DAY 1
ARRIVAL DAY
Your Extreme Snowmobile Experience begins at The Cabins at Bear River Lodge. The Cabins at Bear River Lodge are the gateway to the Wasatch-Cache-Uinta National Forest, with hundreds of miles of groomed trails and tens of thousands of acres of some of the best off trail riding in the world.
You will arrive at The Cabins at Bear River Lodge the afternoon on the day before your first ride. Cabin check-in begins at 3:00 PM. At 5:00 PM we will meet for a short introductory welcome meeting and go over everyone’s gear requirements and ensure that everyone has the gear they need for a successful ride. We will then get to know each other better as we enjoy a homestyle cooked dinner. After dinner, the evening is yours to unwind and relax inside your cabin or soak in our large outdoor hot tubs as we prepare for our extreme ride beginning the following morning.
MEALS:
Dinner
DAY 2
FIRST DAY OF EXTREME RIDING
GOLD HILL, WHITNEY RESERVOIR,
AND DOUBLE HILL RIDE
We will meet for a family-style Breakfast at 8:00 AM.
At 9:00 AM we will provide an overview of the day’s ride and will once again ensure that everyone has the gear they need for a successful ride. We will also assign snowmobiles and review their operation. We anticipate leaving each day at about 9:30 AM.
This is by far our most popular ride. We warm up by riding down the Mirror Lake Scenic Byway into the national forest for about 6 miles. From here we leave the groomed trail for the remainder of the day. We head west up a draw between two hills, following a stream bed and work our way through the willows and over beaver dams until we come to your first hill climb. This short steep hill seems nearly vertical. After getting everyone over the hill we find ourselves at the top of the Mill City Creek valley and at the base of Gold Hill. The views from this hilltop are stunning. We continue southwest as we climb higher and higher. Winding your way through trees and over hills we find ourselves looking over Whitney Reservoir. We then descend a very steep hill through lots of spruce and pines until we reach the reservoir. From here we cross over Beaver Lake and arrive at the base of Double Hill. Double Hill is the largest snowmobile climbing hill in our area. The experienced and brave of heart will try to top this incredible hill. For those who don’t want to climb the Double Hill, no worries, we have a way to get to the top without going straight up. We will all reach the top one way or another. The top of Double Hill provides one of the most all-encompassing views in the forest. To the west you can see the ski runs of Park City, Utah. To the east we will see another one of our favorite rides – Elizabeth Ridge. To the north is Moffit Basin and to the southeast is the tallest peak in Utah – King’s Peak. From this majestic mountaintop we will wind our way through the trees and open meadows to the Whitney Ranger Station where we will warm up by a fire and enjoy our sack lunches. We spend the rest of the day, backtracking through these incredible sites and playing in the open meadows and practicing our climbing skills on the many hills.
Our goal is to return to The Cabins at Bear River Lodge between 3:00 and 4:00 PM each day. After the ride for the day has concluded, you can head back to your log cabin to catch a quick nap or soak in the hot tubs before dinner is prepared and served. Get a good night's sleep as we have another fun ride in store for tomorrow morning.
MEALS:
Breakfast
Sack Lunches On Ride
Dinner
DAY 3
BOY SCOUT MOUNTAIN, MILL CREEK
AND ELIZABTH RIDGE RIDE
We will meet for a family-style Breakfast at 8:00 AM.
At 9:00 AM we will provide an overview of the day’s ride and will once again ensure that everyone has the gear they need for a successful ride. We anticipate leaving each day at about 9:30 AM.
This incredible ride is one of our more technically-difficult rides. It requires a lot of getting up on our feet, leaning from side-to-side, and maneuvering our machines through the dense trees, side hills, and short mountain climbs.
Our first challenge is the climb up Boy Scout Mountain. As the winter progresses and the snow piles up, riding on the side hills becomes more and more challenging. Some days it takes several tries and a few hours to conquer this mountain. However, when we arrive at the top and get to survey the views, it is worth the effort. Descending off this mountain we arrive at the old Tie Hack Cabin. This is one of our most popular stops on our summer side-by-side rides (Yes, you can come back in the summer and enjoy this incredible beauty in a side-be-side). This old cabin reminds us that this area was once home to many mountain-men workers about a century ago. Now we get to practice your technical riding as we wind your way down the Millcreek Valley through rolling hills and lots of trees. The only way to describe this ride is “pure fun”. We continue the technical riding as we cross Elizabeth Ridge heading south. Again, this is as much fun as you can have on a snowmobile. Arriving at the far south end of Elizabeth Ridge we get to see one of the greatest views in the forest. We stop here year-round on our summer and winter rides. We are looking down into the West Fork of the Blacks Fork River Wilderness Area. It looks like Jurassic Park. This valley has not changed since the world was formed. It is absolutely stunning. We are not allowed to ride machines or even take a bicycle into this incredible Wilderness Area. It remains the way it was created. We do, however, get to play around in the large open meadows on Elizabeth Ridge before we descend on the southwest corner. Hang on and trust us. We actually have to drop off this ridge without being able to see what is below. We descend quickly for about 75 feet before the bottom of the canyon opens up to our view. It is an incredible rush. Trust us and give it the gas.
