Please snowmobile responsibly!
 

I am very glad that we are having a good winter from a snow perspective.

Unfortunately, it has not been a great year with multiple negative interactions between snowmobilers and the landowners who allow us to traverse their properties. We have been served notice that our trail out of Kona Forest onto Morrill Drive will not be allowed any longer due to people not stopping at our stop signs and speeding on the road (that is going to be a fun reroute to pull off). We also have a landowner on the other side of town who was leading a group of horseback riders on HER trails when a group of sleds raced by them creating a bad situation. This type of behavior needs to stop.

I volunteer for the snowmobile club because I believe that it helps our town's businesses and people prosper, but I have a "real" job too. Neither I or my fellow volunteers have the time to run around town posting yet more signs that some people will ignore, regardless of the quantity posted! I can find better things to do with my time.

Stay on the trail or stay home and realize that the person who you irritate (or flip off) may be the landowner whom will shut us down.

Thank you to the majority that snowmobile responsibly!

Regards,

John Harrington President, MSC

Kona trail
 

Hello
We just found trail junction 26
To junction 54 to bran bay this weeekend
It this that trail that is closing
on map it says Kona trail
That will be a big loss in that area
To bad riders can't obey signs

Dave

Trail closing
 

Here is the location that will be closed.

Kona trail
 

Well that's unfortunate it's going to close in that area
I have friends who live right there in Braun Bay and I visit them from ash cove looks like have to take the lake all the way was that section part of the old Kona loop trail
I will be joining the moultonborough club next year as I am new to the area and would like to help to re route the trail if possible I'm sure all of owners in 2 the coves their will lose trail access also
I will keep looking on MSC site for info
Thanks

Nothing is more frustrating than closed trails. I'm down in Tuftonboro and it's frustrating with the section of 26 closed to the Castle lot. We also have a trail behind 19 mile bay the cuts down to lang pond road and mirror lake closed. Really puts a crimp in access. I don't get these knuckleheads that don't stay the trails. Why is it so hard too abide by the rules.

Boats too...
 

Same as boating on Winnipesaukee. Most, mostly, follow the "rules". Some don't, sometimes egregiously so. And Winni has some enforcement. Trails not so much. Willfullness, ignorance, & selfishness are common enough in any population but especially distasteful when a few ruin it for the many. This is why we can't have nice things?

Clever :(

Most important, don't ride under the influence of alcohol or drugs!

It is amazing. We humans are our own worst enemy. How much control of our lives by government and other enforcement agencies could we eliminate if we only knew how to behave and respect the rights and property of others.

AMEN, whalebackpoint'r!!!! Nicely said!

Laws are made for law breakers, and there are plenty of them.

Hate to say it but there are always going to be meatheads out there on the trails. Unfortunately no matter the tireless efforts of the clubs to hammer respect for the property they are privileged to ride on and enjoy, there are those who feel they have a "right" because they bought a registration.

We drove by a snowmobile trail the other day that had trail marker poles marking the trail, similar to the markers on Kingswood Golf Course. There were multiple tracks where one or more operators decided to use those poles as a slalom course, weaving in and out of the poles. Just another example how the actions of a few can make access more and more difficult to obtain by the local clubs.
Invariably, when a landowner has had enough disrespect for the property and closes it down, it creates a "you can't get there from here".

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Unfortunately true but it seems to me like there are more disrespectful people in the snowmobile community than any of the other winter / summer activities I am involved with. And before anyone starts piling up on me for making this comment, I am an AVID snowmobile enthusiasts who puts thousands of miles on my sled every year. I see what happens on and off the trails first hand...Maybe it's the large age group that snowmobiling attracts?...I don't know, but I do know that trailside drinking, littering, off trail antics, disrespect of people's property, unnecessary noise are all serious problems affecting this sport and it is not just a select few...

Dan

Can't argue that one. You also make another great point here too, a huge portion of the population can't possibly be having fun unless there is a drink in their hand. Pretty sad IMHO.

Given the reality you reference combined with the fact that landowners are closing more and more land how long do you think it will be before snowmobiling in the Lakes Region isn't practical? Maybe I'm being too pessimistic but with heavy development occurring in the area in conjunction with land closures it just seems like re-routing trails will become impossible in the not too distant future.

While I agree with a lot of the comments above I'm not sure the same amount of deviations you see from common sense and the law while snowmobiling don't exist on the lake any Saturday or Sunday during the summer. Plenty of intoxicated boaters, plenty of trash and beer cans floating in the lake, plenty of reckless boaters operating at speeds over the limit and plenty of jet skiers doing plenty of illegal things similar to the problem people on sleds. No doubt I agree with comments above but it's not limited to snowmobiles. The older generation by in large, self included, were taught right from wrong and when you wronged you were punished for it. That doesn't happen much anymore.

Almost always, when I'm with my children and I hear/see something offensive--swearing, overly loud music, blatant littering or rudeness, etc.--it's an older midlife crisis dude.

Almost always.

Younger people see my kids and usually do the right thing. Because I've got two impressionable-age kiddos, I'm very attuned to this stuff, and I recall very, very few exceptions to above.

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Come join me on my commute to work each day in and out of Boston 3 plus hours a day and ride the subway system. You'll change your mind pretty quick.

Yesterday, Is This Responsible? Not!
 

I said it before and I'll say it again.....

I am not sure that I agree with that. I think the boating community (yes I am one of them) can be just as bad.
The big difference is that when a snowmobiler is "bad", there is long-lasting evidence of that behavior. For example, when one rides off-trail. If a boat does not give right of way for example, there is no visual evidence except to the offended boat.
Another example is say trash on the trail. We are confident that it was left by a snowmobiler, but you don't know for sure it was left by a hiker or mountain biker. If you see trash floating in the lake, sure it looks bad for boaters. But you don't know if it was from someone in a canoe, or someone sitting on a dock, or if it blew into the lake from someones shore front property.

Overall, snowmobilers look worse because you can directly visually see what they have done wrong. The latest facebook video makes a lot of people look bad, including the snowmobiler as well as the skier. But who was operating illegally? Yes, it was the snowmobiler.