Tracked ATVs in Louisiana: What the State Publishes

Louisiana addresses tracks head-on, but at the land-manager level rather than in the vehicle code. The LDWF general and WMA hunting rules define an all-terrain vehicle as 'a wheeled or TRACKED off-road vehicle (not legal for highway use)' capped at 750 pounds weight, 85 inches length and 48 inches width, and define a Utility Type Vehicle as 'any recreational motor vehicle other than an ATV, wheeled or TRACKED, not legal for highway use, designed for and capable of travel over designated unpaved roads, traveling on four or more low-pressure tires or tracks', capped at 1,900 pounds, 128 inches length and 68 inches width. So a tracked machine reads as being inside Louisiana's WMA scheme. The practical question is which class it lands in. The ATV class also carries tire specifications - tires no larger than 26 x 12, maximum 1 inch lug height, maximum 12 psi, with 'Use of all other ATVs or ATV tires are prohibited on a WMA' - which a track unit does not meet, and the 750 pound / 48 inch ATV envelope is tight. Weigh and measure your own machine as fitted, because fitted weights and widths for track conversions are not published. Because the UTV definition expressly sweeps in any tracked recreational machine 'other than an ATV', a tracked quad that exceeds the ATV envelope reads as a UTV for WMA trail purposes, which means marked UTV trails rather than ATV-only trails, and it also means the retrieval condition barring UTVs may apply to it. That is a narrowing within the scheme rather than an exclusion from it, but it is a real one, and the trail signage is class-specific - confirm your machine's class with LDWF before you ride. Separately, Louisiana's vehicle code (Title 32) and the OMV's off-road vehicle policy do not mention tracks - the policy was checked in full text and contains no occurrence of the word - but neither imposes any tire or wheel requirement, so nothing there excludes a tracked machine either.

An all-terrain vehicle is a wheeled or tracked off-road vehicle (not legal for highway use) with specifications not to exceed the following: weight-750 pounds, length-85", and width-48". ATV tires are restricted to those no larger than 26 x 12 with a maximum l" lug height and a maximum allowable tire pressure of 12 psi. ... Utility Type Vehicle (UTV, also Utility Terrain Vehicle)-any recreational motor vehicle other than an ATV, wheeled or tracked, not legal for highway use, designed for and capable of travel over designated unpaved roads, traveling on four or more low-pressure tires or tracks, with specifications not to exceed the following: weight-1900 pounds, length-128" and width-68".La. Admin. Code tit. 76, Part XIX, Section 111 - General and Wildlife Management Area Hunting Rules and Regulations (LDWF); text confirmed against LDWF's own published Louisiana Hunting & WMA Regulations booklet — source · read 2026-09-26

Louisiana titles and decals off-road vehicles, and its definition is friendly to a tracked machine because it contains no tire count, no wheel count, and no width or weight limit at all. OMV Policy 82.00 defines an off-road vehicle purely by what it was manufactured for and what safety standards it does not meet. A quad plainly qualifies, tracks or not. Off-road vehicles are issued a Manufacturer's Statement of Origin at the time of manufacture and are subsequently issued a title by the Office of Motor Vehicles, and are issued an off-road decal. The fee is $3.00 per year on a 4-year expiration. Off-road vehicles used for farm purposes, farm equipment and heavy construction equipment do not require an off-road decal. The policy's revision date is 01/05/2026, and a full-text check found no occurrence of 'track' in it either way.

Off-road vehicle - Any vehicle manufactured for off-road use which does not meet the safety requirements prescribed by R.S. 32:1301-1310 at the time of manufacture.Louisiana DPS Office of Motor Vehicles Policy 82.00 Off-Road Vehicles (Section 4, Motor Vehicle Registration Requirements), revised 01/05/2026; authority R.S. 47:301(17), 47:303E, 47:304A, 47:305.3, 47:502 — source · read 2026-09-26

A different document, other jurisdictions
Registering a Tracked Quad sets several named agencies' own class definitions side by side, and shows that they are not written to a common test. It settles nothing for Louisiana; what Louisiana publishes is directly above.

Yes, on marked trails, and the trail class depends on your machine's fitted dimensions. On LDWF WMAs, 'UTVs are restricted to marked UTV trails only' and 'ATVs are restricted to marked ATV trails only', as depicted on the WMA map - and since LDWF's definitions of both classes expressly include tracked machines, a tracked quad rides the class its weight, length and width put it in. There is a crossover clause, but read it carefully: a UTV may use ATV trails only where 'the manufacturer's specifications do not exceed the weight, length, width, and tire restrictions for ATVs'. Because that test includes the tire restrictions, our reading is that a track unit does not satisfy it, so the crossover probably does not rescue a tracked machine onto ATV trails. LDWF has also amended its rules to allow UTVs on WMA Physically Challenged Hunter Permit (PCHP) trails. A major seasonal limit applies: ATVs are prohibited from March 1 through August 31 except during specified hunting seasons and on designated year-round trails, and ATVs are prohibited from two hours after sunset to 4 a.m. (raccoon hunters may use ATVs during nighttime raccoon take seasons only). In the Kisatchie National Forest the Forest Service says there are 'over 175 miles on four designated off-highway vehicle trails'; which of those trails takes which vehicle class is on the district Motor Vehicle Use Maps rather than on the page cited here, so check the MVUM. Nature trails are pedestrian-only statewide, and ATVs/UTVs are barred entirely on some WMAs such as Atchafalaya Delta.

