Play in the dirt (and take it with you) in the off-road wonderland surrounding Kamloops, B.C.

13. That’s how old Sean Ellis was when he got his first motorbike. It took all his paper route money savings—$400—to purchase a 1977 Yamaha DT100. Once he felt the rush of adrenalin that comes with the experience of riding an off-road vehicle, there was no going back.

“Having the freedom to get out in the backyard was the start of my love of power sports and being outdoors with friends,” Ellis said.

Since his early teens, Ellis has moved up to owning three ATVs and hopes to purchase a side-by-side in the coming years.

Ellis lives in Kamloops, B.C., and is a member of the Thompson Valley ORV Club (TVORVC). Ellis’s favourite place to ride is the Greenstone Mountain area, south of Kamloops, where the TVORVC looks after the Pendleton Creek Recreation Site at the base of Greenstone Mountain.

“This area has lakes for fishing, camping and almost every outdoor recreation opportunity you could imagine,” Ellis said. “The Duffy Lake Recreation Campground has 52 campsites maintained by the Kamloops Motocross Association along with the Pendleton Creek Recreation Campground maintained by the TVORVC. The Rim Trail has terrain for the newest rider to the most advanced. This area is a prime choice for locals as well as people that come from all over the province and beyond every year to enjoy the unique terrain and miles of trails this area has to offer. Much of the surrounding areas of Kamloops are very similar in what they have to offer to the ORV/outdoors enthusiast.”

One of Ellis’s most memorable rides in the area came last summer on a seven-hour club ride from out of the Pendleton Campground. During the lengthy campaign, Ellis and riding partner Melanie Berry ended up accumulating more than just memories.

“We had a great ride and saw tons of new trails and areas we had never seen before thanks to our ride leader, Bruce Bottenfield,” said Ellis. “This was by far the longest ride we had ever been on. Once we arrived back at our campsite, to our surprise, we had more dirt and dust on our faces than there was on our ATV.”

For this summer, Ellis is stoked for the upcoming camping and riding season. He plans to be out on the trails exploring the most remote destinations as possible.

“We usually head out with our travel trailer and ATV every chance we can get,” Ellis said. “We maximize the use of our travel trailer and ATV as much as possible while doing the things we love with the people we enjoy doing them with.”