44 YEARS OF SERVICE TO NORTHERN OCONTO COUNTY 1968-2012
Disclaimer: The following posts are the personal opinion and experiences by Club President John Brantmeier. They do not reflect or are endorsed as the official position of Red Arrow Snowmobile ATV Club Inc. They are posted merely to give website visitors an idea where you might want to ride.
Wednesday February 1st...Fellow club member Jim Wisneski and I rode our entire trail system this morning and put on about 75 miles. It has not gotten below freezing in at least 48 hours and it is beginning to show. Our trails were just getting in super shape and now sad to say they are getting thin. There is snirt starting to show on the woods trails but the unplowed roads were still good. The Nicolet Trail is OK up to the Valley Inn but stones are showing thru once you cross the road. What a bummer...we have had snow when the guys to the south did not. If it does not cool down and stay below freezing we expect to have conditions deteriorating further. Groomers are parked until then as they will do more harm than good....sorry to be so glum but mother nature is about the only thing we do not have any control over.
Saturday January 28th...no riding today. We had our club Groomer Storage dedication, Bonfire, Vintage Ride today. Over 250 members and local residents were on hand for the ribbon cutting and a visit my AWSC Miss Snowflake Emily Bauer. Full details under the events tab. A great day for the club!!!
Friday January 27th... Another 125 mile day for a three day total of a little over 400 miles. We went up to Armstrong Creek via the 100 miler out of Wabeno...good trails all the way. Lunch at the Green Shack in Armstrong Creek was great and owner Jerry is great guy to chat with. Food was wonderful. We went north on the 100 Miler to the Nicolet Trail and the south to Cavour. Took the cut off to Johnnies and the south via the old Red Ball past Windfall Lake to Barb's Valley Inn for a pit stop and then home. My brother Mike was glad to have had such a great three days of riding.
Thursday January 26th...another great day on the trails with my Red Arrow friends and about 135 miles on the clock. We rode north on the Nicolet Trail to LMT 2 and went the back way to Wabeno and on to Laona for breakfast at the Double Buck Cafe...great food. Then we doubled back and took LMT 8 over to the Roberts Lake area and on to the Wolf River Trail. The LMT guy had some groomer equipment issues but are now going full force to get the trails ready for the weekend. The Wolf River Trail was very good all the way down to White Lake with stones coming thru in a few places. We headed east for a pit stop at Animal's Bear Trail and then took the Red Arrow trail north to Barb's Valley Inn...awesome all the way!! Lots of sleds at the Valley Inn and on the trail. Got to try out a 12 Yamaha Apex with power steering as the guys from TA Motorsports were at Barbs...quite the smooth ride and easy steering. Finally brother Mike and I cut across the Townsend Flowage and Reservoir Pond to Beaver's for dinner...a great Chicken Wrap and some cheese curds did the job for us. Jason is really getting things going there and now serving great food. Back home about 7PM....GREAT DAY AND GREAT RIDE!!!
Wednesday January 25th....Great ride today!! Five fellow club members including my brother Mike and I rode about 140 miles today. We started out in Townsend and took the "short loop" up Wildwood Trail and on to Carter, Wabeno and Laona on the way to Tipler and the Whitetail Inn. Lots of snow north. Some of the Nicolet Trail was "bumpy" but that was due to the groomers not making enough passes yet. By the weekend it should be great if it does not get too warm. After a great lunch at the Whitetail we headed back south and took the cutoff to Arrogone. This trail is usually great and it was in most places. Again a little more grooming should make it really nice. We stopped at Johnnies Resort for a short visit and then headed to Laona and south on the Nicolet Trail. A pit stop at the Valley Inn (bar with the snowmobile on the roof) turned into eating dinner there. Great food!!! Bottom line is it was a great day to be out on the trails and the riding conditions were mostly top notch...tomorrow we ride again!!
Saturday January 21st....first time out in a few days. Rode around most of the Townsend Red Arrow Trails inspecting conditions and picking up rocks and limbs. About 60 miles total in about 2 1/2 hours. Conditions are generally good to very good considering the small amount of snow we have gotten recently. The only really poor areas are some spots where the hunters trucks rutted up the trail last fall. Other than that I would call it good to very good. Met 3 groups looking for directions. All of them said they thought our trails were in very good condition so that made me feel good. Two guys from Rockford, Ill were on a scouting mission and are bringing a bunch of people back in a couple of weeks. They said they liked our area better than Minocqua!!!! So...come judge for yourself...no guarantees as everyone has a different opinion on what good, very good and so on mean.
Friday January 13th...much better news than the last report below. We got about 4 inches of fresh snow Wednesday night and Thursday into the evening. I was out grooming Thursday afternoon and did the west side run to Animal's Bear Trail. In places there is lots of snow and conditions are very good. In others the ruts are not filled in and it is poor so be careful if you want to go down that way...one more big snow should make things really good. Today five of us rode about 80 miles going north again. We took the short loop and Wildwood Trail and it was great except for a couple of short stretches. The Nicolet Trail north is in very good condition with a few stones coming thru north of Wabeno. We took the cutoff to Johnnies Resort in Laona and after the first mile in town things were pretty good. We left Johnnies and headed up Corridor 9. It was great on the unplowed roads but the railroad bed section was bumpy but rideable. At the intersection with the Nicolet Trail we headed back south to Townsend and took Wildwood Trail and the long loop back. The section between Hemlock Dam Road and Pickerel Lake Road still has some ruts but is rideable if you are careful and go slow. Considering the total amount of snow so far things are pretty good!!
Friday January 6th....Bummer, the air temperature is 36 degrees and the stars are out as I write this at 6:30 AM..... it will be a warm sunny day. We tried to ride north yesterday and the trails were great but my Yamaha did not pick up any lubrication from the wet snow so we headed back home with only 35 miles on the clock. I won't be going out again until it cools down and we get some fresh snow.
