From the North American Snow Festival in Cadillac to the grueling International 500 race in Sault Ste. Marie, marquee events can draw thousands of snowmobile enthusiasts to one place for a weekend of fun.
But snowmobiling goes far beyond the big events, as thousands of miles of interconnecting trails throughout northern Michigan and the Upper Peninsula provide plenty of variety for sledders while funneling spending money to the communities along them.
There are 6,204 miles of groomed, interconnecting trails in Michigan, according to the Pure Michigan
website. These trails mean a sledder just north of Grand Rapids could snowmobile all the way to the Mackinac Bridge, stopping at countless major and minor destinations along the way.
Once in the U.P., it's possible to ride a machine from St. Ignace to Drummond Island to Copper Harbor and Ironwood along groomed paths like those
mapped by the Michigan DNR.
The winter tourism dollars those trails provide act like an economic lifeline to the cities connected by the trails.
"Snowmobiles are very, very important to our business in the winter. It's vital to our economy," says Cheryl Wooten, managing partner of the
Up North Lodge in Gwinn.
The restaurant, known for its barbecue, is located at the trail head of DNR Trail 33, which runs through southern Marquette County and connects with trails that can take riders all over the U.P.
Both the location of Up North Lodge and the quality of the snow is key to the restaurant's success.
"It varies year to year, but like right now, we don't have a lot of snow so we don't have a lot of snowmobilers," Wooten says. "So we're noticing it during the week. We'd typically see groups coming in, but we're not seeing it yet. As we get a little more snow base here, we look forward to the people from downstate and Wisconsin coming up to the U.P. to take advantage of all the snowmobile trails we have to offer up here."
Sledders are key to winter business at
McGuire's Resort in Cadillac, as well. The resort is well located to allow snowmobile enthusiasts to access miles of trails as while still being near city amenities.
"Right now the snowmobiling industry makes up almost 40 percent of our winter business," says McGuire's Resort general manager Mike McGuire. "(Snowmobilers) have a tremendous impact on our business."
The Michigan Snowmobile Association estimates there are more than 380,000 registered snowmobiles in Michigan, and more than 100,000 out-of-state sledders come to visit. Many of them drive up from the southern half of the Lower Peninsula to Northern Michigan and the U.P.
A
study produced by Michigan State University for the DNR in 2009 found direct spending for snowmobile trips accounted for $239 million, though only $156 million of that reached the Michigan economy. Trip spending supported 2,419 jobs.
"It is a Michigan outdoor recreation activity that attracts a major proportion of its participants from out of state, bringing critical tourism dollars to a state with a battered economy," study author Charles Nelson concludes.
In the Lower Peninsula, one of the best destinations is the Cadillac area, which dubs itself the snowmobiling capital of Michigan. More than 600 miles of trails branch out from the area, and the yearly North American Snow Festival is a big draw that helps introduce people to those trails. In fact, snowmobiling is such a big part of Cadillac's identity that officials recently decided to allow sledders to park downtown so they could have better access to area businesses.
A key is that Cadillac sits on the Fred Meijer White Pine Trail, which allows snowmobilers to ride parallel to U.S. Highway 131 from just north of Grand Rapids. Once in Cadillac, trails branch out in all directions. The city also has ample resorts, hotels and restaurants for sledders to call home base.
"They actually groom the trail right up to our property," McGuire says. "People like that quick and easy access. Once they drive into Cadillac, they can park and just go. They can go right from McGuire's and this area out to Manistee, out to Mesick, Ludington, Irons and all that good stuff."
McGuire says the condition of the trails, as well as attractions such as a 24-hour bonfire at
The Boon Store off Trail 5 or a scenic one-lane bridge over the Pine River near Irons keep drawing sledders back to the area.
"They like the condition of the groomed trails," he says. "They like being able to go out in the (Manistee) national forest. They like the many, many miles of trails, but also the access to stopping points, restaurants. They like to be able to access the trails right from our facility at McGuire's."
Investing in quality trails is possibly the most important thing an area can do to draw snowmobilers. You can have beautiful views, wonderful restaurants, comfortable hotels, but it all comes back to the sledding.
"If a snowmobiler has to bounce down bumpy trails, they're not likely to return," says Keweenaw Peninsula meteorologist and snowmobile enthusiast John Dee. "We know that up here and we're able to recognize things weren't being done to their full potential. We have a fantastic groomer boss and fantastic team of groomers."
Dee says there are more than 250 miles of maintained trails on the
Keweenaw Peninsula. That, and having possibly the best snow in the state of Michigan, contributes to the draw of the area.
"During the past four, five, six years we've redesigned how we maintain our trails, incorporated some new techniques, new staff. It's a pretty well-oiled machine," he says.
One of the best views to be found in the Keweenaw is atop Brockway Mountain, but Dee also recommends sledders take a little time to visit some of the less-traveled trails when they're in an area.
"A lot of people want to run the main trail that follows, in a similar fashion, Highway 41, and that's fine," he says. "It's nice to branch off on the loops that we have. You'll experience less traffic and also see some pretty neat views of things."
Now, all we need in Michigan is for that late-arriving snow to finally settle in and stay awhile.
Kurt Mensching's first snowmobile experience was becoming repeatedly stuck in the woods north of Manton, Mich., on his father's 1970s-era machine. He is a freelance writer and editor who now lives in the Marquette area.
Photos by Shawn Malone.