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Information on Snowmobiling in the Adirondacks

27K views 15 replies 14 participants last post by  White_Dragon 
#1 ·
We traveled to the Adirondacks from Maine this year and found it easy to get maps, join clubs, and find accommodations, but difficult to get a straight answer on how to register your snowmobile. Following is what worked for us. We stayed in the Saranac Lake area since we wanted to be away from the crowds and do more touring. We stayed at Camp Algonquin, a private cottage on Upper Saranac Lake which was first class and in a good central location for travel west to Tupper Lake and North to Malone. The only caution is to watch the snow depth as a railroad bed is the primary trail system out of the area and it needs a foot of packed snow for grooming.

Snowmobile Maps:
Get a free NY State map on http://www.gosnowmobile.com/

Get free digital snowmobile maps that can be downloaded on to your Garmin, Magellan or Lowrance GPS on http://gpssledmaps.com/

Snowmobile Registration:
If you are visiting from out of state you must register your sled in NY. After joining a local snowmobile club, which can be done on-line, send the following to the New York DMV.

- Copy of both sides of driver’s license.
- Original State sno-mo registration (We sent copies and it worked)
- Complete form MV - 82SN, http://www.gosnowmobile.com/MV-82SN.pdf
- Verification of NYSSA club membership,
https://membership.nyssnowassoc.org/club/statemap
- Check for $45 (or $100 without club membership)

NY will copy your state registration and return it along with your NY registration. It takes less than 2 weeks.

Send to:

New York DMV
Riverhead Office
200 Old Country Road
Route 58
Riverhead, NY 11901

Reportedly, you can also fax for your registration to Lowville DMV: Call: 315-376-5331, Fax 315-376-9908. You will get a return fax with registration and no stickers, which others have reported works fine.

We were told to place the NY registration stickers adjacent to our state stickers.

Trail Access from Camp Algonquin:

There is usually sled traffic between Upper Saranac Lake, just south of the camp and the main snowmobile trail, C7 just north of the camp across highway 30. Sleds run the edge of the Saranac Inn road to highway 30 and cross at the intersection following a local trail north to the C7 railroad bed leading east and west.

Note this rail bed still has tracks and needs a foot of snow for grooming. Some locals told us that there is a move afoot to have the rails removed making it more useful for year round recreation. Check with the Tucker Lake snowmobile web site below for rail status and snow conditions.

Assuming good snow cover, Camp Algonquin is in a good central location for travel in all directions. There are several 100 -150 mile loops that can be taken.

Fuel:

There is fuel trailside in Tupper Lake and at Charlie’s Inn in Lake Clear Junction (very expensive). The NY State trail map shows other fuel locations.

Helpful web sites:

https://membership.nyssnowassoc.org/club/statemap
http://gpssledmaps.com/
http://www.gosnowmobile.com/
http://www.hardcoresledder.com/index.php (New York area)
http://tupperlake.net/snomobil.htm
 

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#2 ·
We thought the trail system was quite different than here in Maine. They were well groomed, but narrow and crooked to accommodate the terrain, which is very hilly and wooded. They are more like the trails here in central Maine. We liked the country, especially all of the lakes. We traveled 125 miles days with no effort, where in Maine it would be 150 plus. The trail map in NY tends to show all of the possible trails that could be used, but some are shut down because of logging operations. We could not plan on all of the trails being open, which limited our ability to plan large loops for concern that we couldn't complete them. There is no substitute for local knowledge.

Maine trails usually follow logging roads and are groomed to their full width which allows easier travel and they hold up a little better to traffic. Most of the curves are marked where they were not always in NY.

Most of our riding is in Northern Maine. We have a lodge in Jackman, we usually hit Aroostook county, Millinocket, Island Falls, Shin Pond, Greenville, Ashland and Bingham in a typical year. We also plan on a week in Canada. Tomorrow we are headed Down East to Calais and north to Houlton since they have good snow this year. Its great to be retired.

If I were to rate trails in general, I would say Quebec is a 9, Northern Maine is an 8, Central Maine is a 7 and Saranac, NY is a 7.

We are lucky to have the trail system we have here in Maine. Our next trip is to the Upper Peninsula.

The mirrors you are looking at are on a friends Yamaha and he had to make the bracket system. He didn't like them attached to the handle bars because they were never in the correct position, especially on the crooked trails like we traveled in NY.
 
#16 ·
We thought the trail system was quite different than here in Maine. They were well groomed, but narrow and crooked to accommodate the terrain, which is very hilly and wooded. They are more like the trails here in central Maine. We liked the country, especially all of the lakes. We traveled 125 miles days with no effort, where in Maine it would be 150 plus. The trail map in NY tends to show all of the possible trails that could be used, but some are shut down because of logging operations. We could not plan on all of the trails being open, which limited our ability to plan large loops for concern that we couldn't complete them. There is no substitute for local knowledge.