Wednesday January 4th, 2012....what a difference a week makes. We had 4 inches of fresh snow on New Years Eve and the groomers got busy. The Nicolet Grade north of the Halfway Bar is in good to very good condition per club members who rode it today. Trails south of there are still closed. Six of us made a 110 mile trip up to the Whitetail Inn in Tipler today. We started by taking the short loop into the woods in Townsend and went up Wildwood Trail. Except for one small stretch off Pickerel Lake Road the trail was in great shape. The Nicolet Trail was in GREAT shape all the way to Tipler. A section from Cavour to Long Lake had not been groomed on the way up but we met the groomer on the return trip. It was quite amazing....very few of those pesky cinders that you usually get north of Wabeno. I would call the whole grade Very Good. We saw that the cut off to Johnnies Resort at Cavour was freshly groomed as well and that is road all the way so it should be a nice run.We did not get off the grade so cannot speak to the intersecting trails in Forest County. In Townsend any trails that are on unplowed roads are good to very good. The woods trails are groomed but there is not enough snow to fill in the ruts so be VERY Careful when you ride. Come on up and go north for some pretty decent riding.
Wednesday December 28th...Bummer....our trails are still closed and no snow in sight. This has to be one of the slowest starts to the snowmobile season in many years. All our trails are brushed, signed and ready to go. The Nicolet Trail and woods trails on closed roads will be in good shape with a few inches of snow. Those trails in the National Forest that were open to hunters are rutted and bumpy. It will take several good snowstorms to get them in the great shape you expect. Be very careful riding in these areas when the trails do open.
Wednesday December 21st....As noted elsewhere on this site our trails are still closed. About 500 hours of effort by club volunteers have our trails in some of the best shape ever. Our new groomer building is finished and the groomer drivers are itching to get out and do some grooming. Now it is up to Mother Nature. Stay tuned!!!
Wednesday March 23rd...We closed our trails a day or two after the post below due to lots of mud even in the woods. Today we got 12-14 inches of fresh snow. I am making this post to share my frustration with that last week warm-up that ended the season. However, Forest Service and other gates are already closed and will not be re-opened. Bummer....see you next year or on your ATV if you enjoy both sports.
Wednesday March 16th....All the trails around us are closed but word is we have lots of snow in the woods so Red Arrow is staying open for now. I decided to check things out this morning for myself and rode our entire system. All the woods trails are smooth and fast with plenty of lubrication. Some hills (especially the one south of Fanny Lake Road) are burned out and you will have to ride in some short stretches of dirt!! For the most part (95% or more) the woods trails are very good and rideable. The Nicolet Grade is shot but some folks are riding the town road alongside of it with some success. Overall , you will have to decide if one last ride is worth it. My 45 miles today will, I believe, be the last of the season for me...Bummer but thanks to all of you who have been reading my posts...See you next year!!! By the way, if you want to comment about these reports or your riding up here e-mail me at jbrantmeier@athenet.net I'd like to hear from you!!
Saturday March 12th...Troy Mleziva, my son in law and I took a shorter version of yesterdays ride by going straight up the Wolf River trail to Lily and back to Townsend. Also checked out the Red Arrow east side loops. All trails were in great shape as we got 3 inches of fresh snow Saturday morning. 65 miles of fun!! Hoping for one last ride or too this upcoming week. Stay tuned.
Friday March 11th...Jim Weyers, his son Matt and I got out on the trails at 7AM this morning. We rode the entire east side of our system and they were smooth and fast. Went down to the Airpark and turned around to go on our primary ride to Langlade County. We took our trail past the Valley Inn and saw that the 100 Miler had been thru up towards Ada Lake Road. Nice job...again flat and fast. We dropped down the Bob Kroll Memorial Trail and shortly found Dan Pries stopped with one of his old Ski-Doos. We helped him fix a muffler and rode together down to Saul Springs Road where he cut off towards Animal's and we went to Langlade. The Langlade groomers had been out and we followed them all the way from Saul Springs to Polar with a stop in White Lake for gas. First ones out so the riding was sweet!! Then we went up to Bryant and north and east back to Lily. The only ungroomed trail was a piece towards Lily but once we got on the Lily club trails they were freshly groomed. Stopped for lunch at the Lily club house and headed east on the Lily trail to Ada Lake Road. Again freshly groomed. We got on the 100 miler (groomed early today) and headed back to the Valley Inn and back around our long loop on the east side to check things out. Still very rideable and smooth because of a thick base. Back home about 1PM with 120 very enjoyable miles showing on my Yamaha Vector...My guess is there will be good riding again tomorrow as it is supposed to be cooler and there were not a lot of sleds out today.
Thursday March 10th...Dan Pries and I got out on the trails by 8:30 and had some great riding. Lots of fresh powder. We put on about 85 miles around the Townsend area and west towards Boulder Lake. Overall good to very good late season conditions. Suggest that if you are going to ride this weekend that you get up early and ride to noon or so if the sun is out. Too bad it is so warm...the fresh 4-6 inches of snow was great!!!
Wednesday March 9th...Ron Popp and I took a ride today in the fresh falling snow. There were only four other sleds to be seen all day. The fresh power riding was great even though there were some stutter bumps underneath as we got into Langlade County. We basically covered the same ground (in reverse) that Mike and I rode on Friday but weekend riding pressure took its toll. Really not too bad for this time of year but not "perfect" like on Friday. We called one of the club members from over that way and were told that they would be grooming Thursday morning all the way over to Boulder Lake. Not sure of how the rest of the Langlade system will be groomed but there is plenty of snow cover for some great riding. We rode home on our Red Arrow trails from the south and they are awesome!!! Freshly groomed this morning and a couple of inches of fresh stuff on top of that. Back home with 110 miles of pretty darn good riding.
I got in our John Deere when we got back and "panned" the grade so that it freezes down. There is more snow on that trail right now than we had most of the year. No base though so it may go away quickly.
Friday March 4th...Mike and I got up early and were on the trail by 6:45AM. We took the same route across our flowage and Reservoir Pond and were pleasantly surprised to see the Radish connector trail freshly groomed. Thanks Dan Pries!!! This time we stayed on our trails down past Boonie's (soon to be Beaver's) and up Pine Tree down to Saul Springs Road...awesome all the way!!! Then we headed into Langlade County and took the first intersection south to Fish Hatchery Road and Langlade and on to White Lake for breakfast at the White Lake Cafe...45 miles by 7:30 not a bad start and a great breakfast.
