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How to Read a Motor Vehicle Use Map (MVUM)

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A Motor Vehicle Use Map (MVUM) is the Forest Service’s official record of which roads, trails and areas of a national forest or grassland are open to motor vehicles, which kinds of vehicle, and when. It looks plain next to a visitor map, but it is the map a ranger goes by. Here is how to read one.

What an MVUM is, and why it matters

Under the Forest Service’s travel management rule (36 CFR part 212, subpart B), each national forest and grassland designates the roads, trails and areas open to motor vehicle use. Those designations are published on the unit’s Motor Vehicle Use Map, which shows the classes of vehicle allowed and, where it applies, the times of year (36 CFR 212.56). MVUMs are free, at ranger district offices and on each forest’s website.

Once a district has an MVUM, driving or riding a motor vehicle on National Forest System land anywhere other than as the map designates is prohibited (36 CFR 261.13). The rule lists exemptions, such as emergency vehicles and use allowed by a permit; the MVUM itself also prints the exemptions. In practice: if a route isn’t shown as open to your vehicle on the current MVUM, don’t drive it.

Over-snow vehicles (snowmobiles) follow a separate designation and map, the Over-Snow Vehicle Use Map (OSVUM), where a forest has one. An MVUM tells you nothing about winter snowmobile routes.

The lines: vehicle classes

Every designated route on an MVUM is drawn in a line style that stands for who may use it. Read the legend on your map, because it is the authority, but the classes you will usually see are:

  • Roads open to highway-legal vehicles only. Vehicles licensed for public roads under state law. No unlicensed ATVs or dirt bikes.
  • Roads open to all vehicles. Highway-legal vehicles and off-highway vehicles alike.
  • Trails open to all vehicles.
  • Trails open to vehicles 50 inches or less in width. ATVs and similar machines; full-size trucks are not allowed.
  • Trails open to motorcycles only.
  • Special designations. Anything the classes above don’t cover; the map explains each one.

A seasonal version of each line means the route is open to that class only on certain dates. Each route carries a number. On many MVUMs a table lists the designated routes by number with the vehicle classes and the dates they are open; when a line is marked seasonal, look its number up in that table.

Some routes also carry a symbol for dispersed camping: driving a short distance off the route (the map gives the distance) is allowed only to reach a dispersed campsite. The rule allows the same kind of limited off-route use for retrieving a downed big-game animal where a forest designates it (36 CFR 212.51(b)); the legend says when it applies.

What an MVUM does not tell you

  • It is not a navigation map. MVUMs show little terrain and few landmarks, and usually no trails closed to motor vehicles. Carry a forest visitor map or a USGS topo too.
  • Open doesn’t mean passable. A designated road may be unmaintained, rough or impassable for a passenger car. The map designates use; it says nothing about conditions.
  • Temporary closures aren’t on it. Fire, flood or construction closures are issued as orders by the forest. Check the forest’s alerts page or call the district before you go.
  • Routes not shown are closed to motor vehicles, including old roads you can see on the ground or on other maps.
  • Other rules still apply. State vehicle laws (registration, licensing, equipment) and rules on other land you cross are separate.

Use the current edition

The edition year is printed on the map. Designations change, and forests reissue their MVUMs when they do, often every year, so an old copy can show a route that is now closed. Before a trip, check the forest’s website for the newest one.

Using an MVUM on your phone, offline

Forest Service MVUMs are published as GeoPDFs: PDFs with coordinates built in. In a map app that reads them, your GPS position shows as a dot on the MVUM itself, which settles the question that matters on the ground: which numbered road am I on, and is it open to my vehicle? Your phone’s GPS works with no cell signal, so once the map is downloaded it works deep in the forest.

  1. Find your forest’s MVUM in the store: the Forest Service maps are free, or browse parks & forests maps and maps by forest and state.
  2. Tap “Get this map (free)” to add it to your free account, then open the map app on your phone, sign in with the same account and download it from “My purchases”.
  3. Open the map once while you still have signal, to make sure it is fully downloaded.

The Forest Service maps in the store are updated when a forest posts a new edition, and owners get the update free. Many MVUMs come in several sheets or a front and back; get every sheet your route crosses. See using GeoPDF maps offline for the details of offline use.