Northern Utah Trail System (NUTS), aka Shoshone Trail

Draft map of NUTS (aka Shoshone Trail) dated 14 February 2003, prepared by the Utah Division of Parks and Recreation. "Phase 1" routes are in red; "potential trails" are in orange. Click on the image for a larger version.
Off-road vehicle promoters and land managers in northern Utah are currently in the process of establishing a 500-mile ORV mega-trail, depicted on the map at right. The project was originally dubbed the Northern Utah Trail System (NUTS), then renamed the Shoshone Trail, to invite comparisons to southern Utah's Paiute ATV mega-trail. Currently the project doesn't seem to have an official name, so we'll take the liberty of simply calling it NUTS.

Talking about NUTS is tricky, because it's a moving target: The plan has been revised almost continuously over the last two years, and there is currently no official statement of what the final extent of the trail system will be. A 200-mile core system of relatively uncontroversial "Phase 1" routes has already been established, while the ultimate goal is a much more extensive motorized trail system stretching from Brigham City to Bear Lake.

Even Phase 1 of NUTS could be problematic, for several reasons. It is centered on a critical wildlife migration corridor in the Bear River and Monte Cristo mountain ranges, where the effects of ORV use on wildlife have never been assessed. Many of the Phase 1 routes are actually improved dirt roads that are used by standard passenger vehicles, so increased ORV use here could result more crowding, accidents, and fatalities. (In Utah, children as young as 8 years old may legally ride off-road vehicles.) Whereas current use of these routes is mostly by local residents, one purpose of NUTS is to make northern Utah a destination for ORV users from a much wider geographical area. This type of use will create a demand for additional trailhead facilities and campsites. The experience of the Paiute Trail shows that these locations will become ATV play areas, with severe damage to the surrounding land.

Clearly, however, NUTS promoters intend to expand the system far beyond Phase 1, onto many routes that are highly controversial. Expansion will require crossing wide stretches of private land, as well as permitting motorized use of a number of routes on public land that are currently nonmotorized. Efforts to legally open these closed routes are already underway.

Perhaps most disturbing is the fact that all of the planning of NUTS has taken place behind closed doors. There have been no official announcements of the project and no requests for public comments. NUTS promoters, including the Forest Service and the BLM, have adopted a strategy of "piecemealing" the project: establishing the trail system in small increments, in order to divert attention from the cumulative effects of the project as a whole. If NUTS is as good an idea as they seem to think it is, why are they keeping such a low profile?

Photos of NUTS

This photo essay illustrates many of the closed routes that the Ogden Ranger District is currently proposing to open; most of these have either been proposed as NUTS trails or would connect to potential NUTS trails. For more photos, see this older photo essay on the Shoshone Trail (but be aware that much of the text is now out of date).

History of NUTS

The history of NUTS, though brief, has been extremely convoluted. Here are some highlights of how NUTS got to where it is today:

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Last modified on 11 April 2004.