After getting back on the Wolf River grade we headed up to the first intersection and turned towards Antigo. Some of the wooded sections were thin but 75-80% awesome riding. Gassed up in Antigo at the BP and checked things out west of Hwy 45...not good...very little snow so we turned around and came back and headed to Bryant. The potato fields are awesome...hard packed and plenty of powder drifted in. At Bryant we headed north 3-4 miles and then took a right to Lily. The "upper trail" to Lily was 21 miles of sheer joy...groomed, fresh powder and only a couple of sleds ahead of us....it does not get any better than that ride. We came our right by the Lily clubhouse and tried out the grade north. Not a good idea. The big stones were coming thru as far as we could see. Turned around and took the trail back toward Ada Lake road. Good all the way but the LMT/100 Miler part was bumpy and thin east of Ada Lake rd. We were glad to hit our trail at Diamond Roof and back to the Valley Inn. Checked out all the east side loops and all were freshly groomed. We turned around at the airpark and retraced out steps to the Valley Inn. Took the Bob Kroll Memorial down to Carl's Kiosk, back up past Boonies and home. 141 miles of fun...maybe 10 miles of so-so conditions but well worth it for the rest.
Thursday March 3rd...Brother Mike is up from Sherwood for a couple of days of riding. We went across the flowage and Reservoir Pond and down to Boonies and south past Maiden Lake and Halfway Bar. South of Star Lake Road there is a lot more snow and conditions gradually got better and better. We took Mountain Lakes Road and Blue Spruce Rd over to Boulder Lake and then west to 9Mile Bar and Grill for lunch. Trails had some stutter bumps but not bad. As we left 9 Mile it started to snow hard and soon we were riding in a couple of inches of fresh snow. Took the new cut off trail from 9 mile to the Wolf River grade south a little and the up toward Bryant but turned back east to the Crocker Hills. That 11 mile stretch thru the hills was awesome. Smooth, fresh snow and very scenic.
Crossed the Wolf at Lily and headed back south on the Wolf River Trail to the 9 mile cut off and down to Saul Springs Road. Wow...that trail was great with the fresh snow...pedal to the metal!!! The Red Arrow trail was pretty darn good all the way to the Valley Inn and back to the Surprise Lake road intersection. We cut across Surprise Lake and the Townsend Flowage to avoid the grade and back home. 112 mile ride with about 75% very good, 20% so so and 5% plain awful!! With the fresh snow and some more coming you can find good snow west of Townsend over into Langlade County.
Tuesday February 22nd...Today a group of fellow Red Arrow members met at the Shell Station for a club ride. We headed south past Cathedral Pines and then over to "Boonies" and south on our Red Arrow Trails to Animal's Bear Trail for lunch. Great conditions all the way. After lunch some members headed back to Townsend...we went West to Langlade and the north on the Wolf River Trail to Lily...lots of good snow cover. At Lily we headed back towards Townsend via the LMT trails. The further east we got the lower the snow cover. By the time we got to the 100 Miler south to Townsend the snow was sparse...in a couple of days it will be unrideable. LMT is not grooming due to low snow. stop at Barb's Valley Inn and then we took the Townsend short loop off Wildwood to avoid our grade...also low on snow. A nice 75 mile ride with good friends. Lots of snow in the trees made for a beautiful day!!! My advice..ride south of Townsend for some good trails. North of Wabeno there was hardly more than a dusting out of the big storm. No more riding this week for me as personal matters need attending to. Come on up and have some fun!!!
Monday February 21st....We are back in business. The snow this weekend will make our trails rideable again. Took a quick 30 mile ride today. First south past "Boonies"s to Pine Tree, Carl's Kiosk and back toward the Valley Inn. First one out and riding in the fluff was big time fun. Met our Ultimate groomer with Dan Pries at the controls by Sawyer Lake road. Lots of snow in that area and the snow was laying down very nice. A fast, flat run up to the Valley Inn. Crossed Hwy 32 and took the Nicolet Trail up to Wildwood Trail east...again lots of snow and freshly groomed by Ron Popp with our John Deere. As i got down towards Hemlock Dam road and the trail to the Ruffed Grouse area the snow was quite a bit less. Still rideable but more ice showing thru....be careful. Back to Townsend, across the Townsend Flowage and home in a couple of hours. Bottom line...trails are flat and very rideable. Be careful of icy corners and some thin spots. We expect the groomed snow will freeze tonight and bond to the ice making conditions better yet. Come up and have some fun!!!
Monday February 14th.....Bummer!!!! The warm weather has really taken its toll on our trails. There is plenty of snow in the woods so a little cold weather will allow us to get things back in shape. In the meantime I would strongly recommend that you stay off the trails to help us keep the snow we still have.
On a more positive note our Fish A Ree was a huge success. Thanks to all who worked and/or attended this event. All the profit will go back into our efforts to provide the best snowmobile and ATV trails in this part of the state. As soon as we can get out and ride again I'll get back to posting our riding trips. Thanks for tuning in!!
Eight Red Arrow members stopped at the Post Lake Inn for lunch. Thanks Diane and Al for the great food and hospitality!!!
Eight Yamaha 4 strokes sitting in the sun...waiting on the trail for some more winter fun!!!
Wednesday Feb 9th... 8 degrees below zero this morning but a ride to Post Lake has been planned so off eight of us went...all Yamahas!!! We took the same route over to Lily as yesterday and then up the new Wolf River grade to Lily River Lodge, Pickerel Lake and up to Post Lake thru Hills Still. Kudos to the Pickerel Tombstone Club...Trails were great all the way to Post Lake. Lunch at the Post Lake Inn and then back home across Pickerel Lake and the 100 Miler home. Great day to be riding. 120 Miles of great fun. PS: We took the cutoff on the Wolf River Trail to 9 mile bar and back to Townsend. Saves miles and that knarly bridge at Langlade.
