"It's Crowded"
We've heard the complaints over the years about how crowded the snowmobiling is around West Yellowstone. At certain times of the year, that's true. But even during those times, which included one weekend last winter, we still were able to find lots of untracked powder to play on. And we really didn't have to work that hard to find it.
There's no doubt West Yellowstone is popular-it's been ranked No. 1 or No. 2 in SnoWest Magazine's Top 15 Trails in the West survey since we started it 15 years ago-but it's popular for a reason. We've just listed three reasons but we can add more.
If groomed trails are your thing, how about 400 miles of groomed trails? Plus the 200 miles in Yellowstone National Park? And throw in another 500 miles of groomed trails in Island Park, which is just over the Continental Divide from West Yellowstone with many trails linking each other from one system to the other.
At the top of our list though, is the terrain. It doesn't matter if you drop into the West Yellowstone area over the Continental Divide from Idaho or you're driving from the north along U.S. Highway 191-the town is surrounded by mountains and you get a feel for what's out there for riding by just driving to town. And it's not like you have to head north of town for great hillclimbing but the best boondocking is west of town. Head any direction except east (that's where Yellowstone National Park is and you're limited to guided snowmobile rides on groomed trails there) and you can enjoy the riding you like.