Five of Newfoundland’s Less Known Sledding Spots

Marble Mountain – East, West or simply right behind Marble:

Donnie O’Keefe

Gas, coffee, accommodations and snow.  East, west you choose what trail as they are both amazing directions to head in.  Heading East will take you to a warm up shelter on back of Pasadena, drop out into the community for some delicious food or continue East to Deer Lake and beyond.  West will take you around the City of Corner Brook and then either on to the Lewis Hills or Stephenville.  Heck, if the conditions are right with a little detour you will find yourself on the North Shore or even heading to the amazing Sink Hole and the Bonne Bay area.  However, if you want a “Power Line” challenge or simply some back-country adventure without riding 100 KMs of trail to find it, then Marble is your place to start.  In under 10 minutes, I can show you amazing backcountry, scenery of the Bay of Islands or even caribou/moose.  I have fallen in love with this area over the past 9 years as I have been lucky enough to call it home.  Marble Mountain is not just about skiing……. although if that’s your thing, it certainly can be.  #ilovewinter

 

South Twin, Central NL.

Tom Caines

The Newfoundland backcountry is full of hidden gems if you spend the time and explore deep enough. No one spends more time exploring the Hodges area of central newfoundland than Paul Rose of Riverfront Chalets. Every ride with Paul is an adventure, long spring days on the Gaff topsoil or buried deep in the Hodges tree zone, each ride is one for the memory books.

So, when I got an invite to join Paul to check out a new zone I jumped at the opportunity, loaded up the sled and made my way to Riverfront chalets to join Paul, Rob Clarke and Greg Gill, from there we set off for Paul’s new zone called “South Twin”.

This is not a spot you will stumble upon, the route is incredibly scenic consisting of logging roads, snow covered bogs, frozen rivers and numerous ponds. If a warm April blue bird day on snowmobile isn’t enough, soon we were met with tree zones packed with spring snow. What followed was 4 hours of follow the leader through some of the best tree zones the island of NL has to offer. These guys are at home in the thick of it, the bright sleds and high visibility outer wear definitely helped keep track of the guys in the dense trees.

Thoroughly exhausted, the ride home was capped off with a beautiful sunset over Hodges Hill. This spot is high on my list for a repeat visits this winter.

 

 

White River Road (WRR) – Test Zone

Andrew Morrissey

The White River Road “Test Zone” is a deadly little zone, just near the 16 KM mark on WRR, cut off on the right side of the groomed trail. You’ll find a great mixture of ponds, river beds, nice side hill slopes and you can even get a little more technical with a little tree riding. We usually find this zone a good area to warm up the muscles and test our machines before heading into the backcountry. This spot is great for those days that are too grey and blustery to head inside.

 

The Eclipse – Central Newfoundland

By Maurice Gillingham

Dreaming about your first adventure on the sleds, your last adventure, or the adventures you hope to take? They are all memorable or will be in some form or another. Some will stand out as “I would love to that again”! One such trip for me stands out for multiple reasons as any trip with my two boys are everlasting. I’m sure we all can relate to having our favs and one such place for us is “The Eclipse”. Nestled in a remote location approximately 40kms from Millertown Jct. or 60 plus KMs off Buchans Highway is one of our little gems. The Eclipse presents you with a valley that on one side offers some playtime, which will entertain any snowmobiler looking to have fun. Back in March of 2017, at the end of a glorious bluebird day which consisted of cruising along with conditions second to none, awesome ice fishing, including a mug up over open fire, concluding with flying drifts off The Eclipse. This beautiful area most always offers fresh powder as it seems not many people have discovered this one yet! Having to say “come on boys, time we head back” is the difficult part. But we’ll be back! Not too far from the famous Gaff Topsails and should be included in any day run if in the area.

 

Heart’s Content Barrens – Avalon Peninsula

By Brad Priddle

The Heart’s Content Barrens is a somewhat of an unknown gem of the Avalon for snowmobiling. North of Victoria, NL on Highway 74, the Barrens spans from Victoria to Old Perlican and Western Bay to Winterton (approximately 800 sq km). The second highest point on the Avalon is located here (910′). The area consists of wide-open areas of barrens and ponds plus many trails through wooded areas closer to coastal communities. Hills with windswept drifts can make for fun play spots and enough country for a full day of riding. The Barrens can be a challenging place to get a ride in however. Strong winds can blow the snow away during a snowstorm. Enough snow is needed to cover the many rocks and hill tops. Any rain or mild temps can ruin conditions when things freeze again turning the snow into concrete. Many variables need to line up for good conditions on the Barrens but when they do, it is quite amazing. It can feel like a little bit of Western Newfoundland on the east coast.