Wednesday Morning Feb 9th... 3 degrees above zero yesterday at 10:30 AM but we ride anyway leaving from Townsend Shell. We took the grade north to the trail east just north of town and then the Carter Long loop and Wildwood Trail back to the Nicolet. This area of the grade is thin so a great alternative to ride the woods. Turned right up the grade a short ways to LMT 2 and then dropped down to the 100 Miler to the Lily cut off and over to Lily. Not a rough trail all the way...all were freshly groomed!!! We took the Wolf River Trail north to the Lily River Lodge cut off and over to Pickerel lake for lunch at the Final Lap (Great Burgers) and then backtracked to the Wolf River Trail north almost to Crandon. We took LMT 6 back towards Roberts Lake and then headed home via the 100 miler and LMT trails to the Nicolet Grade to Wabeno. We took the back LMT trail past the water tower back down to the 100 Miler and back home. The trails were all great...hard and fast with the cold weather and not many sleds out. About 105 miles of great fun and not even feeling cold with lots of layers!!
Monday Morning Feb 7th....no riding the last few days as too busy with the upcoming Fish A Ree and the final touches on my 1971 Ski Boose restoration project. Grandkids were up for the Super Bowl (How bout dem Packers) and getting it finished was #1 priority. We had a great time riding around the lake and attending the Kids snowmobile races over at My Bar. Our 3 year old granddaughter got to sit on one of the Kitty Cat racers!!! Maybe not such a good idea...she seemed to be very excited about the races and being around all the kids. Anyway, well worth the time and expense even if I am a "died in the wool" Yamaha guy!!! Come on over to our Fish A Ree this weekend....details on the home page of this site.
Wednesday February 2nd....Club guys ride today to White Lake and Lily. We took the Carter long loop north to the county line and then dropped south on the Nicolet past the Valley Inn and up Mosquito Lake Road and down the Bob Kroll Memorial trail to Saul Springs Road and east to Langlade County. Our club had groomed all this in the last day or so...awesome!!! We took the first T in Langlade County right and up to 9 Mile Resort (closed on Wednesday) to try out the new "shortcut" to the Wolf River trail. Lowell at 9 Mile is grooming about a one mile section with a snowmobile groomer this year in hopes it will be put on the map next year. Hope it does as this avoids that gnarly bridge at Langlade. We took the Wolf River Trail to White Lake for lunch and then backtracked on the Wolf River and up to Lily. This grade has settled down....no stones and nice and smooth all the way. At Lily we headed back towards Townsend via Corridor 9/16 and LMT 2 to Carter. Then we dropped south on the Nicolet to Wildwood Trail (short or long loop to Townsend) and took the short loop home. A great day with mostly smooth as glass trails. The only bumpy part is the first part of the trail right in Langlade County and about half way to 9 Mile. Small price for a great 85 mile ride!!!
Tuesday February 1st...Big trip today on the 100 Miler. My friend Jim and I took off from Townsend Shell and headed north on the Nicolet Trail (grade) to Wabeno. We turned left just as you come into town. Don't be fooled by the gnarly looking street you ride. About 1/8 mile the trail opens up and was freshly groomed all the way to Armstrong Creek...great ride with only a couple of plowed town roads keeping it from being perfect!!! Got some gas at Armstrong Creek and headed north on the 100 Miler to reconnect with the Nicolet Grade. Again freshly groomed and only 3 sleds all the way from Townsend. WOW!!!
We headed south on the grade a mile or two and took the cut off to Arrogone. This can be bumpy sometimes but today it was smooth as glass all the way. The Arrognne groomer was broke down several miles north of town but there was only a mile or so between the breakdown and where the 100 Miler takes over. You may want to check if it was repaired before riding as that trail can break down quickly. Stopped at Arrognne for lunch and then headed south on the trail to Crandon. Turned left towards Johnnies and back to Townsend via the 100 Miler trails. Again, freshly groomed all the way!!! As we rolled into town my odometer read 145 miles of Flat Fast Fun!!! Thanks guys for getting the trails in such great shape!!!
Friday/Saturday Jan 27/28...No long rides...time to work. On Friday i put about 25 miles on my 2-up Venture fixing some trail signs and putting up posters and banners for the Bonfire and Fish A Ree. On Saturday my wife and i went out to the bonfire and spent most of the afternoon there. Great time with lots of sleds stopping. Many club members stopped to say hello...Thanks Dan, Clint, Jeff and Pat for planning and holding this nostalgia event. Lots of old sleds on display including a genuine 1970 Sno Pack in Packer colors from day one....awesome and thanks Dan for bringing it out.
Thursday January 27, 2011...With some different club members we repeated Tuesdays trip thru the Paul Bunyan and Iron Snowshoe trails to Crooked Lake and back. All were still in great condition. We did take the 7 mile cut off into Crooked Lake across the lake to the Pines. After "shooting the breeze" with Mike the owner we backtracked to the Paul Bunyan system and thru Lakewood and home. About a 70 mile day of great riding. With snow in the forecast life is good!!!
Wednesday..January 26th, 2011...We got an early start today because of a Red Arrow board meeting tonight. After gassing at Townsend Shell we took off north via the Carter Short Loop and past the Valley inn and up the 100 miler to Johnnies Resort. Too early to stop so we pressed on up the old road trail to the grade. Too bad they are logging but at least there is an ice base. At the intersection with the grade we followed the groomer up the old trail thru Cavour and back to the Nicolet. Decision time...go north or back to Laona. We chose Laona but the 9-10 miles back was crummy. Lots of stones coming thru all the way. Need some wet snow for a good base. We ate at the Double Buck and then took LMT 7 down Bushaver Road and turned south to Wabeno and back to the grade. Very good all the way!!! More stones on the grade to Wabeno...we are not riding the railroad grades again until we get some heavy wet snow!!!! Took Corridor 16 west past the water tower and back south to the 100 Miler. If you have not ridden the "Water Tower Trail" it is awesome to ride and a stop at the overlook is a must. We connected up with the 100 Miler and back home to Townsend.....right at a 100 mile day with great trails except for the grade.
