Snowmobiling around Cody Wyoming's Greater Yellowstone Region

Snowmobiling around Cody's Greater Yellowstone Region

Snowmobiler enjoying a late winter day

Idaho, Montana and Wyoming are the snowmobile capital of the world. Because Yellowstone National Park, 60 miles west of Cody receives twelve feet of snow falls annually and the hundreds of miles of groomed snowmobile trails that lead to Yellowstone from all the surrounding National Forests and gateway communities. Old Faithful, and 10,000 other thermals, cast clouds of steam as you ride. These three states offer the greatest concentration of groomed trails, powder fields and snowmobile activities to be found anywhere in North American and somehow they all connect.

The Shoshone National Forest has 306 miles of these trails snowmobile trails, some just west of Cody. The most popular Cody snowmobiling trails originate from Pahaska Tepee Resort located 51 miles from Cody on US 14/16/20. Don't take the Pahaska Tepee trail over 8,541 foot Sylvan Pass if you are afraid of heights; but if you are not it connects to the Yellowstone National Park trails and the lengthy Continental Divide snowmobiling trail and offers breathtaking views including Avalanche Peak (10,566 feet) and Cody Peak (10,267 feet). The Pahaska Tepee Cody’s jump off point for Yellowstone Snowmobiling is a national historic landmark lodge built in 1905 by Buffalo Bill Cody.

A rising full moon finishes a Blue Bird day snowmobiling the Mountains of Wyoming

Just 60 miles north of Cody, Wyoming is the Beartooth Mountain snowmobiling trail system. With 32 miles of groomed trails and 34 miles of ungroomed trails, in addition to the myriad of off-trail possibilities, the Beartooth Mountains are guaranteed to satiate all of your snowmobiling desires. The wide-open spaces of the Beartooth Plateau have been calling to snowmobilers for decades

The sunlight trail system is located 36 miles north of Cody and winds through the wilds to a stunning view of the Beartooth Mountains of the Sun Light Basin.

Hundreds of square miles of the Absaroka Mountain Range provide unlimited opportunities for the Cody powder hound that seeks out the wide open bowls that dominate the Absaroka’s southern slopes and the sub alpine terrain around the peaks.

• Be informed about avalanche dangers. Take an avalanche awareness class. Carry safety equipment such as an avalanche beacon, shovel and probe. Make sure others are not below you if you are crossing or climbing potentially unstable slopes.  

• Alcohol and winter sports don’t mix. State and federal laws prohibit operating a snowmobile while under the influence of alcohol or other drugs.  

• Snowmobilers should slow down when meeting other users or oncoming snowmobilers. Pull to the right side or just off the trail if you meet oncoming dog sleds. Stay to the right on curves and slow down. Obey all safety signs. Stop before crossing highways. Never ride on the state highway system. 

Bull elk yellowstone geyser

• Skiers and snowshoers should move to the side of the trail or just off the trail when they hear a snowmobile approaching.  

• State and federal laws prohibit careless or reckless operation of snowmobiles. Although snowmobile trail systems don’t have posted speed limits, it is the snowmobiler’s responsibility to operate his or her machine in a safe manner that won’t endanger other people or property.  

• Register your snowmobile. All snowmobiles used on Wyoming National Forests are required to have a state snowmobile sticker. A non-resident user fee sticker is required if the machine is from another state or country. Help support and improve the snowmobile trail program by purchasing your registration stickers. 

• Don’t snowmobile in wilderness areas. It is a violation of federal regulations to take snowmobiles or other motorized equipment into wilderness areas. Not all wilderness boundaries are marked on the ground. It is the snowmobiler’s responsibility to know where he or she is at all times and to check maps carefully to determine wilderness boundaries and other areas closed to snowmobiles such as wildlife winter range and cross country ski trails. Snowmobile trail system maps are free and available at several locations including Forest Service offices.  These maps also contain additional safety information and phone numbers.

Regional Snowmobile Tour Operators and Rentals

Island Park Polaris • (Island Park) Located in beautiful Island Park, Idaho, our facility is a full service Polaris star dealer. We specialize in snowmobile sales, service, rentals and guided tours. We have rental clothing to dress you from head to toe and our guided tours are designed for novice riders to expert. Tours are given by professional riders through Targhee and Caribou National Forests.

Back Country Snowmobile Adventures • (West Yellowstone) Back Country offers high quality snowmobile rentals at affordable rates. Available for daily and weekly adventures. Tour guides are available if you would like to see Yellowstone from a native's perspective. We also provide accommodation packages making it affordable and easy to see the amazing wonders of Yellowstone National Park. Whether you're a die hard rider, or a beginner, your guaranteed to have a great time.

