ROCK SPRINGS – The Rock Springs City Council approved an ordinance on third reading that would add some city streets and rights-of-ways to a growing network of offroad trails in southwestern Wyoming.

The ordinance adds to routes designated as off-road recreational trails through the Wyoming Department of State Parks and Cultural Resources. Rock Springs joins Sweetwater County as well as other area governments in opening streets to off-road vehicle usage, an initiative that was introduced by the Southwest Wyoming Off-road Trails (SWOT). The organization is a non-profit that was established to promote off-road trails access throughout Wyoming and was formed in Uinta County by Uinta County Herald Publisher Mark Tesoro.

“I brought the idea … of connecting the communities of southwest Wyoming with a series of motorized trails in order to bring riders into the region and see all there is to see,” Tesoro told the Sweetwater County commissioners earlier this year.

According to SWOT, the idea behind the organization was launched by Tesoro during a Uinta County Economic Development Commission meeting in 2019. An initial working group was formed of business owners, a district ranger from the U.S. Forest Service, state legislators and others.

According to SWOT, the organization utilizes existing roads and infrastructure, two-track roads, county roads, oil field roads and others.