Tuesday..January 25th, 2011....Another great day to snowmobile. Some friends and I met at the Shell Station in Townsend and showed the MS Tour guides how to get across the Townsend Flowage and Reservoir Pond and points south. We took them down Pine Tree to the "Carl's Kiosk" intersection where the MS group headed south to Langlade County. We took our club trail north up to the Valley Inn, crossed to Wildwood Trail and past the Ski Hill towards Crooked Lake. I'm not real familiar down that way but we rode Chickadee Road...what a blast!!! Turned east towards Crooked Lake and Iron Snowshoe trail F but decided to go to Mulligans for lunch so looped back thru the Tornado area. It was pretty darned good all the way with nary a bump in site thanks to the Red Arrow , Iron Snowshoe, and Paul Bunyan groomers. After a great lunch at Mulligan's we headed for home....about 75 miles of great riding!!!! Be on the lookout for groups of riders with orange flags Thursday thru Saturday. The Wisconsin Multiple Sclerosis Society has their annual fundraiser at the casino in Carter. Give a big wave for a great cause!!!
January 20th, 2011...Today was my day to "Take a Friend Snowmobiling". The DOT transportation planner who was responsible for our beautiful Nicolet Trail thru Townsend had never been on a snowmobile (or an ATV for that matter). After months of e-mails and planning two members of the local Forest Service staff and I took off with him about 9AM for a great day. This was after about an hour of practice out on the Townsend Flowage to get the hang of things. I provided the machine, helmet and warm weather gear.
Our trip took us up the Nicolet so the "fruits of all the work" could be seen and used first hand. Then we went up Wildwood Trail to show the Forest Service guys what a great trail it now is. Without the help of the FS guys I was riding with the upgrades to that trail would have been difficult if not impossible.
We backtracked past the Valley Inn and took the Bob Kroll Memorial trail all the way south of Hwy 64 and then on to Chute Pond club trails to Boulder Lake and on to Langlade and White Lake. The White Lake cafe was a welcome stop for lunch as the temperature never got about 10 degrees all day. After lunch we headed north on the Wolf River Trail with a stop on the bridge over the Wolf River. What a view and photo op!!! Then up to Lily and a turn east across the 100 Miler trails and back home to Townsend. The trails were great and I think our DOT friend was impressed. As he is involved in projects that include snowmobile issues he will have a better understanding of our sport and the need for safe access when state highways are involved. Thanks to the Forest Service guys for coming along...we rode on a lot of National Forest trails and it was a great opportunity for them to see the Forest footprint in the winter.
Do your part...take a "newbie" out for a day and show off our sport!!!
January 19th, 2011....Today we teamed up with several club members for a ride to the Whitetail in Tipler and back. After meeting at the Shell station we took the Carter short loop and doubled back on the Nicolet to the Valley Inn and up the 100 miler to Ada Lake and on to the Roberts Lake and Corridor 9 trail near Johnnies Resort. Then up the "back way" to the Nicolet Trail north of Laona and up the Nicolet to the Whitetail. Most of the riding was superb with a few stones coming thru on the grade. After a great lunch we came back on the Nicolet (more rocks showing) to south of Laona and took LMT 4 east around to the 100 Miler and back to Wabeno. Pretty darn good all the way. The Nicolet is becoming very near unrideable from Laona to Wabeno. At Wabeno we took Corridor 16 east past the water tower and down to the Carter cut off at LMT 2 and back to the Nicolet home. A great 140 mile day of fun and great riding. Think snow!!!
My Yamaha friends from Red Arrow at the intersection of the Nicolet Trail and Wildwood Trail
Me and my 07 Yamaha Attak 4 cyl 4 stroke. Great trail machine. Photo taken on the bridge crossing the Wolf River north of White Lake
January 18th, 2011....Rode with some club members today. We took the Carter short loop north and came down to the Valley Inn and rode our trail all the way south to Saul Springs Road and west to Langlade county. Super smooth all the way!!! We went north (right) at the T just into Langlade County and headed for Lily. Trail was somewhat bumpy and lots of logging activity so would recomend another way to Lily if you can. At Lily we took the Wolf River grade south to White Lake for lunch...very nice on the grade with a few stutter bumps here and there. We doubled back from White Lake to Langlade, up Fish Hatchery Road and back to Saul Springs Road and back home. All Red Arrow trails are excellent and the Langlade County trails are very good considering they got less snow over the holidays. About 85 miles of fun....up to the Whitetail Inn tomorrow with the guys.
January 13th, 2011...took the same trip as yesterday as far as Lily. They had 2 inches of fresh snow there last night. Down the grade to the Bryant cut off. Went about 5 miles and it was REALLY BUMPY AND ICY!! Turned around and came back to the grade and over to Langlade and then to 9 Mile Bar for lunch. Back down the trail towards Red Arrow trails and home. Great conditions all the way except for that trail to Bryant. Again just about 100 miles of great riding. With snow on the way conditions should be the best of the season in the surrounding area. We hope to do some riding further north next week. Stay tuned but come on up if you are even thinking about it. Trails are great!!!
January 12th, 2011...Took the long loop to Carter today and then came back to Mosquito Lake Road and up the 100 miler to Intersecton 95 and turned south to Lily. Great trail all the way. At Lily we took the new grade (Wolf River Trail) south to White Lake and stopped for lunch. Then on to Langlade with some bare spots in the open fields but not bad. Back home via Red Arrow Trails (all in great shape) via Valley Inn and back to town via the Carter short loop. 90 miles of great riding with my Yamaha friends.
January 11th, 2011...Just got back from a 95 mile ride north on 2 inches of fresh snow. Ron Popp and I took our Red Arrow "Carter Long Loop" to avoid the bare grade and then swung down to the Valley Inn...then north to Forest County via Mosquito Lake Road Trail. The 100 miler portion north in Forest County was great but as soon as we got on LMT trails the riding got bumpy in some spots. Their back trail to Wabeno was nice going past the water tower. We crossed over to the Nicolet Trail and headed north and ran into lots of gravel due to lack of snow. We headed west at the first turn and picked up LMT 7 to Laona...big mistake...lots of bumps and some low snow spots. At Laona we headed north on the Nicolet and it was great up to the cut off at Cavor where we turned left and headed to Johnnies for a pit stop. Then we headed home on the old "Redball" which is basically Corridor 9 south from Johnnies until you turn off to come back to the Valley Inn. Pretty good all the way with a few spots that were icy or bare. Bottom line...avoid the grade (Nicolet Trail) and stay on Red Arrow and 100 Miler trails as much as possible and it will be a great ride.
