Last week Jason, Jake and I hopped in the truck and headed for Nebraska. Our destination (one of them anyway) was Headworks Park near Genoa.
To be honest, I was skeptical about going to Nebraska to ride, but I must say I was pleasantly surprised. The Headworks Park riding area was clean, well maintained and very fun to ride on.
This area was created by the dredging of a canal near the river. The sand is the silt that deposits at the bottom of the canal. Twice a year the area is shut down for two weeks so the maintenance people can dredge the canal. This is one thing to watch out for – right now it’s closed and we would not have been happy if it had been closed last week.
The sand at Headworks Park is very interesting. It’s almost a silica, extremely fine. We didn’t bring our sand paddles, but we didn’t have any problem at all climbing any of the hills. The main riding area is relatively flat with hills and trees on either side. Every couple hundred yards there are large pipes, appearantly connected to the dredging operations, that separate the areas. One side borders the canal that is dredged, the other side has a band of trees with many rideable trails. The far side of the trees opens out to the river and another large riding area.
Headworks Park is maintained, at least in part, by the Nebraska Off Highway Vehicle Associaton (NOHVA). My hat is off to those guys, they have done a great job with Headworks. In fact, while there we met one of the Association members who was very polite in welcoming us to the park.
It was a great day of riding. I will post pictures before long. We had a bit of trouble with Jake’s LT80 and I had some trouble with the Warrior, but that’s another post…
If this is going to be on the world wide web, your information is not very complete. Members get complete information from us via the mail and email about when that area is open and closed as it changes all the time. Other areas in Nebraska open and close as well, we provide that information to our members as well. We also offer the only trail maps available anywhere for trails in Nebraska as we provide them to members and use the revenue to fund our organization and trails. The open and closed information mailed to our members is cheap – only $25 or $30 for at least a year for a membership and complete trail news, info, a quarterly newspaper and maps are included. The area only exists because of the voluntary work and membership fee’s paid by NOHVA members over the last 15 years. We need more people who are willing to help us with funding and help. The state government of Nebraska is NOT AT ALL supportive of ATV/dirtbike trails in our state by any means, and we have an uphill battle to fight to keep areas open trying to find volunteers and funding. The membership fee’s people pay cover the required insurance, pay for toilets, garbage collection and we provide volunteers to clean the area up and maintain trails. There is no registration program in Nebraska, we provide the only money and volunteers for all the the major trails, Headworks, Halsey and five other places to ride ATVs and dirtbikes in Nebraska. Our web site is http://www.nohva.com . If you ride at one of our areas, PLEASE consider supporting us with a membership so we can help keep the areas that now exist open to the public. I ask that, in your reviews of these place you visit that you mention that people should support the groups that WORK HARD to keep them open. If you are going to place info on the net about projects we fund, we would at least appreciate your support with a membership.
Dan Nitzel
If this is going to be on the world wide web, your information is not very complete. Members get complete information from us via the mail and email about when that area is open and closed as it changes all the time. Other areas in Nebraska open and close as well, we provide that information to our members as well. We also offer the only trail maps available anywhere for trails in Nebraska as we provide them to members and use the revenue to fund our organization and trails. The open and closed information mailed to our members is cheap – only $25 or $30 for at least a year for a membership and complete trail news, info, a quarterly newspaper and maps are included. The area only exists because of the voluntary work and membership fee’s paid by NOHVA members over the last 15 years. We need more people who are willing to help us with funding and help. The state government of Nebraska is NOT AT ALL supportive of ATV/dirtbike trails in our state by any means, and we have an uphill battle to fight to keep areas open trying to find volunteers and funding. The membership fee’s people pay cover the required insurance, pay for toilets, garbage collection and we provide volunteers to clean the area up and maintain trails. There is no registration program in Nebraska, we provide the only money and volunteers for all the the major trails, Headworks, Halsey and five other places to ride ATVs and dirtbikes in Nebraska. Our web site is http://www.nohva.com . If you ride at one of our areas, PLEASE consider supporting us with a membership so we can help keep the areas that now exist open to the public. I ask that, in your reviews of these place you visit that you mention that people should support the groups that WORK HARD to keep them open. If you are going to place info on the net about projects we fund, we would at least appreciate your support with a membership.
Dan Nitzel
Thank you for your comment and the clarifications you have made.
The tone of your comment sounds somewhat frustrated or even offended. When I wrote this post I was unaware that the NOHVA was the sole maintainer of the Headworks area. Now that I do, I will let the original post stand, as well as your comments.
While I may become an NOHVA member, I WILL NOT do so because I posted this review on the net. Part of my intention in writing this review was to increase the visibility of your organization and provide a link back to your website. I have also allowed you to comment yourself. I had hoped you would appreciate the publicity.
Thank you for your comment and the clarifications you have made.
The tone of your comment sounds somewhat frustrated or even offended. When I wrote this post I was unaware that the NOHVA was the sole maintainer of the Headworks area. Now that I do, I will let the original post stand, as well as your comments.
While I may become an NOHVA member, I WILL NOT do so because I posted this review on the net. Part of my intention in writing this review was to increase the visibility of your organization and provide a link back to your website. I have also allowed you to comment yourself. I had hoped you would appreciate the publicity.
