Ride some of the best snowmobile trails around

WESTERN MAINE — Many of the people who flock to the Oxford Hills do so in the spring and summer, for lakeside fun and cool mountain air, or in the fall, to peep at our technicolor burst of foliage, but just as many make the trek here in the coldest part of the year, as well.

With picturesque ice-coated lakes, charming villages, thick forests, and rolling snow-covered hills, Western Maine is truly a winter wonderland.

Our well-known ski resorts are a popular attraction, but there is another winter sport that captivates both local enthusiasts and those from away — snowmobiling. 

Last year, more that 100,000 people found winter adventure along the Maine trails system, according to the Maine Snowmobile Association (MSA).

“Some of the best snowmobiling in North America can be found here,” says MSA’s executive director, Bob Meyers.

“Western Maine provides just tremendous snowmobiling around every turn. There is beautiful scenery, great services, and well-maintained trails. It offers everything that people who love this sport could ask for,” he says.

With more than 13,000 miles of “pretty sophisticated” trails, most any type of riding is available in the state, especially in Oxford County.

“What really makes Maine a great place to snowmobile are the thousands of generous landowners who allow access to their property which, in turn, allows the trails to connect,” Meyers said.

“You can start anywhere in Western Maine and spend days enjoying great riding in that area. Or, if you want, you can connect to trails that would take you any place in the state,” says Meyers.  “That’s one of the things that makes snowmobiling in Maine unique.”

It is not uncommon to round the bend and come across a moose, a deer, or fox.

Although riders encounter as much wilderness as wildlife on their sleds, no one need fear becoming lost.

Trails are mostly all marked and well-groomed, so navigating is a breeze.  You don’t need to be familiar with the area.  Most every intersection is marked so that you know exactly where you are.

Excellent trail maps are available from local town offices and snowmobile clubs that makes excursions by the sleds easy to plan.

Most snowmobilers enjoy riding on trails that are well maintained, and Maine is blessed with hundreds of volunteers who groom and take care of its trails.

“They are the heroes of this sport,” Meyers says.

In Norway, 77 nuclear families and 20 area businesses belong to the Norway Trackers snowmobile club.  Still, as with many clubs, it's a handful who do the bulk of the work.

Club president Richard Mowatt has been grooming trails since moving to the area in 1971, the last 20 as a founding member of the Trackers.

Along with regular groomers Rick and Stan Morse, Bob Noyce and Ken Gammon, Mowatt is out on Norway's 70-mile trail system every week, Monday through Wednesday, behind the controls of a 1976 Tucker Sno-Cat.  The 1,800-pound machine drags a contraption 8-feet wide, and 21-feet long, with five V-shaped cutting edges which roll snow into a packing pan.

At the end of each weekend, frequent snowmobile traffic creates trail moguls that make for rough riding even at 5 or 10 miles per hour.  When the weekly grooming is done however, snowmobilers can drive "comfortably" at up to 40 miles per hour, says Mowatt.  

Mowatt also credits Ron Springer and the entire crew at the Norway Highway Department, who keep the Norway Lake boat landing and other area parking lots, such as at Patch Mountain, and Nobles Corner, cleared and ready for tourists.

KEEP IT LEGAL. KEEP IT SAFE. KEEP IT FUN.

No trail pass is needed to ride in Maine, but residents and non-residents alike must register their sleds.

Resident Registration is $35 (one year), starting on July 1.

Non-residents can choose from a three-day, 10-day or full-season registration at $43, $58, or $68 respectively — plus an agent's fee of $1 to $2.

Most of the registration money goes to a good cause.  It is used by the Maine Department of Conservation, Bureau of Parks and Lands Snowmobile Trail Fund.  From there it is distributed via a grant system to snowmobile clubs and towns to develop and construct new trails and maintain old ones and to assist with the purchase of grooming equipment.  Some of it is also used to fund the Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife snowmobile enforcement and safety education programs.

Although your registration allows you access to every mile of Maine’s trail system, there are some places where you cannot operate, such as in a cemetery or within 200 feet of a dwelling, hospital, nursing home, convalescent home or church.

