Tips on where to vacation out west or east for back country Riding - Snowmobile Forum: Your #1 Snowmobile Forum

kjackson7710 · 12-13-2012, 03:36 PM

Hey guys, I am inquiring about any input on somewhere to head out west or east to do some backcountry boondocking with lodging and a sled included. I live in michigan and the terrain just doesnt cut it for me. Please let me know of any lodges that you have visted with a reasonable price and as well as good terrain. I could really care less about staying in a 5 star resort, more interested in the riding and price. Thank you in advance for any input.

**BC_Dan** · 12-13-2012, 04:42 PM

Diamond Lake Resort has been on the SnoWest top 10 pretty much every year.

http://www.diamondlake.net/

Paulina Lake Lodge/ East Lake are also awesome. It's about a 3 mile sled trip into the lodge, you would have to arrange to get your sleds at the parking lot.

Paulina Lake Lodge | Home

rgoers · 12-17-2012, 01:33 PM

Areas in Utah... within a couple hours of Salt Lake City airport.

In order of most awesome to least awesome...

Rental sleds on-site. One of the top 10 riding areas in the West. Some trails. Endless miles of free-riding.
All-Inclusive Snowmobile Trips - Mountain Lodge

Sleds on site. Awesome groomed trails with miles and miles of off-trail riding.
Utah Cabins Vacation Rentals | Park City Snowmobile Rentals | ATV Rentals UT

Groomed trails. Plenty of off-trail riding areas.
Lodging*Rates*in*Utah*|*Daniels*Summit*

ZRTEETH · 12-17-2012, 01:41 PM

Don't plan anything for the east. Were not sure if were even going to get any snow this year!!!

rgoers · 12-17-2012, 03:24 PM

Any idea when you're planning to go??? The seasons here are very different from that of the NE states. Sometimes we get snow early, but it's most common to start getting REAL snow in late December and early January. Then, the season typically lasts through May and into June, and sometimes all the way into early July. What we (western riders) wait for is several feet of snow... usually enough to bury fences and T-poles far enough to not pose a riding hazard.

When I used to live in NY, I would get the sleds out in 3" of snow... Not here! Sounds strange to most NE riders to hear us snub our noses at 30" of snow... waiting for it to get "real deep". Just something for you to be aware of... if you come West in late January through early March, you should not be dissappointed!

Sarge · 12-17-2012, 05:52 PM

If you are looking for the steep and deep I suggest the uinta Mountains of Utah. This is where we ride week in an dweek out. Go to Utah Cabins Vacation Rentals | Park City Snowmobile Rentals | ATV Rentals UT or call 801.798.1008. They have excellent cabins to rent for 299.00 per night I believe and always have late model sleds to rent. As we speak the uinta mountains are getting pounded with three feet of fresh powder. heading up this Friday myself.

Alpine cust · 12-23-2012, 09:57 PM

Utah is the place to ride. No question

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rgoers · 01-15-2013, 01:11 PM

BTW - don't even think of going out in the back country alone, unless you'd like to die there. Out here, you go with a buddy, or you don't go at all. It's not the tame trails you're used to riding...

djp622 · 01-17-2013, 07:20 AM

I've had the best experiences as far as renting and riding goes in West Yellowstone, MT. Very small town and its all about snowmobiling in the winter. The people there are very nice. There is a sled shop on every corner, and gas stations right next to it. Also, the food is great. You can ride your sleds in town on the streets as if it were a truck or car. You can park your sled right next to your hotel room door. I paid 160 a day for a 2012 rmk600 with a 155" track and paid about 75 dollars a night for hotel expenses. Stage coach Inn and Himark Rentals out of west yellowstone is a great combo. You will not be disappointed. Let us know what you decide!!!

djp622 · 01-17-2013, 07:25 AM

Togwotee Mountain Lodge: Snowmobiling, Hiking, Rafting in Jackson Hole, Wyoming - also another awesome place out west. great deals can be found here like with the different vacation packages they offer.

sks99 · 01-20-2013, 10:12 PM

Contact Bill at :The Brook Trout Inn at West yellowstone.He has cabins witrh extremly good rates. Our group rents from him when ever we go. awsome riding in that area.

