upper peninsula michigan vintage snowmobile trip

Built to ride
As much as I love standing around talking about sleds, I was itching to go on a trail ride – after all, I was in the heart of Michigan’s Upper Peninsula, where the riding is always a pleasure. The trail map showed that a loop trip was possible, so that was my plan, though I preferred not to go solo. Fortunately, when I pulled my Pantera up in front of the museum, a group of trail riders was saddling back up to head westward, they were gracious enough to let me tag along with them.

The first leg was over the trail covered the day before, but just short of Gould City we turned north and headed for Curtiss, where I bade farewell to my fellow riders. After stopping to refuel both sled and body at The Landing restaurant, I continued my circuit alone. The trails took me over gently rolling terrain through a forest of mixed hardwoods and conifers. When I arrived back at the museum with 69 miles on the trip meter, the show was ending and everyone was loading up, so I did the same. We all headed for the nearby town of Engadine for the dinner, auction, raffle and historical presentation at the town hall.

Museum Board Chairman Charlie Vallier served as master of ceremonies, acknowledging the contributions of museum supporters and the community in making the new facility a reality. He also noted that the Naubinway event was one of four such gatherings that weekend in the state of Michigan, which speaks volumes about the popularity of vintage events. Board Vice Chairman John McGuirk was the guest speaker, chronicling the development of side-by-side snowmobiles over the decades and highlighting both well-known and obscure machines. The evening culminated with a live auction of donated items and the raffle drawing. The Grand Prize was a fully restored 1983 John Deere Spitfire and the happy winner was collector Chuck Ulch. 

The Top of the Lake Snowmobile Museum’s 23rd Annual Snowmobile Show and Ride will be February 20-21, 2015. The museum is open to visitors year-round. If you’ve got a hankering to see the legendary machines up close check out the history of snowmobiling at Naubinway. With so many great trails in eastern Upper Peninsula, you’ll find plenty of places to ride, as well!