Maine trails usually follow logging roads and are groomed to their full width which allows easier travel and they hold up a little better to traffic. Most of the curves are marked where they were not always in NY.

Most of our riding is in Northern Maine. We have a lodge in Jackman, we usually hit Aroostook county, Millinocket, Island Falls, Shin Pond, Greenville, Ashland and Bingham in a typical year. We also plan on a week in Canada. Tomorrow we are headed Down East to Calais and north to Houlton since they have good snow this year. Its great to be retired.

If I were to rate trails in general, I would say Quebec is a 9, Northern Maine is an 8, Central Maine is a 7 and Saranac, NY is a 7.

We are lucky to have the trail system we have here in Maine. Our next trip is to the Upper Peninsula.

The mirrors you are looking at are on a friends Yamaha and he had to make the bracket system. He didn't like them attached to the handle bars because they were never in the correct position, especially on the crooked trails like we traveled in NY.
If we are rating trail systems, here is my rating:
Quebec-9.5
Ontario, New Brunswick - 9 to 10
Saskatchewan - 8.5
Manitoba - 7
Minnesota - 7
Michigan, Wisconsin - 6
New York - (You don't want to know).
Montana, Idaho - 6
Pennsylvania - 5
 
#4 ·
QUOTE (Riverdriver @ Mar 10 2009, 07:12 PM) index.php?act=findpost&pid=4608803
We traveled to the Adirondacks from Maine this year and found it easy to get maps, join clubs, and find accommodations, but difficult to get a straight answer on how to register your snowmobile. Following is what worked for us. We stayed in the Saranac Lake area since we wanted to be away from the crowds and do more touring. We stayed at Camp Algonquin, a private cottage on Upper Saranac Lake which was first class and in a good central location for travel west to Tupper Lake and North to Malone. The only caution is to watch the snow depth as a railroad bed is the primary trail system out of the area and it needs a foot of packed snow for grooming.

Snowmobile Maps:
Get a free NY State map on http://www.gosnowmobile.com/

Get free digital snowmobile maps that can be downloaded on to your Garmin, Magellan or Lowrance GPS on http://gpssledmaps.com/

Snowmobile Registration:
If you are visiting from out of state you must register your sled in NY. After joining a local snowmobile club, which can be done on-line, send the following to the New York DMV.

- Copy of both sides of driver’s license.
- Original State sno-mo registration (We sent copies and it worked)
- Complete form MV - 82SN, http://www.gosnowmobile.com/MV-82SN.pdf
- Verification of NYSSA club membership,
https://membership.nyssnowassoc.org/club/statemap
- Check for $45 (or $100 without club membership)

NY will copy your state registration and return it along with your NY registration. It takes less than 2 weeks.

Send to:

New York DMV
Riverhead Office
200 Old Country Road
Route 58
Riverhead, NY 11901

Reportedly, you can also fax for your registration to Lowville DMV: Call: 315-376-5331, Fax 315-376-9908. You will get a return fax with registration and no stickers, which others have reported works fine.

We were told to place the NY registration stickers adjacent to our state stickers.

Trail Access from Camp Algonquin:

There is usually sled traffic between Upper Saranac Lake, just south of the camp and the main snowmobile trail, C7 just north of the camp across highway 30. Sleds run the edge of the Saranac Inn road to highway 30 and cross at the intersection following a local trail north to the C7 railroad bed leading east and west.

Note this rail bed still has tracks and needs a foot of snow for grooming. Some locals told us that there is a move afoot to have the rails removed making it more useful for year round recreation. Check with the Tucker Lake snowmobile web site below for rail status and snow conditions.

Assuming good snow cover, Camp Algonquin is in a good central location for travel in all directions. There are several 100 -150 mile loops that can be taken.

Fuel:

There is fuel trailside in Tupper Lake and at Charlie’s Inn in Lake Clear Junction (very expensive). The NY State trail map shows other fuel locations.

Helpful web sites:

https://membership.nyssnowassoc.org/club/statemap
http://gpssledmaps.com/
http://www.gosnowmobile.com/
http://www.hardcoresledder.com/index.php (New York area)
http://tupperlake.net/snomobil.htm[/b]
Riverdriver:
Great post, the info will be useful to me. I moved to Saratoga 3 years ago. Just started riding here the end of last year. Most or all of my riding has been northern NH. Not the best year due to snow, but I find the trails here more narrow and not as well marked. Haven't done the Tug Hill area yet. Look forward to hitting that..plz snow!
 
#6 ·
It depends on if you have taken a NY state snowmobile safety class. Here is a link to get you started.

