Togwotee Mountain Lodge vs. Lava Mountain Lodge

[CuzzinOlaf]

A group of us are coming out in the middle of January to do some riding. None of us have been to Tog before but have been to Cooke, Snowies, Rabbit Ears, Vail, and some other places. We'll have our own sleds and won't need to rent.

I have heard I want to stay west of Tie Hack Monument to be near the good stuff. It looks like Lava Mountain Lodge is east and can still be a little thin at times. I'm hearing I want to head towards Togwotee Mountain Lodge or head about 5 miles North or South of Lava to get to the good riding.

I am also reading Togwotee Mountain Lodge is close to the best riding and I won't have to worry too much about the thin trails in and out. Does it get tracked up a lot more than by Lava? I would really like to see what people who have ridden both have to say. I'm pretty sure what Togwotee will be but not so sure about Lava after reading old posts for the last 2 hours.

I'm not worried too much about food. We have no problem cooking in our cabin and will only be doing the cabin at Togwotee and not the package. I'm strictly concerned about riding only.

Help. I'd like to book this week.

 

[Sleddingfarmer]

Thats a tuffy. I think Lava has better food and prices, but your not concerned with that. I dont care for the trail ride it takes us to get in there and back out to the play areas. I trail ride all yr so dont really look forward to that out there.
At Tog you can cross the rd ride trail for 5 mins bounce off into the some trees and be in play ares in 10 mins

Being your going in Jan, I dont think thin trails would be an issue but could be. They will be beat at the end of the day regardless and getting into Lava is a trail ride I might not be looking forward to every day.

I've only stay @ Tog because we need the package w/ food,sleds etc. coming from NY. Ive always thought if I was in a situation like yours w/my own sleds and that, Id stay at Lava and just trailer up to Tog.
Hopefully someone can chime in, but I dont think its a terribly far drive to Tog...
Hope it helps..

 

[CuzzinOlaf]

Thats a tuffy. I think Lava has better food and prices, but your not concerned with that. I dont care for the trail ride it takes us to get in there and back out to the play areas. I trail ride all yr so dont really look forward to that out there.
At Tog you can cross the rd ride trail for 5 mins bounce off into the some trees and be in play ares in 10 mins

Being your going in Jan, I dont think thin trails would be an issue but could be. They will be beat at the end of the day regardless and getting into Lava is a trail ride I might not be looking forward to every day.

I've only stay @ Tog because we need the package w/ food,sleds etc. coming from NY. Ive always thought if I was in a situation like yours w/my own sleds and that, Id stay at Lava and just trailer up to Tog.
Hopefully someone can chime in, but I dont think its a terribly far drive to Tog...
Hope it helps..

We don't want to trailer up and that was our point about getting as close to Togwotee as possible. We originally thought we'd be riding from Crooked Creek just out of Dubois on Union Pass. We can deal with some rough trails but I read they were thin. Is the snow depth around Lava as deep as Togwotee. It only looks like 10-15k miles but I don't know elevation change.

Whenever we go to the Snowies we stay at Mountain Meadows up by the Snowy Mountain Lodge. That is close to the good stuff. How many trail miles from Lava to get to good riding?

 

[sledmanhof]

we've stayed at lava before and its not a bad place to stay. its alot cheaper than togwotee lodge and has pretty decent food and a bar...the trail ride out of there sucks imo, the time we stayed there we overheated our sleds everytime while trying to get to the continental trail but that was also before we were running scratchers. it is a pretty long ride to the main trail though....

togwotee lodge is right in the heart of the riding. the only problem ive seen there is the fact that it gets pretty tracked up the closer you get so you will have to venture a little farther off the trail to find the untouched. i also think the prices there are pretty rediculous but it just depends on how many are going and splitting it up. the good thing with them is that they do have a shop there and have lots of parts.
last spring i broke the top of my steering column and took it to the shop and they took the time to weld it back together even though we didnt stay there. ive had nothing but good service with them

it just all comes down to how much your willing to spend and how far you want to go until you get to the good powder along with how many people you want to deal with.

hope that helps

 

[CuzzinOlaf]

we've stayed at lava before and its not a bad place to stay. its alot cheaper than togwotee lodge and has pretty decent food and a bar...the trail ride out of there sucks imo, the time we stayed there we overheated our sleds everytime while trying to get to the continental trail but that was also before we were running scratchers. it is a pretty long ride to the main trail though....