On plowed roads, sleds need to travel off the portion of road used by motor vehicles and may only do so for a limited distance — if you're crossing the road, 300 yards — if you're crossing a bridge, overpass or underpass, 500 yards.

Some communities designate snowmobile access routes into their town so sledders can buy gas, stop at restaurants, etc. — these should be well marked and noted on the local trail map — travel slowly and to the extreme right when using these routes.

This year the Trackers cut a trail directly to Weltner's Market, on Route 118, in Norway.

In Maine, more than 90 percent of snowmobile trails are located on private property, so those who use them must always remember to be respectful of the landowner.  It is by the owner's permission alone that the snowmobiler has access to the network.

There are no speed limits on Maine trails.  Instead, riders are expected to maintain “reasonable and prudent speed for the existing conditions.”

That means that snowmobilers must slow down when encountering intersections, sharp turns in the trail, local wildlife, or other sledders.

The general rule is that if you are unable to control the sled enough to keep it on the right side of the trail and to stop safely, you are speeding.

Maine has a tough OUI law with penalties for operating or attempting to operate a snowmobile under the influence of alcohol or drugs.

It is illegal to drive a snowmobile in a manner which endangers another person or property, so if a game warden, forester, ranger, trooper, or local law-enforcement officer flags a sled down, its operator is required to stop. 

Snowmobilers also must stop for landowners who want them to.  Remember, it is by their grace that the trail is open.

"Safety is a real important part of program," says Mowatt.

The Trackers keep a "rescue-boggin" at the Norway Fire Department, and are often called upon by Oxford County 9-1-1 and PACE ambulance service to lend a hand.

Based on one incident last year — in which two riders who were due home at 2 p.m. got lost and were not heard from until after 9 p.m. — Mowatt urges snowmobilers to leave a note on the dashboard of their vehicles, advising of a route and return time.

"We got together a bunch of guys to conduct a search and had no other choice but to just ride out at random in different directions," says Mowatt.

THERE’S FUN IN NUMBERS

Those who wish to ride the trails in Western Maine, or anywhere in the state, are encouraged to join a snowmobiling club.

There are more than 285 such clubs and Meyers says that to join, a person doesn’t necessarily have to be a Mainer. In fact, a significant portion of the members come from out-of-state. For a list of MSA clubs, see their website: www.mesnow.com.

What benefit could come from joining a snowmobile club?

For those new to the sport, or who don’t necessarily know their way around the trails, club members often make wonderful guides.

Also, by joining a club, individuals will be included in all of the club activities such as club rides, and charity events, even fund raising efforts.

There are scores of planned events scheduled each year in Western Maine.  Snowmobilers can choose from drag racing, radar runs, poker runs, rallies, snodeos, sno-cross racing and vintage snowmobile events.

When riders get hungry from all those activities, there usually is plenty of good food available.

Dozens of community suppers, spaghetti feeds, eat-on-the-run, chowder fests, and winter festivals are also planned for each snowmobile season.  And many local stores and restaurants cater to snowmobilers who gas up, fill up and rest up in town.

"We do need to get the younger generation involved," says Mowatt, noting that 60 is the average club members age. 

"There are guys that are 75 years old who are out there throwing wood and cutting brush to maintain trails, and it's the young guys that are using and abusing the trails," says Mowatt.  "They tear them up with high performance sleds, which makes us old guys need to groom even more.

"We do it because we enjoy doing it," says Mowatt, "but we really need to get some younger blood.

"I'm sure they've got other things on their mind, other than cutting brush," he says, "but I sure wish they'd step up to the plate and give us a hand."

Still, with or without help from the younger generation, one thing is for certain, snowmobiling benefits the entire region.

"Because it's something that people do with their families, it really contributes across a wide range," says Steve Wallace, director of the Oxford Hills Chamber of Commerce.  "We see the benefit in our mom 'n pop shops, our motels and gas stations, our restaurants and lot of our stores and other businesses.

"I know I get requests for information on snowmobile related activities all the time," says Wallace.  "I think it gives a fantastic boost the the area."