Jackson Hole Snowmobile Tours • (Jackson Hole) Specialists in snowmobile and backcountry tours. Day tours and overnight adventures in Yellowstone National Park, the Wyoming Continental Divide, Togwotee Mountain and Granite Hot Springs. Current model Polaris Snowmobiles. Experience makes the difference.

Snowmobile News

Snowmobilers admiring the view of the red hills in the Gros Ventre Mountains Northeast of Jackson Hole Wyoming

Forget the sunny Super Bowl, I'll take Wyoming and a snowmobile - by John Steigerwald
I wouldn't know, because for the past 10 days, I've been about as far away from Phoenix and the Super Bowl as a guy can get. Well, actually, I'm closer to Phoenix than you are but only geographically............................While the 3,000 media who are covering the Super Bowl were being herded into a stadium on Wednesday to record the 3,000,000 clichés that would be spewed on Media Day, I was cruising along the semi-frozen Grey's River in Western Wyoming, looking at some of the most excruciatingly beautiful scenery available for human eyes. It was 15 degrees and it was snowing and I was sitting on a snowmobile that was sitting on top of about five feet of hard packed snow......................As I was watching four moose - two males and two females - cavorting in the river, I have to admit-----------------------------------> More

NPS decision keeps east gate open in winter
By Carole Cloudwalker • Motorized over-snow access to Yellowstone Park via Sylvan Pass will continue under terms of a Park Service decision signed Tuesday................................The decision reversed an earlier Park Service preferred alternative that would have totally closed Yellowstone's East Entrance in wintertime after the 2007-08 season.............................A Record of Decision (ROD) concerning Yellowstone and Grand Teton parks and the Rockefeller Parkway was signed by Mike Snyder of Denver, director of the Intermountain Region of the Park Service...........................The ROD calls for changes in winter use in the two parks beginning with the 2008-09 winter season.----------------------More

seventy year old Louise Mcdonald snowmobiling in Yellowstone

New limits on snowmobiling in Yellowstone
By Ben Neary • Snowmobile travel in Yellowstone National Park will be restricted to 540 trips per day starting in the winter of 2008-09, the National Park Service decided Tuesday..................................Conservationists had wanted a ban on snowmobiling in the park, saying it causes noise and air pollution. In a recent letter, 86 members of Congress — none from states surrounding Yellowstone — asked the National Park Service to phase out snowmobiles due to pollution concerns............................Snowmobiling enthusiasts and some local business owners had wanted the daily---------------------------More

Snowmobile enthusiasts respond to new Yellowstone Winter use plan
the Regional Office of the National Park Service in Denver issued its Record of Decision (ROD) on winter use in Yellowstone and Grand Teton National Parks. This is the latest action in the process of developing a long-term winter use plan for the Parks. The ROD is the final step from which the implementing rule will be developed. This must happen in the next 30 days for the Park to open to snowmobile access December 19, 2007. The ROD formalizes changes and restrictions in snowmobile access to the Parks.

Jack Welch, President of the BlueRibbon Coalition, stated, "We are not completely satisfied by the reduced levels of snowmobile access available only through commercial tour operators, but we appreciate the difficulty of the Park Service's management balance and are thankful that the agency has decided to allow for some level of continued snowmobile access to the Parks." -----------------More

US Congress Votes to keep Yellowstone Open for Winter Recreation
The United States Senate and House of Representatives enacted legislation to keep Yellowstone National Park open for winter recreationists. The legislative action affirms National Park Service rules to continue limited guided-snowmobile access on groomed roads in the Park, using only new technology snowmobiles. The affirmed rules also provide for snowcoach access and cross-country skiing in Yellowstone and Grand Teton National Parks this winter.-------------------------------> More

Winter in Yellowstone: A Caldera of Your Own
Lisa Torrance Duffy • Want to tour Yellowstone National Park in near solitude? Visit in winter. With a fraction of the summer's visitation -- only 140,000 during the winter season compared to almost 3 million in summer -- winter is the ideal time to take in the park's astounding natural attractions.------------------------------> More

Wyoming court contemplates restoring roadless balance
Recreational interests were among those present in the crowded courtroom as U.S. District Judge Clarence Brimmer presided on October 19th over the latest legal maneuvers affecting U.S. Forest Service roadless area management. In this latest lawsuit, the State of Wyoming seeks to have the Court reinstate its earlier ruling finding the 2001 Roadless Rule illegal. A number of recreational groups have weighed in as "friends of the court" in order to protect recreational access to the approximately 60 million acres of "roadless areas" potentially affected by the Rule. The groups, who include the California Association of 4 Wheel Drive Clubs ("CA4WDC"), United Four Wheel Drive Associations (UFWDA), the American Council of Snowmobile Associations (ACSA), and the BlueRibbon Coalition (BRC), have been involved in a series of Roadless lawsuits including several in the U.S. Districts of Idaho and Northern California, and appeals court proceedings in the Ninth and Tenth Circuits. In the present case the recreational groups are supporting Wyoming's position and are seeking to have an injunction issued preventing the Forest Service from implementing the 2001 Rule. ---------------------------> More

Snowmobiling Growing in Importance as a Job Generator around Yellowstone
Haslett, MI - Decent jobs in rural North America are often hard to find. The loss of the commodity based economic engine (i.e.: timbering, mining) has been replaced in most cases by tourism related activities and snowmobiling is certainly a major job generator in some markets.

