong Roxbury resident would like to change that.

“I’ve never been to Bethel by ATV,” Worthley said, adding that he particularly wants to visit the ice caves in nearby Greenwood.

In return, should the missing link be forged, the Roxbury Club will soon be able to offer ATVers from this area a trailside view of the Record Hill wind towers.

Worthley said the club plans to build a turnout on its current trail system, clear some trees (photo at top of page), and open an unobstructed view of the Record Hill ridgeline.

With a little luck, there could even be an up-close look.

Prior to construction getting underway on the wind farm, one of the club’s trails crossed the ridge and went on to connect with Horseshoe Valley Road.

That trail has been discontinued while the construction is underway, Worthley said, but he expects it to be reopened when the project is completed, and he has had preliminary discussions about the possibility of putting in a small, on-site picnic area for ATVers.

If such varied attractions of western Maine could be linked by a single ATV trail system, he argues, businesses (especially food and gas outlets) throughout the area would benefit from the increased traffic.

A family activity

Worthley, who has been ATVing for 20 years, and said that for most club members the sport is essentially a family activity.

He and his wife, Wanda, have 12 grandchildren, and he recently purchased a new Polaris Ranger Crew four-seat 4X4, so he can take the ones under 10 with him on rides.

“They’re aways wanting to go for a ride,” he said.

The rides begin in the Worthleys’ backyard, off Roxbury Notch Road, and radiate out on trails through Andover, Byron, Mexico and Rumford.

In places the ATV trails in the area connect over town roads, which several local towns towns allow the “wheelers” to use.

The Roxbury Club also organizes several group rides over the course of the season, many devoted to raising money for charities, including the Diabetes Association, Bethel Christmas for Families, Mexico Santa’s Helpers, Oxford County Families in Crisis, the Andover Food Pantry, the Donald E. Ryerson Child Welfare Fund and the Hope Association.

And for each of the past two years, the club rides have generated $3,000 for the Make-A-Wish Foundation of Maine.

There are also rides to cover expenses.

This past Saturday, 174 participants on 136 machines turned out for a poker run and chicken barbecue that raised $1,700 toward the roughly $40,000 the club spends each year on trail maintenance (the bulk of the balance comes from municipal and other grants).

The riders came from clubs all across the state, Worthley said.”

He added that having active ATV clubs in towns like Andover, Upton and Bethel would be a big help when it comes to the trail work, “but it’s hard to get people to make the commitment of time and effort.”

What’s not hard at all, he said, is attracting wheelers to the area.

“We have dust, we have mud, we have views — we’ve got it all.”

He thanked the club’s more than 50 landowners for that.

“Without them, there would be no trails.”

Michael Daniels, Bethel Citizen, October 2011


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