Planning a long trip through the UP.... Have a few questions

sdahm

sdahm

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I'm planning a trip to the upper peninsula this winter and was wondring if you guys had a few suggestions. First off I plan on riding with a friend (BlueMachine) from Pembine, WI all the way to Houghton, MI as a full day trip. We will be visiting a friend for a day and making the same trip back. Is Pembine to Houghton too crazy to do in one full day?

I want to do it either the second or third week in Jan. or during the third or fourth week in feb. Is there generally more snow covering the entire UP during one of these times.

I also pieced together 4 MI maps to scope out a possible route. I'll attach a link to it. Aren't there more trails than this.... are these on the map only state trails or something? Has anyone traveled these trails and is this a reliable route to take?

www.reflectivemediaproductions.com/tj/pictures/up_map.jpg

And how much is a temporary MI permit? (we are from WI) Where's the best place to get one?

Any help/suggestions are appreciated! Thanks guys!
 
UP trip

Hi Scott,

From experience, we always watch the weather reports and trail reports before heading to the UP. The lady Hoop n Hollar bar on Gogebic does a good job of providing are trail and weather reports. Also watch the TWC web page for forcasts. We've had good luck with snow and weather conditions this way. My son and a group of guys made the trip a few years back without checking it out. Temps were in the 50's and melted all the snow. They came home the next day.
You can get trail permits at any gas station or convienence store for $25 as I remember. The DNR likes to park at stop signs to check for home state stickers and local trail permits. Make sure they are current.
I'm not familiar with the trails farther east in the UP. We always stay on Gogebic and ride to Houghton from there. It's 90 miles each way and a fairly easy one day round trip. We usually have four to eight people. The more we have the longer it takes to go any where. With just two of you it should go quick. Closer to Houghton the trail is mostly rail road bed and you can cover a lot of ground in a hurry.
There is a mini mart I think it's in Twin Lakes south of Houghton. You will want to stop there for fuel. The guy that runs it also grooms the trails in that area and is just a super nice guy to visit with.
 
Watch the forecast and reports as has been stated, but those are good months for snow and you'll probably do great.I can't speak for Wisconsin, but once you get in Michigan your going to have an awesome ride up to Houghton!You may want to look into buying your trail permits through the mail and have them affixed to your sleds before you even head out which could save ya some potential headaches.
 
Scott, that trip is definitely do-able in one day. it should be right around 200 miles give or take. I would not think that you could do a there and back in 1 day but that trip should be no problem.
you are going to need to waych the weather and snow conditions but the weathermen are predicting above normal snow for the upper midwest this year.
you can buy your Mi. trail permits online http://www.michigan.gov/dnr/0,1607,7-153-10366_34947-32299--,00.html
or at any store in Mi. that sells fishing/hunting liscences. The permits are $35 now per sled.
We do a lot of saddlebagging ourselves and we absolutely love it! This sounds like a real fun trip! Also, we are thinking of planning a TotallYamaha saddlebag trip for the end of Feb. but we will be leaving from Mercer, Wi. and heading to Houghton, then tour the Keewenau for the next day and day 3 make our way back to Mercer. Still in the works but that will be an awesome trip!
Have fun!
 
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I would look into getting a GPS and chart maps of your trip. You can then route out a trip electronically and know exactly where you are at all times. No need to stop at all intersections to check where the heck you are. Al
 
What kind of GPS? You can get maps of snowmobile trails on GPS's? That would be nice to have.
 
That is an awesome setup. I have a Garmin Street Pilot c550 for my car. I did a little research and it looks like i could put a MI map of the snowmobile trails on it. Here's the link.

http://www.vvmapping.com/smorvtrail.html

I've never put any other maps on a GPS before. Would this work if I bought the map? I just don't know if its worth it at this point because I live in southeastern WI and ride up north a few times a year with people that know where they are going. I would love it for this trip but i dont know if it would be worth the purchase of the map. $60? idk.
 
The optional maps are worth the money. If your unit can upload and read charts or maps. Do you have an SD card slot? I like haveing the large screen as I can easily glance down at it at any time. Similar to the gauges. The buttons are large enough I can press with gloves on and is completely water resistant. The color display can adjust to night vision also. I sell and install the Lowrance and Raymarine Chartplotters for boats. I have used any of the Garman product, I am sure they are also a good product. I just prefer using what I sell and use in the summer months. I would not be surprised to start seeing advertising sold on these SD charts or maps. Ie, where local hotels and fuel stops are along with watering holes . Al
 
Yeah, it has an SD card slot. I will definitely look into that for the future, but for this trip I think i'll bring it with to use as just a reference point in comparison to roads if we get really lost. Thanks for the info!
 
sdahm,

We use to trailer to Amasa which is just north of Crystal Falls and ride the same route to Houghton. I believe it was 140 ish in miles. The trail from Amasa to the grade just south of Sidnaw is twisty and tight by Michigan standards. If your use to riding in the Pembine area you'll be right at home. Gas up in Sidnaw. The Alston trail from Sidnaw to the Bill Nichols trail is mainly forest rode with some awesome scenery. You use to be able to ride up the back of Silver Mountain to the top which gives you quite a view. Silver Mountain is where I proposed to my wife on a snowmobiling trip about twelve years ago. The Nichols trail is mainly grade and yes you'll want to stop at Twin lakes for gas. There was a bar next door called the Golden Harp which had good food and spirits. From there to Houghton it's mainly grade.

Now it might be faster to run the grade trail #2 all the way over to Watersmeet then go North to Brucecrossing, then get on the Bill nichols trail and run that north to Houghton. Not sure, never did it.

The way you're going should give you the least traffic which is why we also picked that route.

I guy I work with was going to college in Houghton in 91/92. His buddy left Marinette, WI rode to Houghton said hi, and rode back home in one day. All on an Exciter. This same guy a couple years ago put on 600 miles from home in a day. I think my personal best was 312 from home.
 
I feel much better about this trip now! I'm pretty excited. We'll see if we can get near Silver Mountain. Im sure the trails will be fine even if they are a little windy near Sidnaw, i'm from Southeastern WI and all our trails are in farm fields and narrow trails in woods. Thanks BARON 8BU!
 
that trip is doable. did it in february 2 years ago with 2 buddies in about 6-7hrs, stopped for a snack once and fuel once. probally could of done it in less time but snowed heavy the entire time. i'll have to check my maps for exact trail numbers but went up through norway. plan on doing it again this year if all is good.
 
That sounds about right, I figured it would take about that long. Any trail numbers or trail suggestions are appreciated!
 
sdahm said:
That sounds about right, I figured it would take about that long. Any trail numbers or trail suggestions are appreciated!
Click to expand...

i just have a old map handy but we came back from houghton via the bay/port down to chassel. caught 15 in chassel and rode down to 8 and took that over to 5. jumped on 5 in to norway. was a good clip but great ride, biggest thing was the heavy snowfall while riding after it got dark. went up that way on 2 over to 13 to lake gogebic, shot the lake than caught back up on 13 over to 3. we stayed @ krupps in twin lakes cause of sled troubles the 1st night. did the loop up to copper harbor the next day and back to krupps again. we headed back home on 3rd day after picking sled up for repairs in houghton. ended up doing over 800 miles in 3 days. just bring a camara with and if could do during the week you should have minimal traffic.
 
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