Legal Access

[nast70]

Reading through some regulations this morning to see if a plan I have is legal or not. Can't find specifics about this situation:

I have some family and friends going fishing on Steel lake Saturday (Cross Lake Provincial Park). My family was going sleding on the Driftbusters trails same day and hoped to catch up with everyone else on the lake. I know I can't go through the park, however there is a corner of the lake, seemilngly not part of the park that may give us trail access.

First, can I leaglly sled on a water body within a park as long as there is motorized access? (what is the difference between trailering onto the lake, vs a trail from outside the park boundary)
Second, does anyone know if there is acctually a trail/cutline from the trail system to the lake?

I can remember reading somewhere that ATV's are allowed on water bodies (specific) within park boundarys, however ATV's are not allowed within park boundarys. It's one of those funny things that really dosen't make sense, probably why I remember it.

Any thoughts?

 

[takethebounce]

I would give you local Conservation office a call and ask them. Atleast you will get a final say on the matter and being that they would most likely being the ones handing the fine to you at the end of the day if infact you are breaking any laws.

Or you can take hit and miss legal advice from people on here Maybe someone actually already knows the answer to that though.

 

[imdoo'n]

best advice call SRD. you may as well get it from them, as info on here just doesn't hold up in court it seems. any other info not from srd is BS. unless the info giver will pay the fines.

 

[Teth-Air]

I always thought lakes and rivers where open game unless there was a by-law in place. Do cars aand ATV's drive on the lake to go ice fishing? I have seen vehicles on the ice at Chain Lakes Provincial park.

 

[imdoo'n]

I always thought lakes and rivers where open game unless there was a by-law in place. Do cars aand ATV's drive on the lake to go ice fishing? I have seen vehicles on the ice at Chain Lakes Provincial park.

first volunteer to help pay fines steps up. hehe, you may as well make sure as the fines can get substantial. not all lakes have the same rules and regulations. a phone call will get him the info he needs.

 

[nast70]

Lots of vehicles on lakes within parks due to road access. ATV's make things a bit fuzzy. SRD has no specifics online , however I do 'know a guy'. See if I can get an answer from him. Stay tuned...

 

[nast70]

Waiting for a call from the conservation officer out of Athabasca....

 

[chadwik74]

Buddy has a plane with floats. He had some family camping out at a non-motorized lake for boats and he wanted to fly out and visit them. He called fish and game and srd and they both said no problem. I heard that the BS he had to go thru after the fact was terrible, people complained, wanted him charged and everything. But by calling in for permission there was nothing they could do.

 

[imdoo'n]

no question phone and ask, and get the srd members name for future reference. no sense in paying fines if ya don't have to. seems we pay enough to the government already.

 

[nast70]

Just heard from a conservation officer. The point is they have no issues with ATV's (he mentioned quads earlier this winter before the ice was thick enough for vehicles) on the lake, they are considered the same as a vehicle you would drive on the ice with. But you are not allowed to rip around inside the park itself (campsites, hiking trails etc..). So as long as I can get on the lake via trails/cutlines etc I'm good to go!

 

[imdoo'n]

sounds good at least ya know now. so if ya can access the lake without going through the park you are ok. we stopped at the parking lot at peppers lake and walked away with $900 worth of fines. lesson learned, don't drive quad in park.

 

[powderhoundbrr]

I usually just ask forgiveness rather than permission.

 

[takethebounce]

I usually just ask forgiveness rather than permission.

unfortunately with today's technology, playing dumb doesn't get you so far. Anyone at anytime should be able to gain the proper knowledge by internet, or phone or even in person.

 

[teeroy]

went through this a few years ago on family day, the local lake has a provincial park on one side and I took my sled and rode it out to the park on the lake, while the wife and kids went into the park with the tobaggans loaded in the truck and met me there. conservation officer told me as long as I stayed on the lake with the sled all was fine, just don't ride onto land within the park. I pulled the kids around on their gt racers and a tube, we had a campfire in the day use area for cooking hotdogs etc and lots of people were bitching that I had my sled on the lake. the CO came over and told me there was nothing he could do but ask that I stop riding on behalf of the people complaining, and said he totally understood if I told him to go pound sand because I was riding legally on the lake. So I told him I would quit riding it for a while to keep the peace, he thanked me and went on his way.