Circuit Posted January 13, 2012 Share Posted January 13, 2012 I am trying to plan a trip for next weekend (Jan 21-23) to get some use out of our sleds. My wife is new to snowmobiling so I would like her to get her first ride on some good trails. I have never been in this area and am looking for advice from those who have as to where would be the best place to start from. We would be coming from Sarnia so no matter what it is a 7+ hour drive to get to this area. What I was thinking so far was leave early Saturday morning and drive to Whitney or Barry's Bay, head out for an afternoon sled check and ride, head east on TOP B from either place for the day on Sunday (01/22), and finally a Monday morning ride before driving back to Sarnia. Opinions, suggestions and/or comments? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sledjunk Posted January 13, 2012 Share Posted January 13, 2012 Welcome to the forum! The trails in that area are 'usually' pretty good and should be a 'gentle' start. With the limited areas to ride, the traffic may be high but the OPP tends to patrol that area fairly regularly. Just remind her to keep right and have FUN!!! Please report back after your ride (with pics, if possible) Enjoy! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Viperules700 Posted January 13, 2012 Share Posted January 13, 2012 If you could swing it I would drive all the way to pembroke. You can then ride the pipline (a trail to north bay) If you could get there friday, you could ride to northbay on saturday and back to pembroke on sunday. It is about 180km each eay. Can easily make it in 5 hours of gently riding. This is the best section of trail to ride along the rap tour. Always has plenty of snow, it is wide and always well groomed and very scenic) My favourite trail to ride by far. It will be low traffic right now, since the majoirty of the rap tour trails are still closed and nobody wants to drive that far east. Just a suggestion to make your trip worth while. Barry's bay is ok. It is a mix of rail line and wooded trails with some pretty steep hills to boot. I still think your wife would enjoy the pipeline trail better. Just nice to get out a nice wide scenic trail for her first experience. The pipe line should be all green by next weekend. Half green now. They have had alot of snow on the east side over the last few weeks. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
revrnd Posted January 13, 2012 Share Posted January 13, 2012 On Wednesday, I was talking to a couple in Lake St. Peter. They were staying in Whitney and doing daytrips. Looking @ the OFSC map, it looks like either place would be a good choice. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Turbo Doo Posted January 13, 2012 Share Posted January 13, 2012 Sounds good.. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
I'll Ride Anything Posted January 14, 2012 Share Posted January 14, 2012 Plenty of snow Whitney area MLSS groomers on the job. Was fairly soft today so got alittle churned up but with grooming tonight should be nice to start Sat. By the sound of all the traffic coming tonight will prob be hurtin later in the day. Picked up lots of good sized rocks today. B106E to Whitney, Top B towards BBay all good snow cover. Rail line should open soon south of Bancroft, not quite as much snow but looks to be enough. Lakes still look unsafe. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
couchrocket500 Posted January 14, 2012 Share Posted January 14, 2012 I am trying to plan a trip for next weekend (Jan 21-23) to get some use out of our sleds. My wife is new to snowmobiling so I would like her to get her first ride on some good trails. I have never been in this area and am looking for advice from those who have as to where would be the best place to start from. We would be coming from Sarnia so no matter what it is a 7+ hour drive to get to this area. What I was thinking so far was leave early Saturday morning and drive to Whitney or Barry's Bay, head out for an afternoon sled check and ride, head east on TOP B from either place for the day on Sunday (01/22), and finally a Monday morning ride before driving back to Sarnia. Opinions, suggestions and/or comments? Welcome to the forum Circuit ,I'm not too far from ya, in Corunna. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Circuit Posted January 14, 2012 Author Share Posted January 14, 2012 If you could swing it I would drive all the way to pembroke. You can then ride the pipline (a trail to north bay) If you could get there friday, you could ride to northbay on saturday and back to pembroke on sunday. It is about 180km each eay. Can easily make it in 5 hours of gently riding. This is the best section of trail to ride along the rap tour. Always has plenty of snow, it is wide and always well groomed and very scenic) My favourite trail to ride by far. It will be low traffic right now, since the majoirty of the rap tour trails are still closed and nobody wants to drive that far east. Just a suggestion to make your trip worth while. Barry's bay is ok. It is a mix of rail line and wooded trails with some pretty steep hills to boot. I still think your wife would enjoy the pipeline trail better. Just nice to get out a nice wide scenic trail for her first experience. The pipe line should be all green by next weekend. Half green now. They have had alot of snow on the east side over the last few weeks. This has me thinking North Bay as the start point now. Less driving which means more riding. More research to be done. North Bay to Pembroke and back. Thanks everyone for your comments. I am going to keep checking the trail map to see what opens where and see what our options are for rooms and rates. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
revrnd Posted January 14, 2012 Share Posted January 14, 2012 Thanks everyone for your comments. I am going to keep checking the trail map to see what opens where and see what our options are for rooms and rates. Regardless of where you decide to ride from, check the link in my signature for lodging & mileage info. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Another Phase Posted January 14, 2012 Share Posted January 14, 2012 Pembroke is a great area to ride, but check for accommodations if you plan on staying. They have lots of hockey tournaments and the hotels fill up fast. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Circuit Posted January 15, 2012 Author Share Posted January 15, 2012 Regardless of where you decide to ride from, check the link in my signature for lodging & mileage info. Already have that site bookmarked. Excellent resource. Thanks! Even though it is 2012, I have found many hotels/motels without decent websites and/or toll-free numbers. I have the OFSC trail map open in one tab and a google map in the other looking for accommodations on or near the trails while opening their websites in still more tabs. It gets to be quite the hand full after a while. TOP A from North Bay to Pembroke has a lot of yellow in it yet... it is making me nervous about booking anything. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