UTVs are restricted to marked UTV trails only, except that those UTVs in which the manufacturer's specifications do not exceed the weight, length, width, and tire restrictions for ATVs are allowed on ATV trails. ATVs are restricted to marked ATV trails only.La. Admin. Code tit. 76, Part XIX, Section 111 - General and Wildlife Management Area Hunting Rules and Regulations (LDWF). The Kisatchie National Forest mileage in the summary is from the USDA Forest Service Kisatchie OHV page listed in sources. — source · read 2026-09-26

A different document, other jurisdictions
Groomed Snowmobile Trails quotes named agencies in other jurisdictions on the groomed-trail question, and they do not agree with each other. It settles nothing for Louisiana; what Louisiana publishes is directly above.

Limited but real, and the statute's wording helps a tracked owner. R.S. 32:299 describes off-road vehicles with an open-ended, non-exhaustive phrase - 'including but not limited to three-wheelers, four-wheelers, or other all-terrain vehicles which are not specifically designated for road use' - which does not turn on wheel count or contact surface. Because the phrase is open-ended rather than a closed tire or wheel test, converting to tracks does not obviously forfeit it. Such vehicles may travel on the SHOULDERS of all public roads and highways except interstates, in the manner the section provides, solely for farm-related activities within a five-mile radius of the farmer's farm, and the operator must possess a valid Class 'E' driver's license. They may travel those shoulders 'during each day starting thirty minutes after sunrise and ending thirty minutes before sunset'. Incidental crossing of public roads or highways is expressly authorised. The operator must carry either a copy of a motor vehicle registration proving ownership of at least one vehicle registered as engaged in the business of actual farming under R.S. 47:462, or a sworn affidavit attesting to actual farming, and must show proof of valid liability insurance on demand. Agricultural consultants as defined in R.S. 3:3202 get the same allowance, and university or college employees, law enforcement officers and certified emergency technician-paramedics may operate off-road vehicles on streets within state college and university boundaries. The section does not apply to roads and highways in Orleans Parish. Recreational road riding is not authorised. Separately, R.S. 32:299.3 lets a parish or municipality designate specific roads or streets for UTV use, but that route demands full street equipment (headlamps, turn signals, tail and stop lamps, reflectors, mirrors, parking brake, windshield, wipers, speedometer, odometer, wheel braking, seat belts, VIN), an operator at least 21 with a driver's license, liability insurance to R.S. 32:900(B) minimums, OMV registration as an off-road vehicle and an OMV decal.

Off-road vehicles, including but not limited to three-wheelers, four-wheelers, or other all-terrain vehicles which are not specifically designated for road use may travel on the shoulders of all public roads and highways except interstate highways in the manner provided for in this Section solely for the purposes of farm-related activities within a five-mile radius of a farmer's farm, provided that the operator possesses a valid Class "E" driver's license.La. R.S. 32:299 (Off-road vehicles; authorization for use on the shoulders of certain public roads and highways; authorization for use on certain public property); La. R.S. 32:299.3 (Off-road vehicles; utility terrain vehicles) — source · read 2026-09-26

A different document, other jurisdictions
Roads, Shoulders and Crossings separates crossing a road from travelling along one in several named jurisdictions, because most of them do. It settles nothing for Louisiana; what Louisiana publishes is directly above.

One good permission, one important condition, and one real limit. The retrieval allowance is genuine off-trail use, which is the job tracks do - but it is written for ATVs and it carries conditions, the last of which is that "UTV's may not be used to retrieve downed deer or hogs". Since a tracked quad that exceeds the ATV envelope reads as a UTV under LDWF's own definitions, the retrieval allowance is the permission most likely to be lost by converting to tracks. Ask LDWF about your specific machine before relying on it. Second, the Kisatchie National Forest's four designated OHV trails, 'over 175 miles', governed by the district Motor Vehicle Use Maps. The limit is that on WMAs, ATV and UTV use is confined to marked trails of the matching class, with a March 1 through August 31 closure except during specified seasons and on designated year-round trails, and a night prohibition from two hours after sunset to 4 a.m. Machines may not be left overnight on WMAs except in designated camping areas. Discharging a firearm on or across, or hunting from, designated roads and ATV/UTV trails and their rights-of-way is prohibited during open firearms deer seasons. Nature trails are pedestrian-only. Atchafalaya Delta WMA prohibits all ATVs/UTVs, motorcycles, horses and mules.

Hunters are allowed to retrieve their own downed deer and hogs with the aid of an ATV or electric bicycle except on Thistlethwaite, Sherburne, Atchafalaya Delta, Pass-a-Loutre, Pointe-aux-Chenes, Salvador/Timken, Lake Boeuf, Biloxi, and the Crusel Tract of Maurepas Swamp WMAs under the following conditions: i. no firearms or archery equipment is in possession of the retrieval party or on the ATV; ii. the retrieval party may consist of no more than one ATV and one helper; iii. ATVs may not be used to locate or search for wounded game or for any other purpose than retrieval of deer and hogs once they have been legally harvested and located; iv. UTV's may not be used to retrieve downed deer or hogs.La. Admin. Code tit. 76, Part XIX, Section 111 - General and Wildlife Management Area Hunting Rules and Regulations (LDWF) — source · read 2026-09-26

A different document, other jurisdictions
Public Land and Width Limits covers the federal land managers, who publish route designations rather than permissions and answer to nobody's state code. It settles nothing for Louisiana; what Louisiana publishes is directly above.