We again work our way back to The Cabins at Bear River Lodge and expect to arrive between 3:30 and 4:00 PM. After our second day of riding, most of us will head straight to the hot tubs.
We meet for dinner at 6:00 PM and there is no doubt we will all sleep well tonight.
MEALS:
Breakfast
Sack Lunches On Ride
Dinner
OPTIONAL DAY 4
MIRROR LAKE, BALD MOUNTAIN, COMBINED WITH DOUBLEHILL AND MOFFIT BASIN
We will meet for a family-style Breakfast at 8:00 AM.
At 9:00 AM we will provide an overview of the day’s ride and will once again ensure that everyone has the gear they need for a successful ride. We anticipate leaving each day at about 9:30 AM.
This bonus day of riding will allow us to ride the Mirror Lake Scenic Byway and visit the beautiful lake this Scenic Byway is named after, “Mirror Lake”. This Scenic Byway is on the federal registry and is known as one of the most beautiful in the West. It stretches approximately 80 miles from Kamas, Utah to Evanston, Wyoming. From The Cabins at Bear River Lodge we take the groomed highway south for 15 miles before arriving at our first stop – the Highline Trail and Butterfly Lake. From this vantage point we see the tops of literally millions of tall pines and spruce covered in snow. If there is a more beautiful winter site, we are not aware of it. Next, we descend off the highway to Mirror Lake. It is fun to ride out on the frozen lake. Our mountain lakes freeze in layers. The ice builds up several inches thick and then the water gets on top of the ice and freezes again, and again. Eventually the ice on these mountain lakes will be several feet thick. We have taken several television crews ice fishing to some of these high mountain lakes. They have made several television episodes of winter ice fishing, showing off the trout in these lakes. From Mirror Lake we continue our journey on the Mirror Lake Scenic Byway to Bald Mountain. Sitting at over 10,000 feet above sea level, the Bald Mountain overlook is the highest point on the Mirror Lake Scenic Byway. Snow level at this point can be significant. In 2019, we rode snowmobiles to this point of the Highway on June 28, it was the latest day in the calendar year on which we have snowmobiled the Mirror Lake Scenic Byway in our 25-year history.
After exploring the Mirror Lake Scenic Byway we ride back up to Double Hill which we conquered on the first day of riding. However, today we are going to go further into the forest and ride in the Moffit Basin area. This area is known for its mountain bowls. Bowl riding is fun. We climb hill after hill and get to once again practice our technical riding skills as we work our way down the mountains through the thick groves of pine trees. In the winter of 2021 we had a spectacular encounter on this ride with a herd of bull elk. Most years the elk all leave the forest for lower elevations before the snow falls. However, this year the snow came late and a herd of bull elk got trapped in these mountain bowls. The spent the rest of the winter foraging for any food they could find. We happened to come upon them as they were making their own path through the trees. It was an incredible site.
We eventually make it back to The Cabins at Bear River Lodge by late afternoon. Truly, we will are exhausted after three days of incredible riding. Rest up before dinner and then sleep well for your trip home tomorrow.
MEALS:
Breakfast
Sack Lunch On Ride
Dinner
FINAL DAY
After you've really experienced all of Utah's backcountry snow. We will have our final good-bye meeting and provide breakfast. Check-Out is at 11:00 AM. Feel free to experience ice-fishing in our private fishing ponds or rent a set of cross-country skis or snowshoes if you want to experience Utah by foot.
MEALS:
Breakfast
**TRIP ITINERARIES ARE SUBJECT TO CHANGE WITHOUT NOTICE DUE TO ROAD, WEATHER, AND/OR OTHER FACTORS OUTSIDE OF OUR CONTROL. WE ADJUST ALL RIDES FOR THE SAFETY AND ENJOYMENT OF ALL GUESTS AS DEEMED NECESSARY AND APPROPRIATE**