revrnd Posted January 15, 2012 Share Posted January 15, 2012 Already have that site bookmarked. Excellent resource. Thanks! Even though it is 2012, I have found many hotels/motels without decent websites and/or toll-free numbers. Thanks! IndySKS & I were talking about that @ the show last fall. Lot's of times when you do a Google search all you get are those bogus directory sites. At the time there was an ad that included an "invisible" customer talking to a counterperson. The "customer" says, "I'm not here because I couldn't find your business on the internet". Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Viperules700 Posted January 15, 2012 Share Posted January 15, 2012 I hear yeah. They are calling for more snow next week. Should be all be green soon. Have to wait and see. Ask Bombay from north bay. He said there was a pile of traffic today heading down the a trail out of north bay. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
J Feces Posted January 15, 2012 Share Posted January 15, 2012 Hey Revrnd. Is the trail from Apsley north being groomed yet. I like to unload in Apsley and ride north to lk st Peter. Planning on going week from today. I understand baptists isn't staked tet, do know if locals are running on south end yet? Just looking for info, thanks. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
revrnd Posted January 15, 2012 Share Posted January 15, 2012 E107 hasn't been groomed. I had heard that the groomer had run on TOP E south of the clubhouse to Hwy 28. OFSC guide says it's closed south of Clubhouse. No update on E107 reroute to TOP E. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Circuit Posted January 17, 2012 Author Share Posted January 17, 2012 Booked: Arrive North Bay late Friday night (leaving after wife's work). Saturday: North Bay to Pembroke. We have all day so we can sort of take our time. Sunday: Pembroke to North Bay. Ditto. Monday: Drive home. Should be a great trip. The trails are turning green. All except North Bay which is yellow right now and a very short red stretch on the way to the hotel in Pembroke but I am sure we can pick our way across 3 kms of closed trail along a road or something. Thanks for everyone's comments! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sledjunk Posted January 17, 2012 Share Posted January 17, 2012 Have fun and ride safe. Don't forget to post pics when you return. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
schmied Posted January 17, 2012 Share Posted January 17, 2012 a very short red stretch in Pembroke but I am sure we can pick our way across 3 kms of closed trail along a road or something. That section crosses a stream/river, likely not safe to cross so not open...yet. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Circuit Posted January 17, 2012 Author Share Posted January 17, 2012 That section crosses a stream/river, likely not safe to cross so not open...yet. Thanks for the info. We are unfamiliar to the area and that helps tremendously. I figured we would travel along Sandy Beach Road off of TOP A/B and head to our destination (Best Western) via the ditches. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Viperules700 Posted January 17, 2012 Share Posted January 17, 2012 Have fun and the trail should be in excellent shape for you. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
revrnd Posted January 17, 2012 Share Posted January 17, 2012 J F, no sign of the groomer into Apsley as of this afternoon. Closest staging area is the 1 @ Dyno Estates. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
J Feces Posted January 18, 2012 Share Posted January 18, 2012 Thanks reverend I thought we could drop at paudash clubhouse off dyno rd. lots of parking there now I hear. Give us an update if you can in morning. Apparently your getting snow tonight. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shawnj Posted January 18, 2012 Share Posted January 18, 2012 I haven't looked at the site, but if the trail that you see that's red is along hwy17, I drove by It Sunday and its covered in tracks. There is a narrow river(maybe 30yds across) that u have to cross. I can't see it from the road but believe they are crossing it. The trail that runs along hwy 17 is ususally rough as hell as it isn't a groomed trail anymore. It is travelled by many sleds though to get to the Hotel and the Big irving truck stop. Not sure if you tried but you would have drove right past a couple hotels in Petawawa to get to the one in Pembroke. If it were me I wouldn't travel that rough trail along hwy17, plus many retaurants nearby in Petawawa. I ran the A trail up around Stonecliff and Deux Rivieres on Saturday and a couple side trails and there is lots of snow!!!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
slomo Posted January 18, 2012 Share Posted January 18, 2012 Have fun and ride safe. Don't forget to post pics when you return. X2....very scenic in summer, would like to ride it in winter! Hope they can use the rail line through there at some point. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Circuit Posted January 18, 2012 Author Share Posted January 18, 2012 I haven't looked at the site, but if the trail that you see that's red is along hwy17, I drove by It Sunday and its covered in tracks. There is a narrow river(maybe 30yds across) that u have to cross. I can't see it from the road but believe they are crossing it. The trail that runs along hwy 17 is ususally rough as hell as it isn't a groomed trail anymore. It is travelled by many sleds though to get to the Hotel and the Big irving truck stop. Not sure if you tried but you would have drove right past a couple hotels in Petawawa to get to the one in Pembroke. If it were me I wouldn't travel that rough trail along hwy17, plus many retaurants nearby in Petawawa. I ran the A trail up around Stonecliff and Deux Rivieres on Saturday and a couple side trails and there is lots of snow!!!!! Already booked. I couldn't find any motel/hotel with decent reviews, a 1-800 number and a proper website in Petawawa. Figured I would go with a brand I know with fuel right there. Since I don't know the area I can only go with what information I have. I don't care personally since I could sleep on a cot in a corner somewhere but my wife, not so much. The red section is Zanders Rd between B Line and 41. There is a river there. Happy to hear there is lots of snow! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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