I would like to ride in MN, but wondering what is the best place to start. I was thinking of heading up through Duluth and riding the north shore area (I think that's what it's called). I'd prefer fewer places to stop and less traffic. Pit stops don't interest me until we're done for the day, and even then it's not a big deal. We like to ride long hours when we get out. Canada is ideal but not at current gas prices and exchange rates. If we go to MN, where's a good place to start? I agree that it's hard to find info on MN. Also interested in South Dakota.
A Question to Snowmobilers
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chillywilly
Member
Two Harbors
Start the NSST there!
Start the NSST there!
kamikaze_bros
Member
Hah? What's the NSST? Non Stop Snowmobile Trip?
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Guest
Start in Grand Rapids. You can go any direction from there. It is a pain in the ### to get from Superior to the NSST. There is no good way around Duluth. The Grand Rapids area is noted for having some of the best maintained trails in the state. I have been to both Mich and Wisc many times and am not convinced that they have the best groomed trails of anyplace. Although a person does meet a lot of groomers there are just too many sleds constantly tearing up the trails. Yes, there is a speed limit in MN. I have been stopped exactly once in the last 10 years and that turned into a warning. Last year in Wisc (where there is no speed limit) our group was stopped 3 times in one day basically to check to see if we were boozing. So take your pick that way. The pit stops in MN are not totally dedicated to sledders the way they are in Wisc and Mich. That is just the way it is. You can get a really good set of trail maps from the MN DNR. They break the entire state into 4 quadrants. Phone 1-888-646-6367 and ask for the Quadrant maps. You will talk to a real human and the maps are free. There really are 1000's of places to ride. Why go to the same place all the time?
kamikaze_bros
Member
I agree with Grub. Grand Rapids is the best hub in the state for snowmobilers for just about every reason you can think of.
yamarage07
New member
having a cabin in northern mn i will add this the trails are not marked as well as the up or wisc. no staked trails across lakes.very few reminders of what trail your actually on. not a lot of short loops to make.If you don't know where you are going or know the shortcuts across certain lakes you will get lost.I have had to lead a few different groups out of the woods and off the big lake a few times in the past. But if you like tight twisty trails and awesome scenery it doesn't get much better than the Mn northwoods
Depends on how long you are going to be in the area. From Two harbors you can go northeast up the NSST all the way to Grand Marais and then up the gunflint yet. You can also head back towards Duluth and up the Pequaywan trail to Hoyt Lakes and areas further north. From Silver bay you can do all of that also and hit the local Silver Bay/Finland trails and then run the Tomahawk up to Ely and back down the Yukon trail. Lot's of riding, few pit stops. If you have any specific questions about the Finland Silver Bay area PM me as I ride there every weekend.
bearrassler
Well-known member
I would recomend the maps that Grub mentioned, they are great because with two maps you can see all of the northern half on MN. The maps online are the same but you need lots of maps to cover the norhern half of MN. Grand Rapids is a good location and I have stayed at a place a little north of there called the Antler Inn that had a hot tub and a good place to eat across the road. It is about 30 miles north of Grand Rapids.
If you want the best experiences of what MN has to offer (and this is just my opinion):
1) NSST from Finland to Grand Marais and back
2) Arrowhead trail from Cook to Ashkanam and back (via Crane lake)
3) Grand Portage (also known as the secret hidden trail system)
The NSST is an easy 300 mi ride in a day with superb stops in Finland, Lutsen and Grand Marais. There are amazing photo ops and a bit of off-trail available.
The arrowhead from Cook to Orr might very well be the most fun section of trail in all of MN. The ride up through Crane Lake to Ashkanam is also a top notch ride and the kitchen/bar at Voyageurs is really good. There are a few DNR lurking a few weeknds each year in this area though.
Grand Portage is the true spectacle, they groom daily, have the most beautiful scenery, but the drawback is they manage a smaller trail system and some trails are single skid wide. I would highly recommend a couples stay at the Casino and ride tout from there...
It nice to see MN get some attention, but I agree, I think your audience here is more off-trail oriented and MN, especially the far north, is not off-trial friendly. Much/most is off-limits, and what is isn't is too dense with underbrush...
1) NSST from Finland to Grand Marais and back
2) Arrowhead trail from Cook to Ashkanam and back (via Crane lake)
3) Grand Portage (also known as the secret hidden trail system)
The NSST is an easy 300 mi ride in a day with superb stops in Finland, Lutsen and Grand Marais. There are amazing photo ops and a bit of off-trail available.