Regional Snowmobile Clubs

Jackson Hole Snow Devils • JH Snow Devils general membership meetings are 1st Thursday of each month in January, February & March: 6:30pm at the Virginian.

Gallatin Valley Snowmobile Assoc. • (Bozeman MT) (406) 586-8687 - Located on I90 and Hwy 191, 90 miles North of Yellowstone National Park and home to Montana State University. Renowned for its beautiful scenery and downhome atmosphere. The local club supports two separate trail systems. The Bridger Mountains Trail system is just 15 miles NE of Bozeman and the Gallatin Range is just minutes South of this city. The Gallatin Range is the proud location of the nationally registered historic Big Sky Trail that starts just southwest of town at Little Bear Creek and traverses 123 miles thru the mountains to West Yellowstone, the Snowmobile Capital of the World. Being this close to Yellowstone National Park affords us beautiful scenery and a multitude of snowmobiling opportunities to see, all from the Bozeman area. For a family ride try Buck Cr. Ridge Trail just south of Big Sky or 15 miles further South to Taylor Fork/Carrot Basin. For the more extreme riders try Portal Cr. to Buffalo Horn segment of the Big Sky Trail.

Pinedale Snow Explorers Snowmobile Club • Meetings are held every 1st Wednesday of the month in various locations at 7 p.m. Please contact Mike Carrillo, President, for more information: 307-537-3132.

Sno-Roamers Snowmobile Club • (Swan Valley ID) Sno-Roamers is a nonprofit organization benefiting the Swan Valley, Irwin, and Palisades communities. The Sno-Roamers was established in 1966 by a group of friends in the Swan Valley, Irwin and Palisades area who loved to ride snowmobiles and get together for fun activities such as monthly rides in the winter, pot luck dinners, annual steak fry and an annual Christmas party and the current membership loves to do the same.
There are records going back to 1983 showing that there were 27 members and that the dues were $5.00 for each member or $10.00 for a family. Some familiar area families that were members include the Rolfe’s, Longhurst’s, Drumond’s, Park’s, Taylor’s, Traughber’s, Burnside’s, Jackson’s, Wadsworth’s, Rose’s, Jone’s, Moeller’s, Poole’s and Wilkins. Currently there are 64 members and the dues are $20.00 for each member or $40.00 for a family, which includes the membership to ISSA with our longest members being Linda & Del Wilkins, Chub & Roberta Moeller and Ron Poole. New members are always welcome.

Top of the Rockies Snowmobile Club • (Alpine WY) This club was organized with the intent to bring people together with similar interests, to raise money for community projects and to support family oriented activities.

Targhee Ridge Runners • (Ashton ID) The Targhee Ridgerunners Snowmobile Club was organized in 1968 in Ashton, Idaho. Living in an area that borders Island Park and Yellowstone National Park , we usually have abundant snowfall and a season that runs from late November through March. The Ridgerunners believe that with careful consideration and stewardship toward the environment, wildlife, and personal property, snowmobiling can have a bright future in this area and will be a sport we can enjoy for a lifetime.

Cody Country Snowmobile Association • Remember, numbers are everything when dealing in legislative and environmental matters. As an organized group we can fight to keep our favorite areas free of wilderness and preserve our rights to multiple use lands. The club provides a place for companionship and sharing of fun times, and engages in family outings. We meet the second Tuesday of the month, at 6:30 p.m. at the Cody Search & Rescue Hall, September through April.

Sleddin the Winds = RIVERTON SNO-GOERS - LANDER SNOWDRIFTERS - DUBOIS SNO-KATERS • Snowmobiling is our passion and the Wind River Mountains is our playground. Here you will find information about club events and rides, maps of trails and riding areas, saftey information and links to great snowmobiling websites in Wyoming. Our goal is to help you have the best time and most fun snowmobiling. Don't forget to check out the Wyoming State Snowmobile Association website for more statewide club news and to support the sport of snowmobiling.

Fugowee Snowmobile Club • (Island Park ID) Our meetings are the second Friday of the month at Pond’s Lodge at 7:30pm. Club rides are open and we especially invite members of other clubs to join us.

MountainRiver SnoRiders • (Idaho Falls) Club meetings for 2008 have started. 2nd Tuesday of the month at Papa Toms. 7:30 PM, Come early for social hour, dinner, and drinks with us.