What month were you staying at Lava? How long is a pretty long ride? How far to decent riding?

Lets say that the prices are the same and we're making our own food. Would you even consider Lava?

 

[sledmanhof]

if i remember right i think it was the middle of feb but it was a low snow year. on the map it doesnt look like a long ride but the ride sure seemed long prolly 5 miles or so on windy trails. due to the snow conditions then it was hard to find the good snow but we had to go quite a ways to the west and north.

if it was all the same i would still consider them but i would probably go with togwotee just for the reason that they have everything there ie. repair shop, rentals, parts, good riding, gas

 

[Sleddingfarmer]

We don't want to trailer up and that was our point about getting as close to Togwotee as possible. We originally thought we'd be riding from Crooked Creek just out of Dubois on Union Pass. We can deal with some rough trails but I read they were thin. Is the snow depth around Lava as deep as Togwotee. It only looks like 10-15k miles but I don't know elevation change.

Whenever we go to the Snowies we stay at Mountain Meadows up by the Snowy Mountain Lodge. That is close to the good stuff. How many trail miles from Lava to get to good riding?

Lava Mtn itself is actually above tog...Tog is 8500ish while Lava mtn is 10,500, the lodge sits lower but dont know to what extent.. I didnt notice much difference in snow depth, but the4-5mile windy trail that sledmanhof mentioned get alot of sun on it through the day so that helps to wear it down and prolly the thin reports you got, but IME has only been in the typically wear spots(corners).. I was there in early feb last yr and it was fine, just rough.

I went and grabbed my map from last yr and its about 28 miles from Lava-Tog via sled just fyi... Getting to good riding from lava im gonna say is still like 15 miles and seemed like an hr?? Even after you get out of the windy/tight trail I recall riding just alot of thin, hard, windblown trails through a restricted trail area. I remember it being really boring but at least fast..

Perhaps, you should check out Turpin Meadow Ranch...I dont know how their prices will compare, but they have recieved great reviews last yr tho I have no first hand experience. They are on the West side of Tog, 8 miles via trail from Tog(5 mins maybe in a truck) and just about in the heart of riding as tog...

 

[10 HIGH EXTREME]

go lava the ppl there r the best and james rocks. you can get to good riding in 10 min from lava to. if you need a guide call brooks lake lodge and get joe to take you he is the best one in the area to take you out. he will put you in pow all day.

 

[WyoRMK]

Lava Lodge

Lava Lodge sits at about 8000 ft in elevation. The trail out can and will be rough though last year they did a great job IMO of keeping it groomed. The snow is usually good starting the middle to end of December through late March Early April.
It really depends on what you consider good snow. If you Head toward the CD, It will take you roughly 5 miles to get to the CD and another 5 to break into the Higher Meadows. If you go along the Highway to Brooks Lake it is about 5-8 miles to endless powder.
I like That side of the mountain personally better. Less Traffic for one. As for the lodge, they have great food and gas, what more do you need... Would not know about the rooms as I have a family cabin in the valley.

 

[CuzzinOlaf]

go lava the ppl there r the best and james rocks. you can get to good riding in 10 min from lava to. if you need a guide call brooks lake lodge and get joe to take you he is the best one in the area to take you out. he will put you in pow all day.

I'm hearing the people at Lava are awesome and already know about Tog. I think things have gotten better since 2007/2008 from what I'm reading but I like the idea of giving the little guy my business. How much do you think Joe would charge for a group of 4-6 guys?