The arrowhead from Cook to Orr might very well be the most fun section of trail in all of MN. The ride up through Crane Lake to Ashkanam is also a top notch ride and the kitchen/bar at Voyageurs is really good. There are a few DNR lurking a few weeknds each year in this area though.
Grand Portage is the true spectacle, they groom daily, have the most beautiful scenery, but the drawback is they manage a smaller trail system and some trails are single skid wide. I would highly recommend a couples stay at the Casino and ride tout from there...
It nice to see MN get some attention, but I agree, I think your audience here is more off-trail oriented and MN, especially the far north, is not off-trial friendly. Much/most is off-limits, and what is isn't is too dense with underbrush...
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Guest
Amo is correct on most of this. There are virtually no snowmobile type bars located on the NSST. A lot of these stops make their money off of cross country skiers. It is totally different than Wisc or Mich but it is O.K. The terrain all along the NSST is really one-of-a-kind and should be seen at least once. If you get north towards the Gunflint you see less skiers. Devil Track Lake and surrounding area up towards Poplar Lake is a fun sledding area. Last time I was there was '06 and there was DNR on Devil Track. They had us absolutely dead to rights on excessive speed. All they wanted to do was check our registration and inform us that we were close to Canada. Slow Down, Boys. Pretty good about things I thought. There is usually a LOT of snow in this area. Like feet. No place for a short track Yammi. But I have always been really slow to learn. I would recommend this area to anyone.
I have always sledded in the northwoods of Wisconsin, we had a trip planned for the New Years weekend and with the warmup I was looking for options. I asked the question about Minnesota and began talking with Tom at the Ash Trail Lodge North of Orr MN, I had heard all of the horror stories about MN. but I wanted to ride and they had the snow. Me and my wife got there on Friday the 31st. and had the best 3 days I have had in a long time. The snow was great and everyone I met those three days were nice and helpful and greeted us like long lost friends. Every establishment we visited was this way. The trails could use a groomer more often, but they were very rideable. I found the trails were marked well. I can't wait to visit Steve, Tom and Deb again at the Ash Trail Lodge again. Thanks again guys.
skiroule
Well-known member
The Real Reasons
After re-reading all of the previous posts speculating on why more riders don't frequent northern Minnesota (including my own), it occurred to me that perhaps the following real reasons have not been identified:
a. The movie "Fargo" - Parts of it are not far off the mark
b. An understandable fear of hot dish - I've been told that at an early age my mother said
"Enough with the milk stuff kid, it's tuna hot dish from now on" - It explains a lot.
Seriously, the statistics support TomK's point (and frustration). 22,000 miles of trails statewide and 4 million acres of state forests, not all of which is off-limits to snowmobilers.
Even though I live in suburban St. Paul, less than a mile from my house is a trail head from which I can access trails that under the right conditions would allow me to ride to the Northwest Angle. Believe me, it has crossed my mind.
I wouldn't be scared off by horror stories of grooming shortfalls. Like any other high traffic density areas, if you ride these areas, you have to pick your battles and days carefully.
For a mental reference, I've attached a photo of one of the trails north of Lutsen that was taken a couple of years back and a shot of some northern Minnesota back country that was taken last year.
P.S. Grub: I loved it when we played Hallock in Football. It was the Bears vs the Bears.
After re-reading all of the previous posts speculating on why more riders don't frequent northern Minnesota (including my own), it occurred to me that perhaps the following real reasons have not been identified:
a. The movie "Fargo" - Parts of it are not far off the mark
b. An understandable fear of hot dish - I've been told that at an early age my mother said
"Enough with the milk stuff kid, it's tuna hot dish from now on" - It explains a lot.
Seriously, the statistics support TomK's point (and frustration). 22,000 miles of trails statewide and 4 million acres of state forests, not all of which is off-limits to snowmobilers.
Even though I live in suburban St. Paul, less than a mile from my house is a trail head from which I can access trails that under the right conditions would allow me to ride to the Northwest Angle. Believe me, it has crossed my mind.
I wouldn't be scared off by horror stories of grooming shortfalls. Like any other high traffic density areas, if you ride these areas, you have to pick your battles and days carefully.
For a mental reference, I've attached a photo of one of the trails north of Lutsen that was taken a couple of years back and a shot of some northern Minnesota back country that was taken last year.
P.S. Grub: I loved it when we played Hallock in Football. It was the Bears vs the Bears.
