Tracked ATVs in Washington: What the State Publishes

Washington defines a tracked ATV by name and then routes it into the snowmobile chapter. RCW 46.09.310(19) defines a wheeled all-terrain vehicle as a machine that 'has four tires having a diameter of thirty inches or less', or as a utility-type vehicle that 'travels on four or more low-pressure tires of twenty psi or less', so on the face of it a machine sitting on tracks does not meet the wheeled definition while they are fitted. That reading is not airtight in isolation, because RCW 46.04.589 defines a tracked ATV as 'any "wheeled all-terrain vehicle" as defined in RCW 46.09.310 ... with tracks ... installed in place of the standard low-pressure tires', wording that can be read as presupposing the machine is still a WATV. What points the same way is what the legislature did with the result: RCW 46.10.300(8) makes 'tracked all-terrain vehicle' part of the meaning of 'snowmobile' for the whole snowmobile chapter, RCW 46.10.418 lets the converted owner register it as one, and RCW 46.09.390 sets up two separate concurrent registrations rather than one status covering both configurations. The practical consequence, as we read it: on tracks, the snowmobile rules are the ones to work from.

"Tracked all-terrain vehicle" means any "wheeled all-terrain vehicle" as defined in RCW 46.09.310 and weighing less than two thousand pounds in stock configuration, with tracks or a combination of tracks and skis installed in place of the standard low-pressure tires.RCW 46.04.589; see also RCW 46.10.300(8), RCW 46.10.418 and RCW 46.09.310(19) — source · read 2026-09-26

Two registrations, and you can hold both on the same machine. On tracks, the machine is registered as a snowmobile under chapter 46.10 RCW (annual registration, decals rather than plates, October 1 to September 30 year). On wheels, it is a wheeled all-terrain vehicle under chapter 46.09 RCW: a permanent metal "RESTRICTED VEHICLE" tag plus an annual off-road tab, and an additional annual on-road tab if you want to use public roadways. RCW 46.09.390 directs the Department of Licensing to allow both at once, and the Department requires a one-time signed Tracked All-Terrain Vehicle Declaration when you first apply for the snowmobile registration; that declaration stays valid until the machine is sold or the title transfers.

It is the intent of the legislature to create a concurrent licensing process to allow the owner of a wheeled all-terrain vehicle to maintain concurrent but separate registrations for the vehicle, for use as a wheeled all-terrain vehicle and for use as a tracked all-terrain vehicle. ... When the vehicle is registered as a tracked all-terrain vehicle, the terms of the registration are those under chapter 46.10 RCW that apply to snowmobiles, including applicable fees.RCW 46.09.390 (Concurrent licenses for use as a wheeled all-terrain vehicle and tracked all-terrain vehicle); RCW 46.09.442 (metal tag, off-road and on-road tabs) — 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 Washington; what Washington publishes is directly above.

Conditional, and the condition is the configuration. Read against these definitions, on tracks the machine appears to be a snowmobile for the purposes of the snowmobile chapter, which points to designated snowmobile trails and the state's snow park system — not on the general ATV trail network, which its wheeled registration covers. Swap back to tires and the wheeled ATV status governs again. One machine, two seasons, two sets of rules; it is not a tracked machine with year-round trail access.

RCW 46.10.300(8) with RCW 46.09.310(19) · 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 Washington; what Washington publishes is directly above.

Restrictive while tracked, and this is where the reclassification bites hardest. The wheeled ATV on-road privilege — public roadways posted 35 mph or less, with a metal tag and a current on-road tab — is written into the wheeled all-terrain vehicle registration, and RCW 46.09.310(19) defines a wheeled all-terrain vehicle by its tires, so on the face of the statutes that privilege does not plainly travel with the tracks. On tracks, snowmobile road rules apply instead: RCW 46.10.470 names four situations in which roadway operation is lawful, and RCW 46.10.460 separately permits right-angle crossings after a complete stop, more than one hundred feet from an intersection. Washington has not published language resolving whether a machine actually sitting on tracks may still use the wheeled on-road privilege, so treat a tracked quad as not road-legal in the way a wheeled one can be until the Department of Licensing says otherwise.

Notwithstanding the provisions of RCW 46.10.460, it shall be lawful to operate a snowmobile upon a public roadway or highway: Where such roadway or highway is completely covered with snow or ice and has been closed by the responsible governing body to motor vehicle traffic during the winter months; or When the responsible governing body gives notice that such roadway or highway is open to snowmobiles or all-terrain vehicle use; or In an emergency during the period of time when and at locations where snow upon the roadway or highway renders such impassible to travel by automobile; or When traveling along a designated snowmobile trail.RCW 46.10.470 (Operating upon public road or highway lawful, when) — 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 Washington; what Washington publishes is directly above.

Washington statute defers to the land manager. Operation is lawful on a nonhighway road or designated ORV area when the responsible state, federal, local or private authority authorizes off-road vehicle use, and an ORV operated there is expressly exempt from ordinary motor vehicle registration under chapter 46.16A RCW and from the vehicle lighting and equipment requirements of chapter 46.37 RCW. Private nonhighway roads require the owner's authorization. So for USFS, DNR and other federal or state land, the controlling document is that unit's motor vehicle use map or winter travel plan, not the RCW.

An off-road vehicle operated on a nonhighway road or on a street, road, or highway as authorized under RCW 46.09.360 and this section is exempt from both registration requirements of chapter 46.16A RCW and vehicle lighting and equipment requirements of chapter 46.37 RCW.RCW 46.09.450(2) — 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 Washington; what Washington publishes is directly above.