Lava Lodge sits at about 8000 ft in elevation. The trail out can and will be rough though last year they did a great job IMO of keeping it groomed. The snow is usually good starting the middle to end of December through late March Early April.
It really depends on what you consider good snow. If you Head toward the CD, It will take you roughly 5 miles to get to the CD and another 5 to break into the Higher Meadows. If you go along the Highway to Brooks Lake it is about 5-8 miles to endless powder.
I like That side of the mountain personally better. Less Traffic for one. As for the lodge, they have great food and gas, what more do you need... Would not know about the rooms as I have a family cabin in the valley.

I haven't been to Tog yet so don't know what to expect as far as snow conditions. I have a friend who goes to Tog Lodge all the time and have seen his pictures. It looks amazing whenever he goes in December through March. So you're saying 8-10 miles (depending which route you take) to get to good snow. I can live with that.

Less traffic is good. Gas is good. The thing that sounds nice about Tog is rentals if we break down and/or parts/shop if we need it. Two of us are on M8's and they rent them at Tog. I guess we could always cruise up there if needed.

Uggggh. I hate going to new areas LOL. Too many decisions and variables LOL.

 

[Snappy Sledder]

couple years ago we went and stayed at lava. we rode to tog a couple days and it was alot more tracked up by tog than it was lava.

 

[10 HIGH EXTREME]

you will have to call brooks lake on that one 307 455 2121

 

[WyoRMK]

I'm hearing the people at Lava are awesome and already know about Tog. I think things have gotten better since 2007/2008 from what I'm reading but I like the idea of giving the little guy my business. How much do you think Joe would charge for a group of 4-6 guys?



I haven't been to Tog yet so don't know what to expect as far as snow conditions. I have a friend who goes to Tog Lodge all the time and have seen his pictures. It looks amazing whenever he goes in December through March. So you're saying 8-10 miles (depending which route you take) to get to good snow. I can live with that.

Less traffic is good. Gas is good. The thing that sounds nice about Tog is rentals if we break down and/or parts/shop if we need it. Two of us are on M8's and they rent them at Tog. I guess we could always cruise up there if needed.

Uggggh. I hate going to new areas LOL. Too many decisions and variables LOL.

Form Lava Mtn Lodge, Parts would be toss up either driving to Dubois or Tog. I also seem to remember the Dubois dealer (Full Throttle Powersports) also rents sleds.

Snow Conditions vary a lot up there. You can have 4' fluff @ Tog and 10" at brooks or the other way around... January typically has more fluff than hard pack.

Either way you choose to go you can't go wrong, The CD trail has some of the best riding anywhere.

 

[firecatguy]

A perk we have used in the past at Togwotee is---our guide Carter has brought parts back from jackson hole the next day--if we need something he will call down o the dealer in Jackson and see if they have it and if they do they will stash it for late night pick up and then Carter will Bring it back in the am...SWEET SERVICE if you ask me...Togwotee rocks....

 

[togwotee9]

Togwotee Lodge gets my vote, but I'm not going to drive 12 hours and then be a cheap a$$ and try to save a few buck when I'm on vacation, I work to hard

 

[firecatguy]

Togwotee Lodge gets my vote, but I'm not going to drive 12 hours and then be a cheap a$$ and try to save a few buck when I'm on vacation, I work to hard

I agree

 

[Sleddingfarmer]

A perk we have used in the past at Togwotee is---our guide Carter has brought parts back from jackson hole the next day--if we need something he will call down o the dealer in Jackson and see if they have it and if they do they will stash it for late night pick up and then Carter will Bring it back in the am...SWEET SERVICE if you ask me...Togwotee rocks....

X2!!! Carter is truly a great guy and helped us out in a similar fashion...
LOL, now im having flashbacks of Carter and his antics...

 

[firecatguy]

Tog you need to add snow to that pic..

 

[togwotee9]

doesn't matter snow or not this saga will continue till the end of time

 

[togwotee9]

Hey Firecat, should I go to Starbuckets or Caribou Coffee this morning? What do you think?