This will be my first winter riding in the Kenora area.

Where can I find a map of the trails from Manitoba to Kenora area?

Is there lots of trails around those parts?

I did some riding out there a few years back before you had to pay $180 for a trail pass. Too bad that we can't have an agreement with Ontario to honour each other's passes.



I've been to Vermillion Bay and Andy Lake (both times trailered to Kenora). The trails and scenery are great!



Look here:



http://www.nwosta.ca/



http://www.strkenora.com/



You can also send a PM to Toban. He's a member of the Kenora club.

Yep i used to live in Redlake Ontario for 29 years and unreal sleding up there , Only with the trail pass was not such a joke

Really only good if they got good ice! if they got good ice were going up to vist my freind he says its nuts up there and we have a place on longbow lake.

Stangfire - Thanks for your interest.

Go to our Kenora website - my signature. On the website you will find links to our trail map of the Lake of The Woods area, including trail L103 to the Manitoba border/Nopiming, our daily updated trail reports on the forum boards, trail map print outs and other information.

If there is anything that I can help you out with, just drop me a note either on the board or a p.m. from either our website or HCS and we'll do our best to accomodate you. I would prefer if you do it on our forum board as that one question might hold the answer for more than just yourself. If you want to e-mail me, then just click on my nickname toban and you'll have my e-mail address from my profile.

As with HCS, you will have to register with a "nick"name and an authentic e-mail address in order to post. That's it. The option is there to keep your e-mail address private or public and the Sunset Trail Riders of Kenora DO NOT make any of your information public for any reason(s).

P/Dave - Be patient for now. That's all I'm going to say. By the way, Halley's, at the present time is not going to be open this winter for gas, coffee, or food. Soooo, if you decide to come to Kenora that way (via L103 trail), you have two choices on getting to Kenora without running out of fuel. Ease up on the throttle and/or pack a couple of gallons of gas with you. At this time, we are still planning on grooming the trail as far as the Manitoba border to connect with the Manitoba "Cougar (????) Trail".

The Kenora Hotel Alliance is presently putting together their winter package and it appears to be another good offering for the visiting snowmobile riders. Those riders who came to Kenora last year and took advantage of that package, were more than happy with what was offered and really enjoyed themselves.

And now, it's time for a "shameless plug" - our trail system was in great shape last year, we expect it to be just as good if not better this year, and as Dave mentioned, the riding and scenery is second to none. Our website "Trail Reports" offer the lastest trail grooming information, daily groomer activity on trails being groomed, dangerous and hazardous conditions, and things to be aware of. We want our visitors to return home in the same condition as whence they came.

We will have the new package up on our website - www.strkenora.com as soon as it is available.

Hope to see you in Kenora.

Thanks for your reply. I'll check out the website.

Ontario passes may be expensive, but if you're going to do enough riding, they are well worth it.... you can only ditchbang for so long before that grows tiresome.... I ride in the Whiteshell all the time, and Ontario has some very nice trails!

As soon as I get a page scanned from the OFSC, I'll put it up on the Manitoba and Ontario forums.

This page will indicate by graph and by text, the actual amounts of dollar figures in and out of the OFSC and where the focus and percentages of monies are being spent.

For those of you who have the idea that trail grooming expenses are just a small part of an organization, this article will open a few eyes. Perhaps we can get a better understanding of what is required.

I guess most Manitobans would like to see a reciprocal agreement between Manitoba and North Western Ontario. For those who you who think it is possible, and how it could be accomplished WITHOUT the local snowmobile club of Kenora absorbing ANY expense, I would surely like to hear your ideas and/or solutions for reciprocity.

Remember, we are talking about a reciprocal agreement about snowmobling between Manitoba and Ontario ONLY. Commerce and tourism etc. do not enter into the discussion. We're talking about reciprocity of trail passes ONLY as the present structure exists.

A problem I forsee is Ontario people attempting to buy a MB pass, because ours is cheaper. OFSC would have to enforce that all ON residents have an OFSC trail passes. Other than that, I can't see any problem with simply making reciprocity happen between us. I know that Snoman would be in favour, but I suspect OFSC has a problem because of the price difference in the passes.

We already have reciprocity with Saskatchewan!!

FYI, we are supposed to be having talks with the MB government very soon about incorporating the trail pass fees and the registration fees for next winter. I don't know how that would affect reciprocity with ON.

Dave

Correct on all three comments. So, in the end, there isn't any solution to reciprocity as the present structure operates and is priced between the two entities.

I don't forsee that if and when Manitoba shifts to a policy such as the one in Saskatchewan, that it would make any difference regarding reciprocity with Ontario. The reason I say this, is that the adoption of the Saskatchewan model SHOULD generate more trail pass income for Manitoba, which in turn SHOULD reduce the price of the trail pass, thereby widening the gap between the two pass structures. But as I said in a previous message - be patient. You never know what can happen.

