O/T Snowmobile Riding

I want to take my 14 year old son up north to go snow mobiling. We're located in the St. Louis Area in Illinois

Can any of you tell me the best place to go and the cost of lodging and snowmobile rental?

Any information, names of places and phone numbers will be greatly appreciated.

Thank you and Happy Holidays!

Not sure, but I think you have to be at least 16 to drive a sled. I know here in the Northeast you have to be. We rent in NH and they require you to be 18 to drive a rental machine.

I don't know what this has to do with tractors but in WI I think you need a safety certificate if you are under 16 to drive on the trails. There are alot of places to rent sleds. Do a search on the web.We are getting our first accumulating snow today with 4 inches expected, and another 6-10 coming tomarrow and Wed. Gotta go now and put the loader on the Kubota.

The link is to a WI DNR booklet.Page 6 shows the age and certification rules.
There is some great snowmobiling in the St. Germain, WI area. It will open sometime after Dec. 15 when hunting closes and trail conditions allow.
Wisconsin Snowmoble Laws

Minocqua WI is a popular resort town near St. Germain. Google them or Sawyer County and you will get lots of results. I have never personally snowmobiled there but my brother in law does most every winter and thinks its great. We have stayed there durring the summer and enjoyed the area a lot.
Enjoy!
Minocqua Rental

I'm a Minnesotan, and I'd say the Upper Peninsula of Michigan is the best Midwest riding by far. Northern MN and WI do have good trail systems, but only if they get enough snow. Most years it is very hit-or-miss. If anybody has snow, it is in the UP.

Give it a few weeks and the Keweenaw Peninsula in Michigan's' UP will be perfect for riding, right now we have 2-3' of powder but it needs time to settle into a good base.

In Hancock Mi there is a rental place called Everts motor sports, and just south of town in Atlantic Mine, there is dan's polaris.

If you go to Quebec they don"t care about age, only the colour of your money.
My buddy took his 14 yr old daughter sky diving there because in Canada divers are supposed to be 16+.
Rules are just as lax for booze,smokes tattoos etc,

Upper Pennisula of Michigan is the best I am told, also Northern Wisconsin. If I was you only ride on designated trails.
I know of many accidents that have occured due to "off" trail riding. My neighbor was almost killed several years ago.

Here in MN you need a certificate for anyone born after 1979 (I cannot remember the specific date) regardless of age. Many people think that when they reach a certain age, they are good to go, but not unless you have the certificate!

January 1, 1977.

If you were born in 1977 or after then you must have a certificate. Kids (age 11-16) have to attend a safety course. Adults (16+) can get the certificate from a home study course.

The last time the DNR was doing a stop on the trails they checked both our snowmobile registration and our drivers license to make sure we'd all been born prior to 1977 (since we did not have safety certificates).

The U.P of Michigan.

www.chamberlinsinn.com

This is a nice bed and breakfast in Curtis that is close to the Fish and Hunt Skidoo dealed ware you can rent sleds. Michigan laws will not allow a 14 year old to operate one on his own. They have two ups so you can carrie him in comfort. Chamberlins is on the middle lake and all the trails are well marked.

In Feb there is a winter fest there with alot of things for kids to do as well.

From Chamberlins the trails cross the U.P.

We back packed all the way to WI from there very nice.

(quoted from post at 13:16:23 12/07/09)
Michigan laws will not allow a 14 year old to operate one on his own. They have two ups so you can carrie him in comfort.

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I think kids 12-17 can drive a snowmobile when in direct supervision of an adult, but not cross roads. Now renting a sled at 14 is another issue.

A person who is at least 12 but less than 17 years of age:

* May operate a snowmobile if they have a valid snowmobile safety certificate in their immediate possession or [i:b617d27304]are under direct supervision of a person 21 years of age or older.[/i:b617d27304]
* May not cross a highway or street without having a valid snowmobile safety certificate in their immediate possession.

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http://www.michigan.gov/dnr/0,1607,7-153-10365_14824-32293--,00.html

There was 3-4 inches of snow last night and I mentioned at work all the snowmobiles nuts would be out roaring around.
When driving in the lane from work I observed my kids had dragged 1/2 of the stuff out of the shed. To reach the sled in just 15 minutes from getting home from school.
They were ripping around the yard without even checking gas and oil levels first. Let alone verifying operation of head lights (blown), track tension/alignment, belt tension etc. And certainly no thought of cleaning and lubing the primary clutch.

I would not go snowmobiling unless there is plenty of snow in the area, at least where there are not established snowmobile trails. With just a little snow, there can be hazards that you cannot see until you are on top of them.

One Christmas Eve when I was in college, I went over to a friend's house. There was about 5" of snow, and a bunch of his relatives were running around on a couple of snowmobiles they had. Dan asked me if I wanted a ride, and of course I said yes. Everything was fine for a while, driving around an open field that was about 80 acres or so. We were only going about 20-25 mph, when suddenly the machine stopped short and catapulted Dan and I through the air. I counted 4 head over heels revolutions before I landed in a heap in front of the sled. My ankle really hurt, but I could stand up. Dan also had a hurt ankle, but was not too bad off. We realized that we had hit a sprinkler pipe at an angle, and the skis had got caught under it...the machine was a real mess, with most of the fiberglass broken up, the skis bent and the windshield gone. But we got it to start and limped it back to the buildings. Man was his cousin, the owner, mad! That sprinkler pipe was the only one in the field, and for unknown reasons it had not been stacked with the others. I always wondered if we damaged the pipe too, but the owner never said anything to Dan's family.

We got into the house and I took off my boot and realized it was full of blood, from a 4" cut down my shin. The ankle also appeared to be sprained. Dan was cut even worse than I was, so we spent most of the rest of the night in the ER. I think I got 14 stitches and spent the rest of my Christmas vacation on crutches from the sprain. We felt darn lucky that we were not injured worse than we were--no helmets or other protective gear.

I have run snowmobiles since then, but only under conditions where I know the ground I am going over and when there is enough snow to cover potential obstacles and also enough to give some padding if an accident does occur.

A couple of years ago, one of my neighbors hit a barb wire fence on his snowmobile. The top wire hit him at neck level and did a bunch of damage. He almost bled to death that night and was off work for months. Scary scars now.

This happened on his own property...snowmobiles are, or can be dangerous. Good luck!

FORGET the flatland trailriding. Come on over to Wyoming & climb something taller than an anthill.

(quoted from post at 21:11:02 12/07/09) FORGET the flatland trailriding. Come on over to Wyoming & climb something taller than an anthill.

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How much snow you have out that way?

Thanks for the correction Peter! I have a couple of friends who did the at home course, it doesnt seem too bad according to them. I did mine in high school at the local fire station. Sounds like we will have some snow to start on our trial bases!