December 29th, 2010 Today was the first ride of the season for me. We took the "long loop" around our system and back to the Valley Inn and then down to Animal's. Trails were good to very good all the way. Thanks Groomer Guys!!! After a quick stop at Animals we went down the Chute Pond trails to the Waters Edge at Anderson Lake for lunch...dollar burgers were great with the fresh cooked onions. Then over to Crooked Lake to see Mike at the Pines and back thru the golf course, air park and back way to Townsend. Overall a great ride with about 85 miles posted. The warm weather is taking a toll on the trails so in the shed stays the Yamaha until it cools down.
Sept 6th, 2010 Well, Labor Day has come and gone so can snowmobile season be far away....actually in less than 100 days we will be on the trails with any luck.This past Saturday our club held its 4th annual Corn Roast and ATV parade at the Valley Inn. There is more information elsewhere about his but I just wanted to add my personal thanks for a job well done. There were lots of new faces helping and the huge crowd helped us make a big profit that will be reinvested in our trail upgrades and maintinace. Great job!!!
Me, Josh and Mike enjoying a huge breakfast at 2B's in Wabeno before heading our for a quick 100 mile morning ride.
My Yamaha Vector on the Townsend Flowage at Sunset. I've been riding Yamahas for 38 years!!!
May 16th, 2010....Well, the ATV trails and routes are open across the state. We have had lots of riders up here already and the word is getting out that UTV's are legal in our area. Not all connectors are direct straight lines, but you can now ride your ATV or UTV and connect anywhere on any legal riding area in Oconto, Marinette, Forest or Florence county. Lots of hard work by many clubs, Forest Service officials, the DNR and county land managers have made this possible. We estimate there are not about 1000 miles of interconnected trails and routes....come join us soon.
April 25th, 2010...Hip, Hip, Hooray...ATV trails open the 1st of May!!! After waiting years and years you will be able to ride legally all the way from Green Valley in Shawano County up to the Michigan border and beyond. Join the Forest County ATV Association for a dedication ceremony at noon in Laona on Saturday May 1st. If you want to participate in the ride to the ceremony go to Hwy G about 5 miles north of Laona and meet the group at the trail crossing before 11AM. This is a great day for ATV riders in our area. Also UTV's are legal on all Oconto, Langlade and Forest County trails and routes except the National Forest Service land. More information on the UTV page on this site. See you on the trail.
March 8th, 2010...11AM Bummer...just got a call from Kurt Butler informing me that Paul Bunyan and all other Oconto County trails are now closed for the season. He also said that Langlade County and Forest County are closed as well. With the warm-up over the weekend and rain in the forecast we have no choice but to close as well. Too bad because with a little cooler weather and some fresh snow we could have easily ridden for another couple of weeks. Time to pack away the sleds and dream about next year. The good news is ATV season is only about 50 days away so time to change hats and start thinking about getting the ATV trails ready for a great summer season.
March 4th,2010....2:00PM Took a solo ride around our trails to check things out this morning. Our grade is in poor to fair condition with lots of bare spots. However, the "long loop to Carter around Wildwood Trail" was in really decent shape. It was groomed a couple of days ago and is holding up well. I took LMT 2 around to the 100 miler south and got back on our trails at Diamond Roof road. That was groomed last night to Sawyer Lake Road and in great shape. From Sawyer Lake Road south to Saul Springs Road there are some very thin and bare spots and it has not been groomed since last weekend due to low snow. From Saul Springs south both the road and the trail "over the top' are in pretty good shape. The trail south towards Animal's on Eichoff is decent as well. Bottom line...the warm weather is taking its toll but if you want to ride there are some good areas but also some rough going. Hope we can ride next week...this is it for me this week.
March 2nd, 2010...3:00PM Ron Popp, Jim Weyers and I took a ride north this morning. We took more or less the same route north as yesterday and the riding was great. hardly a bumpy trail until we were going to head towards Crandon from Roberts Lake...not groomed so we backtracked and took the 100 miler north like yesterday. The grade looked groomed north from Cavour but we headed south to Laona on a really nice freshly groomed Nicolet grade. South of Laona we took the LMT trail east towards Armstrong Creek and looped back on the 100 miler to Wabeno. Groomed all the way last night the ride was awesome. The grade south of Wabeno was not too bad and we took it to our Wildwood trail and made the long loop home to Townsend. About 120 miles of pure fun. Hopefully more to come. I strongly suggest heading north and looking for freshly groomed trails. There is plenty of snow in Forest County on most all of the trails. Ride early and you should have a few days left to enjoy the late season riding.
March 1st, 2010...10:30 Ron Popp and I took a ride north this morning. We took our long loop to Carter up as far as LMT 2 and worked our way northwest towards Johnnies Resort west of Laona. Most all the trails were in great shape all the way north on Corridor 9 to Cavour. The Nicolet Trail north of Cavour was not freshly groomed so we decided to come back south thru Laona and stopped at 2B's in Wabeno for lunch. Another ride thru our short loop and we were back home in Townsend about 2:30 with about 90 miles on the clock. Not too bad for a warm sunny day in March.
March 25th, 2010...Finally after 3 years my friend John Kupsh who owns A&J Vans of Valders and his friend Roger came up to ride. We got going early, took the Nicolet to Laona and went west to pick up Corridor 9. Then we rode north on the Nicolet all the way to the Michigan border, doubled back and stopped at the Whitetail Inn for gas and a root beer. Then we headed south as far as the Arrogone trail west and stopped for lunch in Arrogone. This is my favorite trail when it is groomed and it was freshly done this morning...heaven!!! After lunch we headed south towards Crandon but took the trail east to Laona and rode the grade home. A really nice 185 mile day without a single bumpy trail...thanks to the guys in the LMT, 100 Miler, Florence County and Arrogone clubs for some freshly groomed trails...we appreciated it!! I know John will be back next year with conditions like this.
February 25th, 2010...Yesterday I went with some club members on a 120 mile ride to Post Lake. We took the route west towards Mole Lake and up and came back thru Roberts Lake. Only about a two mile stretch of bumpy trails..the rest was awesome.
