Snowmobile trails near Yellowstone NP--from West Yellowstone, MT

"PSsquare" wrote in message
...
Just one observation. The less you travel, the more you see. It might
also be said that the less noise you make, the more you can observe.
That
is why I like snowshoes.

The germ of an idea......require all visitors to national parks to wear
snowshoes, both in winter and summer - be interesting to see how many folk
show up for all that "silence." Also, nothing motorized allowed past the
park boundaries - ya gotta hike in........hey, it'd be nuttin for that 9th
circuit nuthouse to pass down that decree!

For the poster wondering about the recent dry winters and lack of snowfall -
Jackson Hole recently reported 50" of the fluffy stuff - break out those
silent ski, sorry, snowshoes.

Jim

Alan,

The way it worked LAST December and this January, was that snowmobiles were
restricted to the ROADS in Yellowstone, and the speed limit was 35 mph. The
park was closed from 9PM to 7AM to ALL traffic (was not very good for first
light/sunrise photography). The roads were groomed every day, because they
got pretty chewed up by the end of the day. The road from Mammoth to Cooke
city was open to cars only, no snowmobiles. I think the road between Norris
and Mammoth was closed altogether, and it was definitely closed to Gibbon
Meadows.
Snowcoaches were allowed on a couple of side roads, where snowmobiles were
not allowed.
The snowmobiles I saw on trails were outside of the park, probably on NF
land, but I am not sure. It did not look like they had speed limits there,
or if they did, it was pretty high, some of those machines were going VERY
fast.

Sorry, that's all I can remember.

Judy

Alan Justice wrote:

Could you explain how it actually works in Jellystone? You mentioned
trails, grooming, and speed limits. Are (were) snowmobiles restricted to
roads and trails?

Yes.

How much off-trail activity is there?

There isn't supposed to be any in the park. There are always, of course,
bozos who think they have the right to do any damn thing they want.
Remember that goofball that set a fire at Delicate Arch in Utah a while
back? Or the pair of goofballs in October that damaged Lone Star Geyser.
That kind of mentality.

Is "grooming"
just frequent traffic?

No. They actually do something to the trails to pack the snow, I don't
know how this is accomplished. I did notice it mentioned in one of the
court papers that it had to be done "every other day".

If you want to read about it:
http://www.nps.gov/yell/planvisit/winteruse/index.htm


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Judit Fabian wrote:

The snowmobiles I saw on trails were outside of the park, probably on NF
land, but I am not sure. It did not look like they had speed limits there,
or if they did, it was pretty high, some of those machines were going VERY
fast.

I don't believe there is a special speed limit for snowmobiles in
Wyoming. If you're traveling on the right of way of a designated
roadway, the speed limit is the same as it is for all other vehicles. In
Wyoming the speed limit is 65 mph unless otherwise designated (Wyo
Statutes 31-5-301). I've been on county roads that have no speed limit
signs posted, making the speed limit 65. You would, however, have to be
either insane or amazingly stupid to attempt to actually drive that fast
on some of those puppies. You can still get ticketed for driving too
fast even if you're under the speed limit if road conditions merit, it
gets cited as "Speed too Fast for Conditions".

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Angela M. Cable
PSP8 Private Beta Tester

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John wrote:

Can anyone recommend some of the more photogenic trails or any other
'do not miss' spots? I'd appreciate any help, since good suggestions
may help defray some of the disappointment due to the recent judicial
ruling curtailing snowmobile activity inside the park. Thank you,

Here's another one that might be helpful to you:
http://wyotrails.state.wy.us/snow/snomap.htm


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Angela M. Cable
PSP8 Private Beta Tester

PSP Tutorial Links:
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Sorry folks, I agree with the judge more than I disagree.
I grew up in Billings, now I live on the Chesapeake Bay. I watch kids here
grow up with crabbing, going to the beach and fishing. The ocean front is to
these kids as Yellowstone Park was to me fifty years ago - I spent every
free day in the mountains as a kid, the way kids here spend everyday at the
beach. Difference is that these kids have at best 60 yards of sand where I
had 600 miles of trees.

In high school, I worked in a restaurant where the owner would prefer winter
vacation over summer and he often X-country skied into the park area. He
taught me to be aware of his surroundings, to see, both with the camera and
with my eyes. On skis you slip quietly along trails and see wildlife that
you would not see from the back of a snowmobile, the noise announces your
arrival to the fox, deer, buffalo and elk long before you ever see them.
Also, at 20 to 35 mph you fail to see much of what you are passing. In hard
winters, when food is scarce, the snow deep and temps low, survival is
tenuous for many animals' I have seen elk and deer exhaust themselves and
go into shock from the sudden approach of uncaring tourist on snowmobiles.
I have seen snowmobiles get too close to wild animals that, due to the
winter conditions, are unable to flee these sightseeing city dwellers. And
I have seen poachers use the "rights of tourists" as a guise to cover their
own activities.

Don't get me wrong, I love to snowmobile and have owned several. But the
west is so vast, there is so much public lands where trails exist, there are
private ranches that provide machines, tours, guides and meals for winter
time vacations that I do not feel the protection of the national park is
hurting anybody.

If you simply want to quickly get to a specific spot for a scenic photo,
then quickly return to the warmth of the indoors; I promise you that you are
missing better shots in transit. If the scenic is what you are in-fact
after, stay to the paved roads your warm car or truck and drive through
Grand Teton Park, or go to Idaho City, Idaho, or to Lake Coeur-de-lane
(spelling), you can go up the Rockys as far as Glacier NP - I promise you
will not be at a loss for exposed film. If you insist on the photos of the
wildlife in Yellowstone in winter, you do not need snowmobiles, you need to
slow down and open your eyes.

Bill H


John wrote in message
om...
A friend and I were all set for a one-week self-guided trip via
snowmobile through Yellowstone NP. Thanks to a lunatic judge and a
last-second ruling that's all thrown into chaos...but I digress.
We are going to make the trip anyway and try to make the best of it.
We'll be based in West Yellowstone, MT and will _not_ have a car or
truck at our disposal--the sleds only. For certain we will be
spending some time in the Gallatin National Forest--it's the west
Hebgen district, I believe.
But there are a lot of trails there...
Can anyone recommend some of the more photogenic trails or any other
'do not miss' spots? I'd appreciate any help, since good suggestions
may help defray some of the disappointment due to the recent judicial
ruling curtailing snowmobile activity inside the park. Thank you,
John