Lee County Iowa Makes ATV and UTV Road Access Permanent

Riders in Lee County, Iowa, can keep taking their machines onto county conservation roadways after the Lee County Conservation Board voted unanimously Tuesday, Nov. 11, to make the access permanent. The decision locks in a policy that had been running as a one-year trial throughout 2026, and it means ATVs, UTVs, and other side-by-side vehicles can continue driving on conservation-owned roads for the foreseeable future.

What Riders Can and Cannot Do

The access comes with clear limits. The vehicles are allowed on any conservation roads inside county-owned parks that regular cars, trucks, and motorcycles can use. Driving off-road or on conservation trails stays prohibited. Drivers must also be licensed to operate the vehicles. In short, the rules treat an ATV or UTV like any other street-legal vehicle on those roads, with no new freedom to leave the roadway.

How the Trial Policy Began

The policy traces back to October of last year, when the board agreed to start allowing ATV and UTV use at the beginning of 2026 as a trial run. The idea was to see what problems might come up from putting the machines on conservation roadways, then re-examine the policy before extending it. At the board's Oct. 14, 2025 meeting, members reviewed an earlier workshop discussion about citizen requests to permit ATV and UTV use on park roads. Those requests lined up with a 2024 decision by the Iowa Department of Natural Resources to allow such use on its own lands.

Concerns Raised During the Trial

The board did not skip over the concerns. During that 2025 discussion, members talked about ATV and UTV traffic, noise, and the fact that conservation park roads are not through roads. They also raised the worry that allowing the vehicles on park roads could lead to more unauthorized riding on trails. Conservation Director Heather Huebner countered that other counties she had contacted allowed ATV and UTV use without seeing an increase in trail violations. Some board members said they wanted to keep Lee County's conservation lands consistent with state regulations.

That meeting ended with approval of the one-year trial and a plan to reassess before the year ran out.

At Tuesday's meeting, the topic was listed only as an item to discuss and take possible action on. Before the vote, Huebner reminded the board that road access had originally been approved for just one year, but that they had the option to approve the use indefinitely. After some discussion, the board voted unanimously to do exactly that.

For riders in the area, the takeaway is simple. Stay on the roads open to other vehicles, keep your license current, and keep off the trails and off-road ground. Follow those rules and the access should stick.