Today I hosted some friends from the Valders area and we got up early. Took the "long loop east" on our trails and the grade to Laona for breakfast at the Double Buck...very good food. They west past Johnnies up the "old way" north thru Cavour and onto the grade. This old trail does not get used much anymore but was in great shape. Took the grade north to F3 and rode to the Michigan border just for fun and doubled back for gas and a root beer at the Whitetail Inn. Then we went south and took the Arrogone trail...sometimes bumpy it was freshly groomed all the way back to the main trail to Crandon....awesome ride. Then back on Corridor 9 and LMT 8 to the grade and home. 185 miles of sheer fun. Not a bumpy mile all day...great grooming job by all clubs...thank you!!!
February 19th, 2010...Our Fish A Ree was a big success!!! Thanks to all who worked, gave prizes or attended. With that done it is time to ride again. Jim Wizneski and I rode to the Michigan Border on Wednesday and put on about 150 miles. Trails were great north of Laona...plenty of snow but a little warm to the south. On Tuesday I rode with some club members south to Chute Pond...a quick 60 mile fun trip and the trails were in good shape. A warm weekend is in the forecast so time will tell about trail conditions but we are grooming.
February 9th, 2010...Not much riding time getting ready for the Fish A Ree this weekend. Spent about 4 hours in our John Deere last night doing some grooming. Great snow conditions but some icing on the corners so be careful. going out for a ride today even as we get our much anticipated snow from the south. 3-6 inches expected.
February 5th, 2010...This was a great riding week for me. On Tuesday Ron Popp, his friend Tim Paulson from Appleton and I rode about 150 miles up the Nicolet Trail to the Michigan Border. It was exactly 59 miles from the Valley Inn. We didn't have a Michigan Trail pass so we turned around but Iron River was another 17 miles up the trail. It is exactly 75 miles from the Valley Inn to Iron River. After we turned around we stopped at the Whitetail Inn in Tipler for lunch...great food and they have gas.
On Wednesday evening my brother Mike and his son Josh came up from Sherwood for a couple of days. After attending the club meeting on Wed eve at Mulligans we were reved up to ride. Thursday morning we had breakfast at Karla's here in Townsend and headed north. We did a repeat of my Tuesday trip except we headed west from the Whitetail towards Minoqua. Pretty good for a while but Corridor 10 west gets lots of use and snirt was starting to show so we turned south towards Three Lakes but still not that great. As soon as we were able to turn towards Hiles the trail got better and we worked our way back to Townsend. The ride of 210 miles ended with a great Pizza at the Golden Eagle in Townsend. If you get a chance check out Marva's great pizza....best pizza north of Appleton!!
Today Friday Mike, Josh and I made a quick 90 mile loop over to Lily and Langlade. This was after a great breakfast at 2B's in Wabeno. Not a bumpy trail to be had. The groomers are out and the riding was great. Back home by 1:30 and the guys left for Appleton. So far about 450 miles on my Yamaha Vector for the week.....winter is wonderful!!!!
January 9th, 2010...The trails are in glorious condition all thru this part of the state. My buddies and I have ridden about 500 miles so far going on most all trails south, west and north of Townsend. We took a ride up the new Nicolet Trail thru Laona this week. It took less than an hour to get to Long Lake for lunch at Flatlanders (great burgers) then we backtracked south and took the trail west towards Crandon just south of Newall. This is a great sweeping curves trail and takes you thru Arrognne and down to the east/west trail just west of Johnnie's Resort and Corridor 9 south and back to Townsend. About a 100 miles of some of the best snowmobiling EVER!!! You have to come up here to ride...we are the great secret of Wisconsin snowmobiling. E-mail me at jbrantmeier@athenet.net if you want more info about the area.
December 18th, 2009...Well, we did get that first snow!!!! As soon as the snow stopped we were out grooming the trails for the first time. While the trails are rideable there are still areas where the rocks and ruts make for hazardous riding. The Nicolet State Trail is showing gravel in some places. Bottom line, I am going to wait for another few inches of snow before I go out and beat up me and my sled. Merry Christmas to all of you if i don't make another post before then.
December 7th, 2009....Let it Snow!!!! We are ready for another great snowmobile season. Club members have invested over 1000 hours getting the trails ready. All we need now is a little help from above and away we go. Thanks to all who helped with the trail brushing, rock picking, equipment get ready and all the other things it takes to get ready. See you on the trail.
September 10th, 2009....my personal thanks for a great Corn Roast. Our club members worked hard to put a wonderful event and the public came out in force. We made about $1,500.00 more profit than last year so it was a great success. All the money raised will go back into making our trails for ATVing an Snowmobiling the best in the northwoods.
August 17th, 2009....Only three weeks to our Corn Roast fundraiser. This event is open to the public and helps both snowmobile and ATV trail programs. Come join us for the fun with your ATV or by Automobile. Wow...only 4 months till we are back on the trail with our snowmobiles!!!!
July 30th, 2009....They say that good things come to those who wait. Well, our new trail thru Townsend has been open since Memorial Day with no problems except for the dust during this dry summer. Our club has purchased a water truck for the Town of Townsend and the trail is watered regularly.
We continue to get more miles to ride. The route to 9 mile is now open and you can get all the way east to Marinette County off of a connector at Wabeno. Come join the fun here in the Townsend area!!
May 6th...With the Snowmobile Season long gone our focus has been on getting ready for the ATV season. A major disappointment has been the unopened ATV trail from Townsend to the Valley Inn. The trail is ready to go but the paperwork is not...it is hung up with the DNR legal staff. The good news is you can get to Forest County by taking town roads. Use Nicolet Road west to Valley View north to the Valley Inn. The trail across the Hwy 32 is open to the county line and north into Forest County. Other than that we are all set for a great ATV season. More and more trails and routes are being opened by area ATV clubs increasing our riding opportunities....come visit us soon.
March 31st...Thank you to everyone who visited Townsend and rode the Red Arrow trails this winter. We honestly believe that we had some of the best riding conditions in the state this year. I managed to ride about 2500 miles on my Yamaha Vector along with doing some grooming. Speaking of grooming, thanks to the guys who logged nearly 600 hours grooming our trails. We groom mostly at night so that meant some evenings away from the fireplace to get the system ready for the next day or two. All in all we are very happy with the growth of our club and look forward to the ATV season.
