Best Snow-Riding Accessories for ATVs

Riding an ATV in the snow can be an extremely fun experience—or it can be a total freeze fest. More than any other time, the right gear and equipment in the snow can make the difference between coming home with a smile on your face or…not. To that end, we’ve compiled a list of accessories that will help you make the most of your snow-riding experience.

Surviving the cold starts with the right outfit. The key is layers, beginning with a good base and going up to an insulated, waterproof jacket. Keeping the cold out and the warm in helps you stay not only comfortable but also on your game when outside for a long day.

Waterproof everything is basically mandatory, and something with an insulated or down liner helps keep your core warm. For your hands, we’re partial to snowmobile gloves with zippered pockets on top for hand warmers, but there are also heated gloves that plug into the quad’s 12-volt outlet.

There are dedicated snow-riding pants, but you can get away with skiing or snowboarding pants. Better yet, opt for a full heated suit. This is something taken from snowmobilers, but it works just fine for ATV riding as well.

Your hands are usually the first thing to get cold. Heated handgrips are easy to install, relatively inexpensive, and will keep your palms and digits from freezing. The added benefit here is that this helps you actually control the ATV, since trying to operate a motor vehicle with frostbite isn’t a fun time. Speaking of heated components, those looking to warm their underside can add a heated seat to their four-wheeler. This is in the category of unnecessary comfort items, but the feeling of sitting on a toasty blanket when the mercury is low is hard to pass up.

Windburn can put a damper on any ride, and, believe it or not, it’s easy to get a sunburn from the light reflecting off ice and snow. To battle this, and to keep our faces warm, we usually ditch the motocross helmet and go for the full-face option. Not only does it keep the wind and glare out, it stays warm inside and you can pop open the visor or swap between clear and tinted with relative ease. Wearing a balaclava underneath can add an extra layer of protection for your face and neck, though a bandana or headband does the trick in a pinch.

Upping the warm-hand ante is easy with handlebar mitts. These are bar-mounted glove-sleeves that you shove your hands into. They might look like moose antlers but they really do keep your hands, wrists, and lower arms warm. Handlebar mitts usually have a drawstring to keep the cold and snow out, and they’re usually a universal fit, too. This means it’s easy to swap them from machine to machine, snowmobiles and two-wheeled toys included.

You’re technically not snow riding if you’re not going anywhere. The first step to getting through the deep snow is to air the tires down to increase flotation, but that doesn’t always get the job done. For those extra-difficult situations with deep or heavy snow, tire chains are a go-to necessity. Chains work by using metal to help the tires claw through everything beneath them. The extra grip usually helps with traction to keep the machine going, though sometimes in lighter snow it makes the quad dig down rather than forward. Also be wary of using chains on tarmac, as they’ll chew up the pavement and won’t be too comfortable to ride on, either.

If chains aren’t enough, there is an option that takes snow traction to a whole new level: Tracks. Adding these to your ATV isn’t particularly easy or cheap, but it’s as close to turning your quad into a tank as possible. Unlike a tank, however, which has two tracks and turns by manipulating the forward/reverse motion of either side, four-wheelers equipped with tracks employ four of them, with one replacing each wheel and tire. Tracks work by maximizing the reasonable amount of surface area the machine’s weight covers, thus allowing the quad to stay atop the snow more easily, instead of digging down like four narrow tires would.

ATV tracks are usually made up of a metal inner frame and either a metal, plastic, or a mixture of the two for the tracks themselves. Retail prices hover in the $4,000 to $5,000 range, but there is no better way to boost your ATV’s capability in the snow.