The Arctic Cat came with the room at McGuire’s Resort.
And it wasn’t tame.
It roared to life in the parking lot. My guides gave the thumbs up, and we were off — doing circles in the staging area, speeding up, braking. After five minutes, we sped away, plowing through powder.
How fast! How thrilling! Until I looked at the speedometer and realized I was going 20 mph.
The idea of renting a snowmobile with your hotel room is a good one. Michigan has 6,500 miles of snowmobile trails and is No. 1 in the nation in snowmobile popularity and ownership.
Entire families take up the sport, and a top destination is Cadillac, with its 110 miles of well-groomed and interesting wooded trails maintained by snowmobiling organizations.
“We decided we could be a skiing family or a snowmobiling family, and we decided to be a snowmobiling family,” says Jim Cole, 49. His family congregated around the ever-burning snowmobilers’ bonfire at Boon Town, a popular, not-on-the-map stop northwest of Cadillac. The family’s snowmobiles — which owners usually call “sleds” — were parked nearby.
The Coles have all the equipment. But what if you don’t? Snowmobiles cost $6,000 to $13,000 each. They also are fussy to maintain and require special trailers to transport.
Michigan hotels and resorts try to make it easy for novices and occasional snowmobilers by offering packages that include both lodging and the snowmobile — what you might call the bed and the sled.
McGuire’s creates a package depending on the needs of the snowmobiler. For instance, you can book a $114 Sled Head package for two that includes lodging, breakfast, a $10 gas card and $20 food voucher; you then add on whichever snowmobile rental you like, starting at $135 per day.
You also can hire a guide, such as M&M Rentals owner Morris Langworthy. I’d recommend it for anyone new to snowmobiling, because beginners need instruction and help navigating winding trails.
Rentals include helmets, but you have to bring your own snow pants, boots, gloves and coat.
And snowmobiling is not for everyone. Its reputation as noisy is deserved.
Zooming through the Pere Marquette State Forest with a helmet on your head and a blur of bare-limbed trees flying past isn’t exactly the same as poet Robert Frost stopping by the woods on a snowy evening.
And it can be dangerous — 21 snowmobilers were killed last year in Michigan; three died just this month.
But if you put safety first, snowmobiling is pure exhilaration.
“I just like the feel of going fast,” says Michael Cole, 16, grinning.
Although most snowmobilers are male, plenty of women are diehard fans.
“I used to go really slow,” says Cindy Cole, 48, “but I decided I either had to keep up or get left behind.”
McGuire’s Resort has been a fixture in Cadillac for 60 years. The 120-room resort began as a hamburger stand along old U.S. 131, started by Curly McGuire, Mike McGuire’s grandfather. Mike is now the general manager and a snowmobiler himself. How has the old-style Michigan resort survived?
“We just keep changing,” he says.
Its focus is golf in the summer, but its most concentrated business is with snowmobilers. McGuire’s grooms an easement along the edge of its 300-acre property so snowmobilers can ride straight from the parking lot to the White Pine Trail. Other trails branch off from there — one leading to a special snowmobile-only bridge across the Pine River and another that features a snowmobile-only culvert just barely wide enough to slide through and back again.
Around here, though, the highlight destination is Boon Town, the bonfire and the Boon Store. The party store has gas pumps, snowmobile parts, boiled eggs, its own aged Colby cheese, pickle loaf, bologna, chips, drinks, liquor and bathrooms.
“In Boon, Mich., this is it,” says Sarah Ward, store owner for 27 years, waiting on a crowd of snowmobilers who pack the little shop.
Snowmobiling is estimated to bring $1 billion a year to the state economy. Most of it, it appears, is spent at the Boon Store.
I ride with Mike McGuire and Langworthy for 5 ½ hours — 3 on my own sled (I got up to 40 mph at my max), then 2 ½ on the back of theirs.
Hanging on for dear life, we speed up to 50, 55, probably faster. I can feel my face getting cold under the plastic visor and helmet. Toes? Still warm. Fingers? Still warm. Thirsty. Powder clings to the trees. Bend to the right up ahead. Lean right. A turn to the left. Lean left. Bump. Bump. Bump. Smooth.
I open my eyes to see sparkling forest, a blur of winter.
Breathe. Feel the adrenaline.
WHITE PINE TRAIL IS FOR SNOWMOBILERS, SKIERS, HIKERS AND MORE
It’s the state park that’s shaped like a ribbon.
The Fred Meijer White Pine Trail State Park is the 92-mile former Penn Central railway bed that runs north to south from Cadillac to Grand Rapids, Mich.
Snowmobiles are the only motorized vehicles allowed on the state’s longest rail trail, which is also used for cross-country skiing in winter.
In summer, it hosts cycling, walking, hiking and in-line skating. Part of it is paved, but most is gravel.
It passes through Tustin, LeRoy, Reed City, Big Rapids, Stanwood, Howard City, Sand Lake, Rockford and Belmont , but snowmobilers can go no farther south than Russell Road near Rockford.
In warm months, travelers could create a vacation by hiking the trail and staying in towns along the way.
Its headquarters is in Cadillac (231-775-7911, ).
A rugged bike tour is run each year on the route (), and the trail also is known for its amazing wildflowers ().
PLAN A SNOWMOBILE VACATION
PACKAGES: Many hotels can arrange a snowmobile rental. Here are five with specific packages.
McGuire’s Resort: Offers a Sled Head package Sunday-Thursday for $114 for two that includes one night’s lodging, breakfast, a $20 food voucher and $10 gas card. Add your snowmobile rental to that for $135 and up (, 800-634-7302).
Cadillac Sands: A Monday-Thursday Snowmobile special includes one night’s lodging for two, breakfast and one snowmobile rental for $224 plus tax and insurance (, 800-647-2637).
Mancelona Motel, Mancelona: A Sled & a Bed special Sunday-Thursday for $199 includes one night’s lodging for two and a snowmobile rental (, 231-587-8621).
Voyager Inn, St. Ignace: A package Monday-Thursday for $199 includes a night’s lodging for two plus two snowmobiles for four hours, helmets and insurance (, 877-643-1530).
Fox River Motel, Seney: Specials Monday-Wednesday, with room rates of just $53-$80 a night and snowmobile rental from $149 (, 906-499-3332).
GUIDES: If you are new to the sport, hire a guide to instruct and accompany you. One is Morris Langworthy, owner of M&M Rentals in Cadillac, who charges $100 an hour. “Most of our clientele comes from Indiana and Illinois,” says Langworthy, who partners with McGuire’s Resort. He says Cadillac has about 50 snowmobiles for rent, about half what it used to have: “We’ve all been crippled by the economy.”
HOT SPOTS: Popular spots for snowmobiling in Michigan? Cadillac, Grayling/Gaylord area, Indian River and the Upper Peninsula. But trails exist all over the state. For info, see .
