By: Mindy Simons, Assistant Director, Hayward Lakes Visitor & Convention Bureau
It is a brisk February morning with a light dusting of fresh powdery snow covering the lake. We’ve cemented our plans the night before in anticipation for perfect riding conditions today. The weather is calling for bright sunshine, bluebird skies, and a high temperature of 18° for the day. We are meeting our good friends on the lake in front of their house for a 10:00AM “wheels up” takeoff.
I must admit, my husband and I are quite spoiled in that our property is adjacent to the snowmobile trail that takes us right onto the lake and feeds into the entire Sawyer County trail system. We are even more spoiled that our friend who does grooming for our local club drives the groomer right through our gate to get to the trail, so it’s like a snowmobile super-highway right out our garage!
Our adventure beings by heading the 7 miles down beautiful Lac Courte Oreilles Lake. The trail is in perfect condition and the lake is smooth as glass, and the fresh snow is sparkling like diamonds. A short jump across Highway K and we are on Grindstone Lake, skimming the shoreline until our next trail intersection. We traverse through the winding forest trails, leaning into our corners and taking off on the straightaways until we are on the beautiful Lake Chippewa Flowage! Keeping our eyes peeled for bald eagles and other wildlife, we make our way from the west to the east side of the flowage, enjoying the beauty and scenery along the way. Once we cross the Flowage, it is into the forest we go! A short ride down a wooded trail leads us to the first of many Chequamegon Forest roads that we will follow until we reach our first stop…wherever that may be. With conditions like these we don’t have a solid plan, other than to ride and enjoy wherever the trail takes us!
The Sawyer County Snowmobile & ATV Alliance builds, maintains, and grooms over 600 miles of trails within the county. The trails connect to gas, food, and lodging throughout Sawyer County. If you haven’t ridden our trails yet, what are you waiting for? Come join us this winter in Sawyer County and the Hayward Lakes Area…I hope to see you out on the trail!