Just for information, we did try to have the daily trail pass issue re-instated BUT we were unsuccessful in our attempts. As it now stands, it would make sense for a Manitoba rider to purchase a season pass for $180.00 IF your ride more than a couple of times. Now, I realize that is easier said than done because of the cost of snowmobiling in two provinces.

I finally got the page of information scanned and as promised here it is. As you can see, trails take an exceptionally big bite out of the pie.

Click to view attachment

I made this into a pdf...

I made mine for people more my age who are getting to be visually challenged. Just click on the image, then click on it again when it loads and it comes up REAL big..........LOL

Just an FYI, but your image was about 2mb ! You can use the microsoft image resizer tool that would make that image only 100-200k... Search for Microsoft Power Toys.

On second thought, I probably should have done that rather than make it a pdf!!!
Now it's only about 96k.

Like "they" say - "Size matters"

Thanks

Exactly, BUT I ride north of Kenora all the time, lakes and NON-OFSC trails are all over the place, so No I will still not pay there Pass Fees as most of the time I never see there trails. :beerchug:

Do you have a Garmin GPSr? I created a map with trails on Lake of the Woods that installs into Mapsource. The map has a transparent background so your GPSr basemap or if you have detailed Garmin Maps (ie. US Topo- Topo Canada) will show through. In Mapsource select the trail map then select your detailed Topo maps if you have them and upload the combined mapset to your GPSr.

Download Custom Garmin GPSr Trail Map

Screenshot from Mapsource of trails


Screenshot from a Garmin 276c - showing an overall view of trails


Screenshot from a Garmin 276c - showing a closer view of Northwest Angle / Oak Island trails

.

More views of my GPSr LOW trail maps..

Falcon / West Hawk Lake area


Ash Rapids / Kenora area


Kenora / Andy Lake area


Andy Lake / Sioux Narrows area

As a resident of Kenora and the past shananigans ,that the "STOP" trail officers pulled this winter, I would recommend to keep out of this area... They were giving out fines left and right even out on the lake!!! This is with an OPP officer with them that is familiar with the rules! The only way to get from not paying these fines is to take a day off and go to court where it will be thrown out.. They were very very rude and "southern ontarioish"..... Our permit price is rediculous at well over $200 for the short poor seasons and poor grooming. These trails are a joke and if you look at our editors section in our news paper, you will see many many others with the same views! I feel bad that our trail system is driving out potential customers in our town.

The future does look a little brighter with the town discussing a new trail permit system! Keep posted.. we have a great area, but not our present trail system!

So what's the latest scoop...I understand there is gonna be a "free corridor" through Kenora....with STR building a new trail to by-pass Kenora in retaliation.

Reply I received to email sent to Kenora City Hall

Mr. *******,

I'm glad to hear you frequent our City during the snowmobile season. The corridor will not be groomed or marked but it is assumed that the current route will continue to be used as it has for many decades.

Sincerely,
Wendy Cuthbert

I heard the same thing thru the grape vine.22 clicks around Kenora is what I heard.

So you won't need a trail pass to go into Kenora?

I went into Kenora last winter without a trail pass. I needed fuel and had no choice. IMO they can't fine you for riding to the gas station.

96thundercat is your picture taken a Scotty's?

I'm not familiar with the politics, but IMO it is ridiculous to pay 180 to ride around the Kenora area. I have a cabin on Lake of the woods, we would go out for new years and ride/fish when they recognized the MB pass.

The trail on the lake was marked with stakes which were about 2 miles apart. For someone that does not know lake of the woods could get lost very easy or worse yet hit open water. Yes North of Kenora, the trails were good, but not worth the 180. I believe that Ontario is screwing Kenora! Sunset residents are paying for the rest on Ontario not the sunset country. I've talked to people that have road North Ontario, they say it's the best riding they've ever seen. I'm sure no one has ever said that about the sunset area.

It's like politics, in Ontario which area do the parties key in on, its certainly not Kenora.

Since Ontario stopped recognizing MB, Many of the camps don't even open there doors anymore. We always went to Smith Camps for a lunch, I talked to them this summer, and was told that they're not open in the winter anymore, b/c of the lack of snowmobiles.

It's sad to see business, the surrounding community suffer, sunset country has so much to offer. Because they are forgotten not being from the "Toronto" area.

Imagine what would happen to the Sunset country area if they put some "fee" for summer activities.

Maybe Kenora should just become part of Manitoba. It would solve all these problems.

If I were you I wouldn't be in a hurry to spend that $90.00 you saved on injector oil at Canadian Tire. Your above opinion might end up costing you money........