Somerset County Pivots to Loop System After North-South ATV Route Stalls
A tight cluster of municipalities in southern Somerset County could become home to expanded recreational use of all-terrain vehicles, which advocates say will draw new tourism dollars. Summit Township would be the hub for expanded on- and off-road use of ATVs in an evolving county plan that’s intended to boost tourism by increasing the places…
A tight cluster of municipalities in southern Somerset County could become home to expanded recreational use of all-terrain vehicles, which advocates say will draw new tourism dollars.
Summit Township would be the hub for expanded on- and off-road use of ATVs in an evolving county plan that’s intended to boost tourism by increasing the places where ATVs can be ridden legally on public roads, Somerset County Commissioner Brian Fochtman said. The county authorized a $80,300 feasibility study of creating a countywide trail system last year, with a final report due by October.
Fochtman, a leading advocate for an ATV trail network who chairs the board, said his initial hope was for a north-south route through the eastern part of the county, but those plans didn’t work out. Instead, the focus has shifted to a Summit Township hub for a 15-mile loop, which would include Larimer, Elk Lick and Greenville townships and the boroughs of Meyersdale and Salisbury.
Of those municipalities, only Salisbury, population around 700, prohibits ATV use on public streets.
Elsewhere in the county, Indian Lake and Windber also permit shared use of public roads with ATVs, but Confluence Borough has not yet amended its ordinances to allow shared use.
“We’ve kind of been looking at an off-road trail system, which is eventually where I wanted to go,” he said. “The county doesn’t own any of these roads, so it’s up to the township supervisors” to open municipal roads to ATV traffic.
Indian Lake Borough, population about 400, which adopted its ordinance in 2016, was among the first municipalities in Somerset County to open public roads to ATVs. There have been no problems, Mayor John ‘Jay’ McClatchey said.
“A lot of people here have them,” he said. “We’ve had no issues, no problems.”
The trails along with expanded use of ATVs could generate an additional $30 million for the county in tourism dollars based on revenue generated from similar ventures in Potter County and West Virginia, Fochtman said.
Visitors to southern West Virginia’s Hatfield-McCoy Trails, which is among the largest off-road trail systems in the U.S., covering over 1 million acres of public/private lands, generated an estimated $38 million and supported 450 jobs in 2019, according to a Marshall University study.
Somerset County tourism, which is an economic driver, generates between $500 million and $700 million annually.
Boosting tourism is driving the development of an ATV trail, according to the county.
“Various economic benefits can be felt as a dedicated ATV route can attract riders from outside the area, boosting local businesses such as hotels, restaurants and gas stations,” according to the county’s request for proposals for the study. “Additionally the route provides a focal point for the local ATV community, encouraging social events, club activities and organized rides.”
Some 286,000 ATVs were registered in Pennsylvania in 2024 and Somerset County cited “clear growth of ATVs and side-by-side ownership” in its request for proposals for the trail feasibility study. ATVs generally seat one person, and side-by-sides or utility task vehicles are bigger, accommodating two to six passengers.
But safety is a concern, partly due to a high center of gravity for the vehicles.
ATVs have a death rate that is 10 to 15 times higher per mile driven when compared to passenger cars, according to the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission, which says the vehicles are not designed for road use. In addition, top ATV makers and the ATV Safety Institute, an Irvine, Calif.-based nonprofit, say the vehicles should not be ridden on paved roads except for crossing.
Outlaw trail riders are also a concern.
Fair Hope Township resident Gregory S. Tunstall worries about a trail system that will “turn our home into a commercial network of invaders.”
Tunstall, who owns 1,300-acres of undeveloped land in the township, said he’s constantly cleaning up after trail riders who leave behind beer cans and other trash. They’ve also cut trees to make fires and spun out their ATVs in streams, damaging the environment.
He’s concerned that Fair Hope could eventually become part of the county’s trail system.
“It’s just a pristine area, a wilderness preserve that I want to give back to nature,” Tunstall said about his land. “We don’t need this kind of garbage.”
He faulted Fochtman for his advocacy of the ATV system.
“You want to use our ground as your playground, as a porta-john, and leave us with a mess to clean up.”
“He just keeps pushing this,” he said. “We don’t want this.”
David M. Sanko, executive director, Pennsylvania Association of Township Supervisors, said municipalities must determine whether expanded use of ATVs is right for their individual communities.
“It’s probably not right for every community,” he said. “There are lots of challenges that come with it.
“With any new venture, there will always be bad actors.”
Fair Hope resident Tunstall said a township meeting last fall where county officials reviewed plans for the ATV trail nearly turned into a shouting match. Fochtman acknowledged the blowback.
“I’ve gotten beat up pretty good at some of these meetings,” he said.