well known off trail play areas

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slowsi00

New member
can we get a base line sticky for guys just getting into off trail / wanting a break from the trail system.

just some well known routes and spots for jumps, table tops, side hills etc... etc... around houghton/hancock, we always see guys tear off west behind the mosquito, we heard of a play park but that always at 1am after the sleds are put away for the night.


i am going to start loosing guys from our group if we don't have a scheduled off-trail play spot during our trail riding.


i bought a renegade sport for this exact reason to explore a little bit (it's really my wife's sled)


any help would be great. just something to get our feet wet and to watch some friends jump their sled and break ****.
 
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Lost Sheep

New member
Go down the trail a ways & hang a left when you see the tree with the weird branch ( you'll know it when you see it) go 200 yards turn right by the stump & there it is........
 
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xc500mod

Member
Look up the Kingston Plains over by munising. There should be plenty of space for you guys to get going off trail. All the terrain you need
 
indy_500

indy_500

Well-known member
Hate to break it to you but ^^^ they're right. Plus as trail riders looking onto off-trail riders it's hard to grasp the concept. Yes there are guys who go look for open play areas to hit jumps and ride wheelies and play in the powder but that's not what real off-trail riding is about (yes i used to look for these areas myself a few years ago...). I spend my entire day navigating ravine bottoms, getting buried in drainages, smashing trees, and sidehilling anything I can see in tight technical terrain deep in the woods (on the left side of course)
 
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slowsi00

New member
bcorn said:
Agree!
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there is a couple places right off trail 3 south of the bridge that I have seen. Just never explored. Want to make sure we are being legal and safe. Good thing a guide is only a phone call away.


I see tracks all along the power lines and that looks fun but it also looks illegal.

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xc500mod said:
Look up the Kingston Plains over by munising. There should be plenty of space for you guys to get going off trail. All the terrain you need
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I have heard of this place before. The trail goes right by the parking lot and then supposedly head north from the parking lots and the plains are right there.

Big stumps over that way? .
 
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whitedust

Well-known member
slowsi00 said:
Thanks, we usually ride western UP.

Hopefully next time in the mosquito we can befriend some off trail guys buy them some pops and have them show us around.
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It is hard work to find good off trail spots and nobody wants their spot tracked up. Kingston Plains your best bet if serious about it without much research. So much trespassing ongoing in the area you prefer it is going to lead to severe penalties. Land owners are upset ....just so you know.
 
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bladeguy

Member
A useful thing people can share here is specific areas we can NOT go off trail. Where is the private land we should avoid?
 
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whitedust

Well-known member
bladeguy said:
A useful thing people can share here is specific areas we can NOT go off trail. Where is the private land we should avoid?
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All of it ...lol...Buy a book of platt maps or hire a guide. Kingston Plains is the only place I know where you have wide open off trail opps. Otherwise looking at honey holes. You sound very very new to off trail riding.... maybe try some unplowed FRs first if you are not willing to put in the study time.
 
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xpr800

New member
Some of you guys are blabbin' up the name of a good spot,.... That's one of my playgrounds, I wont repeat the name of it but there is some private land in that area too. Yes there are stumps there, some very large & 3 to 4 feet high, usually under the snow & you don't see them, I mean feel them till its too late! You can get turned around & lost, push snow for hours, Gas can be an issue there also, I have been there in a complete whiteout with crazy swirling winds & 6 foot + drifting, awesome off trailing & about the only place that real late season riding can be done. I have been there during the ATV season also, very cool endless technical stuff . As one of the other posters said, your best bet is to study a plat map, do some research on seasonal roads & fire lanes & get familiar with the area, where ever it may be. You should probably invest in a GPS so you can find your way back to your starting point. Again, no one is going to give up their secret spots, It can take years to figure out an area & if the sign says NO TRESPASSING or Private Property, please live by it or it gives a bad name to all Snowmobilers. Thanks RP.
 
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Modman440

New member
Good luck for me most of our play spots are private property that we have permission to be on. And let me tell you what it took a long time to get that permission!!!!!!! Just stick with ditches aandstuff lol. Few years back we rolled into red flannel in and our helmets were packed with snow could barely see out our goggles and we got bombarded with questions by a group of rental warriors. Man where are you guys riding and so on it was well after dark and I'm not one to give up a good spot and they would not let it be we ended up leaving it was so bad. Some people can't just let things go. I don't bash people because even a rented warrior is still a sledder but these guys looked very wet behind the ears to me. My best advice is make friends and maybe someday you will get the invite to ride with them I've been riding the yoop for 16 years and about 6 years ago I finally got some invites now I get to ride some of the best pow all across DA YOOP


MOD
 
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old abe

Well-known member
Please, please, stay off commercial property, and private lands without proper permission to be on it. This issue alone is the most important to ALL snowmobilers!!!!!!!!!!!!! You can ruin riding for all of us.
 
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ski_dog

New member
old abe said:
please, please, stay off commercial property, and private lands without proper permission to be on it. This issue alone is the most important to all snowmobilers!!!!!!!!!!!!! You can ruin riding for all of us.
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THANK YOU!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I don't know how it is in the U.P. but in Wisconsin, private property DOES NOT have to be marked "PRIVATE PROPERTY - NO TRESSPASSING."
If you don't know - don't go. All it takes is one person to make a wonderful land owner (and I mean that in the most sincere manner) mad and close a trail for ALL snowmobilers.
 
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dofo1

Member
xc500mod said:
Look up the Kingston Plains over by munising. There should be plenty of space for you guys to get going off trail. All the terrain you need
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Kingston is a great place but you need a lot of snow cover there are stumps, some 3' high, so wait until later in the winter.
 
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