How to ensure we don't lose snowmobile trails in Indiana and Michigan

“You gotta be prepared to go, leave at the drop of a hat,” Cory Marlow, president of the Airline Snowmobile Club in southwest Michigan, says.

The reality of fickle snow returned over the weekend as a storm blanketed us with more snow than we expected.

But, instead of riding his snowmobile, Geoff Norris was driving what looks like a cross between a farm tractor and a tank. He was tooling the trail groomer along the 23 miles of Trail 182 out of New Buffalo.

If it turns out right, the trail should be a flat, smooth and hard ribbon for snowmobilers to ride. Like white asphalt. If more snow accumulates, groomers like him will go back to pack it down again.

If you own a snowmobile, or are among the lucky ones who could actually find one to buy this winter, you've waited for weeks like this. No need to haul your sled to northern Michigan.

You’re pining for a repeat of last winter, when trails in St. Joseph County opened for 23 days, which was “exceptional” because of the generous snow and cold, Deak Thornton of South Bend, who’s president of the Indiana Snowmobilers Association, says. One recent season had just three days of local riding.

But the luxury of riding a groomed ribbon across private land can melt instantly. Just as soon as you divert off the trail, you’re trespassing. It happens too often. A joy ride goes too far. The result: The land owner, from whom the strip of land is being leased, suddenly refuses the lease. And that section of trail shuts down.

In Michigan, the Yankee Springs Snowmobile Association north of Kalamazoo just lost access to a trail because four riders went off trail. According to a frustrated post on the club’s Facebook page, a volunteer couldn’t convince the land owner to reconsider.

“Trespassing is a real threat to snowmobiling,” Thornton says.

Across the U.S., as open and agricultural land is developed, it pinches off the possible routes for snowmobile trails.

The International Snowmobilers Manufacturers Association, which sees how this could hurt the industry, came out with a pledge this winter against riding off trail unless you know where it’s permitted (gosnowmobiling.org).

The group, based near Lansing, Mich., is right to advocate. Demand for their sleds is up everywhere. At Krupp’s Power Sports in Edwardsburg, manufacturers sent the same number of snowmobiles — about 60 — but demand doubled or tripled this season, co-owner Mike Reichanadter says. All of those sleds had buyers lined up by December. Normally, the store would sell out by February.

He says that means that used sleds are selling for as much as new ones. Ski-Doo's website shows its 2022 models selling for about $8,250 to $20,000.

“You can’t find them,” Thornton says, adding that he just sold a used snowmobile for more than he paid for it two to three years ago.

So, local club members say, if you value the sport that much, the solution is simple. Stick to the trail and mind the signs. It’s a safer ride.

Sadly, a 34-year-old man from Angola, Ind., died Sunday after he was riding a snowmobile through a field — not a designated trail — and ended up in a creek south of Angola, according to the Indiana Department of Natural Resources. He wasn’t wearing a helmet either.

Also, volunteers say, join one of their clubs and help efforts to keep and grow the trail systems. You can make friends and join rides.

The Snowbusters Snowmobile Club hasn’t lost trail access to Trail 182 — running from New Buffalo to the Indiana border — since new members joined the board in 2018 and raised more awareness on its Facebook page, Norris, who is president, says. The last time it lost access, he says, was when a snowmobile landed in a pond.

Now there are 12 to 15 paid members out of 1,100 followers of the club’s Facebook page. At just $20 for an individual membership and $25 for a family, Norris says, “It’s not about the money as much as the engagement.”

He says it’s about showing up when it’s time to clear brush from the trail and putting up trail signs just before the season and taking them down afterwards — and popping them back up when they’ve been knocked down or stolen. It’s also about helping to secure more trail to ride.

Almost all of the clubs across Michigan, including a few in the southwest, are maintained by volunteers and subsidized through the state, financed by the $52 Michigan annual trail-permit sticker that you buy for each snowmobile.

Indiana doesn’t have a trail permit and instead relies on the revenue from about 10,000 registered snowmobiles in the state.

“We can maintain the trails without it,” Thornton says of the state’s five trail systems, all of them in northern Indiana.

Both states do require that each snowmobile be registered in the state where it resides.

The states reimburse clubs for expenses such as grooming, insurance and land leases. Indiana’s annual budget for leases is $128,000 this year, Thornton says.

Federal grants help the state of Indiana to pay for grooming tractors and attachments. A new rig can cost $250,000 or more. Thornton says the Buffalo Run and Miami (around Elkhart County) trails each gained new trail groomers last year.

One exception is the private Airline Snowmobile Club with 60 miles of trail in Michigan’s Cass and St. Joseph counties that aren’t groomed and that are open only to its members.

The Michiana Trail Riders Coalition, with the public 75-mile Buffalo Run Trail that it maintains in St. Joseph County from the Michigan line to Crumstown, has almost 50 families in its membership. They hook up for winter trips up north but also make trips to ride all-terrain vehicles when it isn’t winter.

Thornton, who had served as club president for several years, says Buffalo Run has several scenic loops and sidewinding trails west of the St. Joseph Valley Parkway that feature many woods.

“When I laid it out 35 years ago, I was looking for as many hills as I could, … just to make it fun to ride,” he says.

The Michiana Trail Riders also hosts an open house with chili, coffee and hot cocoa at its clubhouse near Indiana 2 and Rice Road, west of the South Bend Motor Speedway and Pear Road, each season when the trail is open. It hopes to host one pretty soon. So stay tuned. I'll let you know when.

Before you go

• Snowmobile trails in Michigan and Indiana can open between Dec. 1 and March 31 as conditions permit. The states require at least four inches of snow on the ground. Flimsy, fluffy snow doesn’t really count. But sufficient snow doesn’t mean the trail is open. Club volunteers need to check and groom trails first. They close trails when the snow withers. Check status at each club’s Facebook page.

• Use a GPS unit to keep you on the trail, “especially if you’re riding in an area you’re not familiar with,” Cory Marlow, president of the Airline Snowmobile Club, says. “There are a lot of connecting points that can go in innumerable directions.” You may miss a sign, or it may go missing. Many riders use a free app by Polaris called Ride Command.

• Indiana clubs, trail maps and state regulations: Visit www.in.gov/dnr/outdoor-recreation/trails/snowmobiling-in-indiana.

• Michigan trails and clubs: A link in this column online leads to regional clubs via misorva.org. A second link here leads to the DNR’s maps and regulations.

In today's column: Outdoor Adventures: Time for boats, LaPorte Winterfest, icy hikes, vintage snowmobiles

Follow Outdoor Adventures columnist Joseph Dits on Facebook at SBTOutdoorAdventures. Contact him at 574-235-6158 or jdits@sbtinfo.com.

This article originally appeared on South Bend Tribune: Snowmobile trails: How we ensure not to lose them in Indiana, Michigan