February 11th...The 40th Anniversary Fish A Ree last weekend was a big success. We had good crowds at the Townsend Town Hall both Saturday and Sunday. Check out the Fish A Ree tab for some photos of the fun. Today we made the decision to close our trails for the first time in anyone's memory. There is some snow in the woods but very wet and mushy. We hope to preserve our base until it starts snowing again. Pray for snow!!!
January 30th...Our Bonfire, Wiener Roast and Vintage event last weekend was a great success. Between 250 and 300 sleds stopped by to warm up have a hot dog and look at approximately 20 old sleds that were on hand. Lots of those folks went down to Lakewood for the Paul Bunyan fundraiser. We attended on Sunday and the members there were well pleased with their turn-out. Be sure to come to Townsend next weekend (the 7th and 8th) for our 40th Anniversary Fish A Ree and Vintage show. See the Events tab for full details.
Yesterday we took our longest ride in a couple of years clocking 218 miles on my 08 Vector 40th Anniversary. We went west to Langlade, then Antigo and South West to the Mountain Bay trail about 20 miles east of Wausau. Then we headed east all the way to east of Pulaski. Corridor 5 north and some club trails took us back to Corridor 7 south of Gillett and then a clear shot north to Townsend. The Only bad trail we found was the Corridor 7 from Green Valley to just south of Suring. Lots of big rolling "waves" to keep you on your toes. All in all it was a great ride with lots of bonding with my brother Mike, his son Sam and Sam's friend Chris!!!
January 13th....Thanks to all of you who visited our area over the Holidays. The area business boosters appreciate your visit and supporting them. We have two great reasons to come to Townsend again with the upcoming Vintage Ride and Bonfire followed two weeks later by the Fish A Ree. Check the upcoming events tab for more information.
I was out riding today with two other club members and had a great time in spite of the below zero weather. The trails are hard and smooth but had a couple of inches of fresh snow to make things great. We were the first sleds across many areas....a great time to be up here riding. thanks for visiting our web site and let me know what you think of our trails and the site itself.
John Brantmeier, President
Fall 2009: Hello fellow motorized sports enthusiasts,
Welcome to our new website. We hope you enjoy visiting with us online. Please drop an e-mail to jbrantmeier@athenet.net with any constructive thoughts on how we can add content or improve our web site or our club.
Red Arrow has accomplished a lot during 2008. The year started off with a "almost record" snow season and great snowmobile trails all winter. With lots of riders in the area our annual Fish A Ree fundraiser in February was very successful. That was a good thing as we wound up the year about $10,000.00 short in our DNR reimbursement due to good snow conditions all over the state. What's the connection you may ask.
Well, you may not know that the Snowmobile and ATV sports are entirely self funding. All the money spent by the DNR on our sports is collected via the registrations we pay and a small refund from the gas tax paid since it is not used on the highway system. For ATV's we receive a fixed $450.00 per mile of trail and for snowmobiles $250.00. On the snowmobile side we can get up to $500.00 per mile of "supplemental funds" based on the DNR "dividing up the pie" to the clubs that actually do a lot of grooming. Most years this favors the northern clubs with consistent snow but this past winter the money was divided all over the state. The net result was that we only got about 60% of the supplemental money that we earned. Hopefully the snowmobile community will support higher registration fees or a yearly trail pass so that the funds will be available to keep our trails in the condition that we all expect. The Association of Wisconsin Snowmobile Clubs is working on a plan to address this issue.
Over the last winter we also worked with several other area ATV clubs and the Forest Service to site additional ATV trail riding opportunities in the National Forest. The Forest Service has a mandate to establish "up to" 85 new miles of ATV trails in the Nicolet National Forest. Our clubs are working with them to make this happen. Frankly, it is slow going due to all the steps required to make any changes to the Forest footprint. I must say that the staff has been very receptive to our efforts and we hope to have more trails in place as time passes.
We kicked off the celebration of our 40th Club Anniversary with a special float in the annual Town of Townsend 4th of July parade. A semi tractor trailer filled with Vintage sleds and a 3 wheeler was in the parade along with our grooming equipment. Red Arrow was formed in the fall of 1968 and has worked tirelessly for 40 years to help promote the sport of snowmobiling in northern Oconto County.
Over the summer our club had responsibility for about two miles of ATV trail from the Lakewood/Townsend ambulance garage to Cty T. Thanks to Dale Ott who kept this short section "groomed' over the summer. Next year we expect that the rest of the NicoletTrail to the Forest County line will be open and we will be taking care of that mileage as well.
We had summer meetings and a ATV club ride but the attendance was quite small. Hopefully with two years of ATV experience we will do more next summer. There is a lot of interest in ATV activities in our area. We are working hard to develop this part of our club. On Labor Day weekend we held our 2nd Annual Corn Roast at Kathy's Valley Inn. It was a huge success and we plan on being back next year for the 3rd annual event. Thanks Willie & Kathy!!!
As fall approached and our thoughts turned back to snowmobiling, club members spent nearly 500 hours getting our trails ready for the winter. I am happy to report that all of our trails are brushed and gone over with our box scraper. THANK YOU to everyone who helped with the trail brushing. We also have spent a lot of time and effort "picking rocks" on Wildwood Trail north of town. Wildwood is the trail that goes right just as you approach the Forest County line. It is a "multi-use" forest road that gets quite rutted up in the summer exposing lots of rocks as well as mudholes. It can be quite bumpy during the early snowmobile season so BE CAREFUL riding in that area.
Plans are in full swing for winter club activities. Check out the events calender page for a complete list. I would urge you to join our club if you ride in our area. We welcome all Snowmobile and ATV riders even if you cannot help due to other commitments. Your financial support is important!! Just go to the membership page, print out an application and send it to us by mail.
Finally, I want to thank all of our area business booster sponsors who help us in so many ways. They are all listed on the Business Booster tab. Please patronize them when you come to our area. Without strong business support it would be difficult to keep our trails in the great shape we all expect.
Think snow,
John Brantmeier, President
Red Arrow Snowmobile ATV Club Inc. P. O. Box 248, Townsend, Wi. 54175