OPRHP Law § 25.19, Operation by youthful operators. | Laws

OPRHP Law § 25.19, Operation by youthful operators.
§ 25.19 Operation by youthful operators. 1. Age of operation. No
person under eighteen years of age shall operate a snowmobile except as
provided for in this subdivision. (a) No person under the age of
fourteen years shall operate a snowmobile except upon land owned or
leased by his or her parent or guardian. Leased lands as used in this
section shall not include lands leased by an organization of which said
operator or his or her parent or guardian is a member.
(b) A person ten years of age or older but less than fourteen years of
age who holds a valid snowmobile safety certificate issued by the
commissioner may operate a snowmobile on any lands upon which
snowmobiling is allowed if accompanied by a person over eighteen years
of age. For the purpose of this section, "accompanied" shall mean within
five hundred feet of the person over eighteen years of age.
(c) A person fourteen years of age or older but less than eighteen
years of age, who either holds a valid snowmobile safety certificate
issued by the commissioner or is accompanied by a person over eighteen
years of age, may operate a snowmobile in the same manner as a person
over eighteen years of age.
2. Exhibition of certificate. The failure of a person specified in
subdivision one of this section to hold a snowmobile safety certificate
issued by the commissioner to exhibit such upon demand to any
magistrate, peace officer, acting pursuant to his or her special duties,
police officer, or other person having authority to enforce the
provisions of this article, shall not be an offense, but shall be
presumptive evidence that such person is not the holder of such
certificate.
3. Authorization. No owner of a snowmobile shall authorize or permit
the operation of his or her snowmobile within the state by any person in
violation of the provisions of this section.Another
Riding Information | General



YOUNG SNOWMOBILERS

http://www.nysnowmobiler.com/riding-information
Snowmobiling in New York is a family activity. Grandparents, parents and youngsters sled together and activities for children are a big part of local snowmobile club's schedules. However, there are a few restrictions for younger snowmobilers.
Youth ages 14 through 17 years old may operate a snowmobile, on lands upon which snowmobiling is allowed, without adult or other supervision if they have completed a snowmobile safety training course recognized by the State of New York. If youth ages 14 through 17 years have not completed the training course, they may operate a snowmobile if accompanied by (within 500 feet of) a person who is at least 18 years of age.
Youth ages 10 through 13 may operate a snowmobile, on lands upon which snowmobiling is allowed, if they have completed a snowmobile safety training course recognized by the State of New York and are accompanied by (within 500 feet of) a person who is at least 18 years of age.
Children less than 10 years old or less than age 14 without a safety certificate may operate a snowmobile only on lands owned or leased by their parent or guardian. for a list of courses being offered throughout New York State. This list is updated on a weekly basis during the snowmobile season.
 
#10 ·
Hi Gang - We will be taking our first excursion to Speculator in February. Staying at the Melody Lodge and will ride out from there. Can we get paper maps in town? (we dont have a gps unit). Also, we don't have studded tracks on either sled, are they necessary up there? Our family has a hunting camp back in on ILP property, but it's been a long time since I've been up there on a sled (like over 30 years). Back when we used to get real snow :)
 
#15 ·
Speculator

...taking our first excursion to Speculator in February. Staying at the Melody Lodge and will ride out from there. Can we get paper maps in town? ... we don't have studded tracks on either sled, are they necessary up there? Our family has a hunting camp back in on ILP property, ...
Old post but I thought I'd answer for anyone else interested.

You can get free maps published by the Adirondacks Speculator Region Chamber of Commerce. They are available at all local businesses.

Generally speaking studded tracks are not necessary. There are a few hills that may be icy even in good conditions, of course some corners on trails particularly on the logging roads where speeds tend to be higher, and if there is low snow or a recent thaw and freeze the lakes may be bare ice but even then if you are careful you can ride.

ILP I think you mean IP which is no longer owned by International Paper. It is now Lyme Timber and the state has purchased a conservation easement which has both good and bad aspects. Good in the sense that there is (theoretically) more public access and (theoretically) more permanent snowmobile trails, bad because as soon as the state gets control they place more rules and restrictions whereas when IP owned it they generally didn't micromanage the 'official' snowmobile trails and really didn't much care where you rode as long as you stayed away from the active logging operations and plowed roads use by log trucks.
 
#13 ·
Maine trails are far better then New Yorks. Plus you dont get the crowds like you do in NY. Riding in old forge and tug hill are like riding on the interstate. Tons of sleds. I will take Maine over New York anyday!!
I will agree tug hill is crowded especially on the weekends. But don't be so quick to generalize all of NY vast trails in other counties. You would be pleasantly surprised if you did riding in Madison County which is just south and east of Oneida Lake. Much more open fields with rolling hills and also some woods riding. Only issue is, more snow in tug hill on a more consistent basis.

:buttrock:
 
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