We braved the frigid temps and blizzard conditions last weekend in Michigan's UP to tour the trails and the backcountry in a couple different locations. We started off in Munising and then made our way up to Houghton and South Range. Here's a quick recap of the trip!
I'm not sure why more people don't ride in Munising. It used to be THE place to go a few years back and not much seems to have changed. We did our share of riding on the 300+ miles of pristine trails and dabbled a bit in the backcountry. Munising is surrounded by the Hiawatha National Forest and Pictured Rocks National Lake Shore. The trails are filled with character and photo ops. You'll find lighthouses, rock formations, scenic views of Lake Superior and waterfalls all along the trail. We also found some great backcountry playgrounds literally minutes from our hotel. We based out of the Comfort Inn and would not hesitate to do that again! Great staff, who mostly all happen to be snowmobilers, so their knowledge of the area is second to none! We'll have more on the area in an upcoming issue of American Snowmobiler magazine!
After a couple days in Munising, we made a fairly harrowing drive through whiteout conditions up to South Range, just 15 minutes south of Houghton. We based out of Wildlife Refuge Cabins right off the highway (and snowmobile trail) in South Range. If you're a snowmobiler staying at this place, you'll feel like your social status just went up as soon as you walk in the door! The cabins are exceptional accommodations. You'll most likely be greeted by the owners at some point throughout your stay, and they're more than happy to guide their guests around the area. There aren't a lot of snowmobile hotels/motels my wife is absolutely dying to go back to, but this is one of them! Probably has something to do with the heated floors and fireplace in the cabins! The fact that you're treated like family doesn't hurt either! Definitely check them out for your next outing at www.wildliferefugecabins.com.
And since this was really a work trip, I had to do a little of that too. So we met up with the guys from EZ Ryde to test their brand new trail suspension. Most people that know the EZ Ryde name think of their mountain skids, which are run by a lot of RMSHA racers as well as general mountain riders out west. A lot of trail folks maybe aren't quite as familiar with them, but we're going to try hard to change that. After spending some significant seat time on their new trail rear suspension, I can honestly say there's nothing like it out in the trail market. To give you an idea of how much we liked it, we actually took our longer track sleds and dug ruts in the trail just so we could hit more big bumps with the new product! I can't say that I've ever actually intentionally went looking for rough trails, but that's exactly what we did! I'm guessing there will be a lot of crosscountry guys on these suspensions next season! You check out the new product at www.ezryde.com and we will have more technical coverage of the product in our Motor Mouths Blog later this week right here on amsnow.com.
While in the Houghton area, we hooked up with Matt Downey of Keweenaw Snow Expeditions (KSE). Matt is one of the premier backcountry guides and teachers in the UP. We took advantage of his services to teach some of our less experienced riders some backcountry basics. If I had to describe Matt's teaching style, it would be patient and unassuming. Whether you consider yourself an expert mountain/backcountry rider or just would like to see what the backcountry is all about, you should be contacting KSE. No matter your skill level or experience, there's something Matt can teach you. You can learn more about KSE at www.revolutionfreeride-kse.com.
As you can see, we covered quite a bit of ground in last five days. We'll have more on all this in the upcoming issues of American Snowmobiler magazine. Be sure to renew or subscribe here to keep caught up with everything in the snowmobile world!