GAYLORD, MI – The Thanksgiving weekend storm system that left piles of snow piling up in some northern Michigan locations was an especially early Christmas present for Gaylord and his legion of snowmobile fans.

Nearly 44 inches of snow fell between Thanksgiving Day and this morning in this alpine town known as a winter adventure spot, the National Weather Service team in Gaylord said. And it happened just as state-designated snowmobile trails opened for the winter. Because of the heavy snowfall, some of these trails were prepared right at the start of the season.

“Snow, baby, snow!” We are off to an epic start to the snowmobile season,” Gaylord Area Convention & Tourism Bureau officials said this weekend.

Why is Gaylord such a large snowmobiling center? Located in the middle of an extensive network of snowmobile trails – more than 500 miles – its companies know how to provide a welcome mat for winter adventurers.

Snowmobiling in the Gaylord area is also scenic, as you would expect from a northern destination. The region’s hiking trails lead through snow-covered forests, open fields and small towns along the way.

If you’re not a local snowmobiler, the tourism group offers plenty of information about this fun winter sport. You have online hiking maps available, lots of information about sled rentals, hiking parking spaces, overnight accommodations and more. You can request your own snowmobile trail map here. They even regularly publish snowmobile trail reports with notes from the groomers.

“The snow groomers have been in operation since the trails opened on December 1,” tourism staff said today. “They are currently in good condition and all trails should be open by lunchtime today. Please be patient while the snow groomers get our slopes into excellent condition with all this new snow!”

Even if you’ve been riding snowmobiles for years, it’s always good to brush up on the rules of trail etiquette when you encounter a groomer on the job. The tourism group would like to remind passengers:

• Snow groomers always have the right of way
• Please move off the path when snow groomers are approaching and allow them to pass safely
• If you approach a snow groomer from behind, please wait for the operator to signal you to pass
• Grooming can be done at any time of the day or night

Popular hiking trails

Gaylord is a great connecting point as snowmobilers finish one section of trail and jump onto another.

“You can go virtually anywhere in northern Lower Michigan from Gaylord,” tourism staff said.

Here are some of the area’s most popular snowmobile corridors, as described by the group:

North Central State Trail: “Real sledders are fanatics of the North Central State Trail, which runs from Gaylord to Mackinaw City. The trail, a former railroad corridor, extends 62 beautiful and groomed miles north through forests, farms and villages to the Strait of Mackinac. This scenic trail is open for snowmobiling from December 1st to March 31st (weather permitting, of course). The new trailhead is located on the north side of Main Street (M-32), directly across from our visitor center. Additional parking can be found north of downtown Gaylord on Fairview Road, directly across from the soccer complex.

A great map of the North Central State Trail can be found on the website here.

North branch: “Don’t miss another well-known trail, the North Branch, which begins on Old 27 South across from Extreme Power Sports. The North Branch is a never-ending story of snowmobiling that takes riders south to the beautiful Blue Bear Trail in Kalkaska, west to the deeply forested Jordan Valley, east to the Lovells Trail in Lewiston, as well as numerous connecting trails and National Guard open range areas for riding . Parking is easy at Mama Leone’s and you can also grab a bite to eat there before or after your hike.”