Seeking Info: First Time Snowmobile Vacation

[Mark]

A friend and I are throwing around the idea of heading to the Rockies for a snowmobile vacation. We tossed around doing a Yellowstone Guided Tour (may be cost and time prohibitive) or possibly going to Grand Lake, CO. Neither of us have ever even been on a snowmobile, but it just sounds like a great way to see the mountains in the winter. If anyone has experience and would be willing, I would be eager seek advice and suggestions on planning a trip.

[Al Agnew]

If you go to Yellowstone, you basically have two choices...either do a guided tour inside the park, or do it on your own outside the park boundary. Mary and I did the guided trip inside the park and it ended up being a 90 mile ride on snow-covered park roads, with a couple stops at campground/stores and a couple stops at thermal features. We didn't enjoy it all that much because we wanted to take our time and stop at various places to photograph, etc. Over much of the route, the guides had us going the park speed limit for all vehicles, 45 mph. Since neither I nor Mary had been on a snowmobile before, we weren't all that comfortable with going at those speeds.

If we were to do it again, we'd probably drive through the park to Cooke City (the only road open to autos in the park in the winter is from the north entrance to Cooke City) and rent snowmobiles at Cooke City. From there, the Beartooth Highway is closed to autos during the winter but winds up through spectacular mountains, and you can ride snowmobiles on it as far as you wish to go and then turn around and go back. I bet it would be amazing scenery.

One thing you won't see too much of inside Yellowstone while snowmobiling is wildlife. The wildlife mostly moves to lower elevations in the winter. Much of the park is trackless snow.

[bferg]

I am biased since I am from CO but the set up at grand lake is awesome. Rent your machine right in town and off you go...trails are fairly well marked and provide great views and a lot of different terrain. It is awesome and grand lake is a cool little mountain town that isn't over run by 1,000 of tourists. Can not reccommend it enough!

[Gilly]

I am biased since I am from CO but the set up at grand lake is awesome. Rent your machine right in town and off you go...trails are fairly well marked and provide great views and a lot of different terrain. It is awesome and grand lake is a cool little mountain town that isn't over run by 1,000 of tourists. Can not reccommend it enough!

When my mom first got her place in Grand Lake 25+ years ago Grand Lake was very quaint. But about 15 years ago they started building just about anywhere. If you know the area you'll remember the trout pond right on the curve as you go by on the highway. That's developed now with a log motel ( looks cool). The price of homes got a little crazy there for awhile. Still a cool place to visit though.

[Colorado Bassmaster]

Grand Lake is awesome. Along with the snowmobiling, you can catch giant lake trout through the ice. Grand is a fantastic fishery and one of my very good friends guides up there. His name is Bernie Keefe; he is one of the finest macinaw guides in the nation and an absolute blast to fish with. He has all the equipment and snowmobiles too. If you have never done it, since you will be up there anyway, you should give it a whirl.

[Colorado Bassmaster]

By the way... bferg (Brett)?? I think we have stretched some string together in CO... I'm gonna be in NW Arkansas in June. Maybe that "TC Special" will do some damage. We should get together.

[bferg]

TC! Yep...still rockin that rig for smallies here on a regular basis!! Dude Look me up when you are in town. If you need anything while you are here let me know. June is a great time to fish here for sure. Hope you are well...

[Mark]

Thanks all for replies. Al, glad to hear your thoughts on Yellowstone. Very pricey for not such a great experience. Having stayed in a cabin near the Chief Joseph Scenic Byway and Beartooth Scenic Byway, I could certainly attest to the beauty. But it's a long way to go and I'm now leaning towards Grand Lake. I would like to correspond more with bferg and Colorado Bassmaster and will send you a PM.