I am planning a trip out west this yr, probably 2 trips. Problem is i've never been farther than the black hills. Been riding since the early 80's, mostly WI, MN, UP, SD, & ND. We will prob rent, I've ben tossing it up btween Togwotee & cooke city. Maybe both? So where should a "western newbie" go?
Where would you go?
- Thread starter rmk4ever
- Start date
West Yellowstone Mt. Great place for rentals,service,night life ect. Not everyone will agree with this but have been there many times and never had a bad trip. Can be lots of traffic in the first 4 miles out of town but it opens up from there. Also been to Big Horns North and South good times there.
Get ready for many ideas. I have taken many flat landers out west for the first time since 92' and I would suggest Togwotee. Invest in a vacation and relax. Book the semi/inclusive package, get a guide and enjoy. You don't have to look at a truck or trailer for the entire vacation. You don't have to ride a long way to play. You have the best of both worlds for mountain riding (steep and deep or rolling meadows). The trails are groomed from the lodge. It is probably the most expensive package/lodge but I my opinion you are experiencing a new type of riding so pay for the conveinence of being able to do nothing but "Ride". Big Horns, Snowies, West Yellowstone, Cooke all have great riding so you really can't go wrong anyplace. There are other lodges/resorts in the BT range that you may want to look into but I think you will find they may not have all that Togwotee has to offer. We go to Togwotee and the Snowies 2-3 times a year. Our next adventure is Banf Canada.
Firecatguy
New member
he said it perfect!!!!
cuzzinolaf
Well-known member
If you haven't taken the Avy course don't go to Cooke. Lots of avy areas there when out playing and even the two passes you go through to get to the good riding have slid.
anonomoose
New member
HEy!!! Dat Job is tacon by some else on this site. Don't B correctin english without permission. LOL!!!!
Takin' over da schoolmarm duties, eh, moose? 
(I can retire now?)
(I can retire now?)
Da Moose don't need no stinkin' persimmon!
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polarisrider1
New member
You say that your a newbie to out west. Do the Tog. Pkg. To start. Cooke is pretty serious mtn. Riding.
My first trip west was to the Snowies and I stayed at the MM cabins. I had a great time. I did however go out there with some of the Kessler Crew that had been out there a few times. We also had Cameron from 3C Guiding for a day. http://3csnowmobileguide.com/
This was just last March so I can not comment on the other riding areas out west. You will be able to get all the info you need from people on this and other forums to plan your visit.
This is a link to the write up on our trip.
http://www.johndee.com/vbulletin/attachment.php?attachmentid=18922&d=1299870500
This was just last March so I can not comment on the other riding areas out west. You will be able to get all the info you need from people on this and other forums to plan your visit.
This is a link to the write up on our trip.
http://www.johndee.com/vbulletin/attachment.php?attachmentid=18922&d=1299870500
If its your 1st time I would say west yellowstone over cooke. I think cooke has alot more areas where you could get into trouble fast. Not to say that west doesnt but if your a 1st timer it may be a little less crazy haha. Get a guide, get a guide, did I say get a guide? We use Jeff and the crew at ace powder guides. I can not say enough good things about these guys. That being said there is not much for night life or luxury spots to stay. Fly out and rent, if you dont wreck anything you can do 5-7 days for under 2k. Be safe and dont ride over your limits, be truthful about what your limits really are. Pack a good amount of water, gatorade etc. and munchies. 11,000 feet can do weird stuff to people. If your planning this far in advance I would also suggest that you start doing some kind of workout plan if you dont already.
Well we booked a week in togwotee (2nd week in jan) Rented one so far & still debating if I want to drag mine out there. Does anyone know if we could do a day trip in the park thru them? Or perhaps another outfit? We want to see some of the park, no matter how slow we have to travel, on the approved snowmachine's.
We didn't do the park trip either time we rode the Tog area, but there are quite a few outfitters out there that handle that. I've been in that area twice, so I'm a newbie compared to others here, but unless you have a mountain sled or at least a crossover with a good track, my opinion is that you'll be much happier renting. I don't know where you are coming from, but it's nice not to deal with the trailer either. I don't know what kind of riding you want to do, but my understanding of the park riding is that it's pretty much a sightseeing trip only. I'm sure it's great, but for the limited days I have available to ride, I'd rather just ride outside the park where you still have the freedom to really ride the sleds. The scenery outside the park is indescribable anyway.
Been to Tog once and loved it, so far the benchmark sled trip!! We will be going back. Last year we did West Yellowstone/Island Park. If we go to that neck of the woods again I think we might stay in Island Park, it's not that far from West Yellowstone (right over the pass) and it has many more available trails if you want to trail ride.
We did go through Yellowstone Park and I could have sworn that I saw Togwotee sleds there. That said, you could just drive from Tog and rent in West Yellowstone. Check (I think this is what it's called) Two Top Snowmobile Rental, they have a website by that name, they are located literally a few blocks from the gate to the park, we had an awesome guide.
A bit of advice if you go into the park. There are two loops you can take. It was suggested by someone in our party that we do both loops just cuz we migh not get back there. Sounded good to us. You do get see a lot more but if you want to spend anytime at any given place you are very limited as both loops is something like 130 miles combined and they want to be out of the park at like 4:30.
If you want to do both loops, I would highly suggest doing one, one day and the other another day. But by all means do go into the park.
We did go through Yellowstone Park and I could have sworn that I saw Togwotee sleds there. That said, you could just drive from Tog and rent in West Yellowstone. Check (I think this is what it's called) Two Top Snowmobile Rental, they have a website by that name, they are located literally a few blocks from the gate to the park, we had an awesome guide.
A bit of advice if you go into the park. There are two loops you can take. It was suggested by someone in our party that we do both loops just cuz we migh not get back there. Sounded good to us. You do get see a lot more but if you want to spend anytime at any given place you are very limited as both loops is something like 130 miles combined and they want to be out of the park at like 4:30.
If you want to do both loops, I would highly suggest doing one, one day and the other another day. But by all means do go into the park.
St. Cloud area, Already booked & deposits are down. Like Tyeeman said one benchmark trip! I have a 03 800 rmk & 04 800 rmk both with 156 so i'll prob bring them also, but have a 800 pro rented for the week also. I got one guy does not know if he is going to rent or not.