Dear Bob,
I’m sorry about the tone, I guess I should have thought the response through a bit before posting. We are concerned about information disseminated on the Internet about the riding area, and it was not my intention to come off that way. Every time something pops up on our radar, we want to present a pitch to help us. Granted, we certainly appreciate your kind words!
We do not solely maintain the area, it’s a partnership among us and the land owners and the county sheriff’s department. The main problem is that the area is becoming over crowded. Most of the people who ride there don’t support us with a membership or a donation. The bills keep going up, and the cash is less.
We try to keep the exposure down on the Internet to lessen the crowds. It would be great if people who found information about NOHVA and Headworks on the Internet, and who rode at the area would be willing to support us to help maintain it, but that rarely ever happens. The fact of the matter is the majority of the riders on the Internet just want to know where to ride and they don’t care about the history, the rules and what they can do to help the areas they enjoy. Above all they don’t want to help fund anything. These are the people our members and the land owners pick the trash up after and fix the damage they cause. They are the ones who sue us because we have volunteered to help operate the area.
Other state’s have programs to fund trails. Nebraska most likely never will. Our organization has to fund public trails or we would not have any place to ride. In doing so we ask riders to help support our efforts with a voluntary membership. This year alone we’ve spent $10,000 to $20,000 to pay the bills involving our presence at Headworks. Over the last 17 years, the amount of funding and volunteer work our members have provided probably exceeds $100,000.
As witnessed with other areas that exist like Headworks in other parts of the nation, some day the crowd may get out of control and security will need to be hired. The local community does not have the tax base to provide security. The state will not help. The land owners have their customers to serve first. Our fear is that if security is ever needed, no one will be able to afford the cost and the area may close.
In closing, I would like thank you for allowing me to comment about the Headworks Park. This is a project that is near and dear to my heart being involved with it for 17 years. It’s been closed permanently twice in that time, only to be re-opened with our organizations efforts.
Dan Nitzel, Business Manager and Co-founder
Nebraska Off Highway Vehicle Association
2231 W. 10th St.
Grand Island, NE 68803
http://www.nohva.com
308-381-2143
Dear Bob,
I’m sorry about the tone, I guess I should have thought the response through a bit before posting. We are concerned about information disseminated on the Internet about the riding area, and it was not my intention to come off that way. Every time something pops up on our radar, we want to present a pitch to help us. Granted, we certainly appreciate your kind words!
We do not solely maintain the area, it’s a partnership among us and the land owners and the county sheriff’s department. The main problem is that the area is becoming over crowded. Most of the people who ride there don’t support us with a membership or a donation. The bills keep going up, and the cash is less.
We try to keep the exposure down on the Internet to lessen the crowds. It would be great if people who found information about NOHVA and Headworks on the Internet, and who rode at the area would be willing to support us to help maintain it, but that rarely ever happens. The fact of the matter is the majority of the riders on the Internet just want to know where to ride and they don’t care about the history, the rules and what they can do to help the areas they enjoy. Above all they don’t want to help fund anything. These are the people our members and the land owners pick the trash up after and fix the damage they cause. They are the ones who sue us because we have volunteered to help operate the area.
Other state’s have programs to fund trails. Nebraska most likely never will. Our organization has to fund public trails or we would not have any place to ride. In doing so we ask riders to help support our efforts with a voluntary membership. This year alone we’ve spent $10,000 to $20,000 to pay the bills involving our presence at Headworks. Over the last 17 years, the amount of funding and volunteer work our members have provided probably exceeds $100,000.
As witnessed with other areas that exist like Headworks in other parts of the nation, some day the crowd may get out of control and security will need to be hired. The local community does not have the tax base to provide security. The state will not help. The land owners have their customers to serve first. Our fear is that if security is ever needed, no one will be able to afford the cost and the area may close.
In closing, I would like thank you for allowing me to comment about the Headworks Park. This is a project that is near and dear to my heart being involved with it for 17 years. It’s been closed permanently twice in that time, only to be re-opened with our organizations efforts.
Dan Nitzel, Business Manager and Co-founder
Nebraska Off Highway Vehicle Association
2231 W. 10th St.
Grand Island, NE 68803
http://www.nohva.com
308-381-2143
hey guys…sittin here listening 2 the huskers play idaho…just wanted 2 say thanks nohva 4 headworks…my son eric and i love 2 ride there, cool trails and sand areas , river access 4 fishing, swimming,camping, just chilling…plan 2 buy a family membership and attend the jamboree and volunteer as event workers… particularly interested in helping out the drag race workers…Yeah!! thanks again nohva…we love ya tom and eric schweikert ps thanks so much yamaha for your help, your support is one reason i bought a 450 grizzly
hey guys…sittin here listening 2 the huskers play idaho…just wanted 2 say thanks nohva 4 headworks…my son eric and i love 2 ride there, cool trails and sand areas , river access 4 fishing, swimming,camping, just chilling…plan 2 buy a family membership and attend the jamboree and volunteer as event workers… particularly interested in helping out the drag race workers…Yeah!! thanks again nohva…we love ya tom and eric schweikert ps thanks so much yamaha for your help, your support is one reason i bought a 450 grizzly