Can I own one here
Owning one in Hinsdale County.
On your own land, yes
Owning a kei truck and working it on a ranch, a farm, a mine or private property does not depend on a road title. Some states still ask for a title or an off road registration.
A 25 year truck on the road
Road use opens later. Colorado made kei vehicles a legal road class in 2025 and title and registration open on 1 January 2028.
A newer governed truck
Off highway vehicle. From 1 January 2028 Colorado names it a kei off-road vehicle, an off-highway vehicle under the Certificate of Title Act, titled at the county motor vehicle office.
Roads and towns
Roads and towns in Hinsdale County.
Roads open. Hinsdale County opens every county road and Lake City its streets to OHVs with a licensed and insured driver, and from 1 June to 30 September OHVs may run 3.26 miles of SH 149 through Lake City, the one state highway segment the Transportation Commission has opened.
In town Open
- Open Lake City. Town streets are open to OHVs under the town's own ordinance, with a 15 mph limit on Lake City streets, lower where posted. On SH 149 OHVs may not go beyond Ocean Wave Drive in town. Lake City Ordinance 2025-03, named in Transportation Commission Resolution #20260206. The ordinance text was not read., read 28 October 2026
County roads Open
All public roads in unincorporated Hinsdale County under the commissioners' jurisdiction. Ordinance No. 1, Series 2018, recorded 21 February 2018. Amended by Ordinance No. 1, Series 2025 on fines, hours of operation and spark arresters, whose text was not read., read 28 October 2026
State highways Segments open
- SH 149 from the County Road 30 intersection (MP 69.85) south of Lake City to the Ocean Wave Drive intersection (MP 73.11) in Lake City, 3.26 miles, from 1 June to 30 September each year from 2026 through 2035. The speed limit on that stretch is 30 mph for every vehicle in season, OHVs follow the county and town ordinances and the county and town apply jointly for a special use permit each year. Lake City's Resolution 2025-12 gives the mileposts as 71.44 to 73. Transportation Commission Resolution #20260206, approved 19 February 2026, read 28 October 2026
Getting one here
From Japan to Hinsdale County.
The nearest ports with a sailing from Japan on record
- The Port of Los Angeles, about 800 road miles.
- The Port of Oakland, about 1,000 road miles.
- The Port of Tacoma, The Northwest Seaport Alliance South Harbor, about 1,200 road miles.
How to import a mini truck, step by step.
A newer off road truck never lands in California. It comes in through Tacoma or by way of Houston.
Trucks travel in containers, one to a 20 foot box with room for parts or three to a 40 foot box.
Road miles are an estimate, the straight line times 1.2.
The ground
Hinsdale County, counted.
Hinsdale County averages 108 inches of snow a year. Hinsdale County has 18 farms and 6 cattle operations, by the 2022 Census of Agriculture. 100 percent of Hinsdale County's people live outside urban areas.
Importing a kei truck
The essentials, in short.
A truck under 25 can come in only as governed off road equipment, and only if its engine family held an EPA nonroad certificate for that model year. No kei engine family was certified for mini trucks before model year 2010, so a truck built after 31 October 2001 and before model year 2010 has no federal door until its 25th birthday.
Two lanes
A road truck must be 25 years old by its own build date. A newer truck comes in only as governed off road equipment with a certified engine.
The 25 percent duty
Every kei truck pays the 25 percent truck duty at the port, whatever its age.
The paperwork
The customs entry and the two federal declarations, DOT Form HS-7 and EPA Form 3520-1, travel with the truck to your title office.
The title
Keep every stamped paper with the truck. Your state title office asks to see them.
News for Colorado Colorado's kei vehicle class, and the two dates that matter
Contact
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