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This probably never comes up for Mich and Wisc riders but I will throw it out anyway. If you really want to try something new try sledding North Dakota. In recent years they have really stepped up the grooming over there. Seriously there is some darn good riding. There are probably more trees in one county in Wisc than there is in all of ND but they take good care of their trails and there is no speed limit for the most part. Folks are friendly and you can even still smoke in most places if that matters to you. Again - there are many different places to ride. To me it seems silly to keep going back to the same places again and again. Whatever works.
The Apostate
New member
I personally would love the chance to ride in northern MN. The last two summers I have spent two weeks fishing Lake of the Woods and a weekend in Minneapolis for a Twins game at the new stadium. I had a great time and felt at home although I had never been there before 2009. The scenery is fantastic along the Mississippi river valley and many of the towns I’ve visited piqued my interest in more ways than one. My only issue is the drive. For me its 12 hours or more to Lake of the Woods, not that I need to go that far but I can be in Boulder Junction in 5 hours which puts me in range of most of the western UP and north central WI. I can’t even make it to Duluth in that time let alone get through Duluth’s traffic and make it to one of the towns I’d like to stay in like Orr, Cook or Baudette. If I lived further north than the IL/WI border I wouldn’t think twice about trailering the Gade up to Vikingland. And when they get the snow like they recently have I still consider doing it until I come to the realization that none of my riding buddies are up to it. Plus it is kind of nice to be able to ride like we do in N. WI and the UP like not needing a map to know where we are or where we are going.
There is lots of snow ,20+ inches along the Mn. Ont ,border right now.totally different riding than UP and Wi. northwoods !Sleds are used more for work ,transportation,fishing,trapping,mining, than rec riding ! This is a nice trip if you like remote riding ! Doesn't make a difference if you have Carharts or Klim or a Elan or longtrack Bravo but need a fat wallet !LOL http://www.atikokansnoho.com/about/?t=SnowTech
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skiroule
Well-known member
Great Pics
Ubee,
Awesome pictures! Makes me want to leave right now. The amazing thing is that these scenes are played out many, many times in this area.
A couple of years back we rode right into the middle of the John Beargrease (they didn't close the trail - just put up a bunch of signs). It was quite an experience to have the mushers ask how much of a lead the previous team had.
A long track Bravo? First I need to find my blue metalflake helment and my one piece suit.
Ubee,
Awesome pictures! Makes me want to leave right now. The amazing thing is that these scenes are played out many, many times in this area.
A couple of years back we rode right into the middle of the John Beargrease (they didn't close the trail - just put up a bunch of signs). It was quite an experience to have the mushers ask how much of a lead the previous team had.
A long track Bravo? First I need to find my blue metalflake helment and my one piece suit.
bearrassler
Well-known member
Why would anyone ever think of riding in North Dakota, it is cold, it is flat, it is windy, the snow drifts are hard as a rock, the snow is mixed with dirt (snirt), and the scenery is terrible.
People have a lot of ideas about areas they haven't been to but the riding is great out here. It is a long way for most people to travel to but the trails are great, there is no speed limit, you can ride off trail if it is not posted no trespassing, and the people are friendly. I do about half of my riding in ND and half in MN with a trip out of state once in a while and I enjoy the ND riding as much or more than the rest of it. We have a bad image though, even some people in our club won't ride in ND because they think it is all rough ditch riding.
kamikaze_bros
Member
In the 1996 or 1997 I rode all over north eastern North Dakota. Can't remember the exact year but the snow cover was unbelievable. We stayed in Lakota and rode in just about every direction at least once. The trails we did ride on were very well marked. We spent most of the time riding between Stump Lake and the area south of Devil's Lake. Unfortunately, I haven't been back since that trip and I'm not sure why. We had a gas and the hospitality was second to none.
skiroule
Well-known member
bearrassler;
Your assessment of ND riding was thorough but you may have overlooked a couple of important virtues: Theres' not much chance of being surprised by riders that pop up out of nowhere. If you head west from your house you can probably see groups leaving from Minot. Also, there's little danger of losing control and running into or over trees (although that may be a punishable crime in ND).
For some reason, we've always stopped heading west at Hayes Lake but based on input provided by you, Grub, and the "Kami" Bros, I might have to continue on west/northwest in the future.
The advantages of my current location are not lost on me. I can draw a reasonably smooth arc that passes through Drayton, ND and Marquette MI and includes much of eastern North Dakota, all areas of northern Minnesota, northern Wisconsin, and the Keeweenaw. I admit I've been guilty of not giving all angles of this arc equal weight.
Even though it probably wasn't the intent of this thread, I've gotten useful information about midwest riding and even areas in my own state, in spite of the fact that I'm a life-long resident. I, for one, appreciate this input.