Loopy · 02-27-2013, 11:50 AM

My wife and I just had our honeymoon in West Yellowstone and we are definately going back, town caters to snowmobilers in the winter and it was actually cheap compared to other places. Lots of stuff to do in the evening. I do agree with what the other post said you do not go at it alone, less then an hour into our riding I had mine burried and it was zero fun trying to get it out by ourselves. Here is pictures of my most awesome wife and one of our rentals on our way up to "Two Tops"......

rgoers · 02-27-2013, 01:16 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Loopy

My wife and I just had our honeymoon in West Yellowstone and we are definately going back, town caters to snowmobilers in the winter and it was actually cheap compared to other places. Lots of stuff to do in the evening. I do agree with what the other post said you do not go at it alone, less then an hour into our riding I had mine burried and it was zero fun trying to get it out by ourselves. Here is pictures of my most awesome wife and one of our rentals on our way up to "Two Tops"......

Congrats on the new life together!!! Looks like a very nice place to get things started... Can't go wrong with a girl who likes to sled!

Can you share (ball-park) pricing to give everyone an idea of what it would cost? With the looming sequester, I'm seriously comtemplating selling my 2 sleds just to get some living money in hand... so i may be one of the interested parties in knowing what a vacation there (with sled rental, of course) would cost.

Loopy · 02-27-2013, 02:41 PM

She is definately a keeper and I count my blessings everyday finding her!!!

This is how we did our trip,

We used an independent who gets paid a commission from the hotel and snowmobile rental place, if this is your first time out there I’d highly recommend Charlie @ West Yellowstone Snowmobile Rental Packages, West Yellowstone National Park Tours
You can book it yourself for the same price as him but he went above and beyond helping us put our package together and telling us places in town to go to eat and places to go ride.

We stayed at the Best Western Crosswinds which ran us $59.00 per night, it had a decent pool and hot tub. This included a decent continental breakfast each morning and they had soup for lunch each day but we were gone riding. Rooms were your average for a West Western, clean and comfortable…….. there are higher end places to stay also.

Our snowmobiles were through Rendezvous Snowmobile Rentals, inc. Rendezvous Snowmobile Rentals, Yellowstone Snowmobile Rental, West Yellowstone Snowmobile Rental, Group and Guided Snowmobile Tours, Winter in Yellowstone, Guided Yellowstone Snowmobile Tours, Yellowstone Group Rentals Again excellent service with these people, our first day we went on a guided tour of the park through them which I’d highly recommend if you are going there and have never done it. We chose to ride double the first day on a TZ1 Cat, the cost of the machine was $134.00 and the park fee was an additional $40.00. This was an all day ride, we left at around 9:00’ish and didn’t get back till sundown. Our tour Guide was very knowledge of the park and wildlife, was kind of comical because out of our group we had a family from Hawaii, a couple from Florida and another group from Tennessee which had never rode before. Was just as much fun watching them as it was watching the animals along the way.
Our second and third day riding was outside the park on 600 RMK 155 tracks, they allowed us to take them to our hotel from the park tour which was really cool of them. These ran $144.00 per sled and included a full tank of gas each day. Every morning we checked in with them and they helped route us to different places on the trail system.

There was also a $15.00 per day per sled insurance we chose to purchase, this has a $750.00 deductable so if you are going to mess one up you might as well do it right!?!? They also had rental clothes/boots/helmets available but we chose to bring our own with.

All in all I never once questioned if we were getting our money worth, even owning our own machines I would never haul our own. Having brand new machines with the best technology and not worrying about breaking down was worth the extra money. We came across 6 people who had melted down there own sleds from not jetting and or clutching properly and too me the peace of mind was worth this alone. it was kind of cool coming home to tell everyone we rode in Wyoming, Idaho and Montana all in the same day!!

Hope this helps, if you have any other questions let me know.

rgoers · 03-01-2013, 08:29 AM

WOW - thank you so much for the details.

It's actually cheaper to do what you did there than to rent/stay locally here in UT. Can't really touch a sled rental here for under $165-$175 and then there's usually an $8 oil fee on top of the fuel charge.

Pictures are great! Hope you got to get stuck at least once while you were out there... Gotta at least take in a full-blown mountain riding experience. :-)

Loopy · 03-01-2013, 08:49 AM

We did get some good riding in but after getting stuck right away it was decided I had to be good, it really stunk big time going past one powder field after another and not having the courage to try it again. We did hook up with a big group and went off trail for a bit our last day so that made up for it a bit.
I am one that gets bored doing the same trips over and over again but next time we will be trying to get as many friends as possible to go with us, if it wasn't for us saving for an Alaskan adventure next year we'd most likely go again next winter. We are going to try the Black Hills next year though for a little getaway and will go back to West yellowstone the winter of 2014/15.