Snowmobilers ‘ecstatic’ to get back on the trails following several down years

After years of almost no local snowmobiling, trails are open across Ontario. CTV London's Scott Miller with the details.

It’s going to be a busy weekend on Ontario’s snowmobile trails. Weeks of snow and frigid cold have laid the groundwork for smooth snowmobile trails all the way from Ilderton to Owen Sound.

“It’s all green. The trails are green. I haven’t seen that in probably eight or nine years, this amount of open trails. So it’s good to see everybody getting out,” said Adam Byer, of Milverton, who was riding near Blyth with his son Cole Friday.

Green means an open trail on the Ontario Federation of Snowmobile Club’s trail map. Byer is right, it’s been several winters without this amount of open trails across southern and midwestern Ontario, and snowmobilers are taking advantage of it.

“It’s been definitely a couple of years since we could ride this close to home. I’m from the Norwich area, so you know, an hour drive up is not that bad versus having to head up north every year. Even the conditions up there the last couple of years weren’t that good. So, this is, this is top notch. We’re having a great day,” said Caleb, who is riding the trails near Blyth with his dad and brother.

Nearly half of Ontario’s 30,000 kilometres of snowmobile trails are ready for riding as of Friday, with more expected to fully open this weekend. It’s a far cry from the last two winters specifically, where there was almost no snowmobiling in southern or midwestern Ontario due to a lack of snow and cold enough temperatures.

“We’ve been snowmobiling in Quebec and New Brunswick, because we just haven’t had that local snow in the last bunch of years. So it’s just great to be close to home. We left from near Waterloo this morning up into Blyth, and it’s just awesome. Lots of happy people. Lots of smiles out on the trail,” said Hendrick, who travelled from Otterville to hit the trails near Blyth.

The return of snowmobilers is a welcome sight for restaurants and gas stations along the trails, too. Snowmobiling is big business in Ontario, spreading nearly $1 billion in economic impact across rural Ontario.

“We haven’t seen this much snow in years. Usually, we have to go farther north or out east. It’s nice to be able to stay within our province and hit the trails,” said Luke from Otterville.

With more snow in the forecast next week, and no “big melt” in the near forecast, Ontario snowmobilers may not just have a good season, they may get a long season too.

“It’s great. You know, it’s been years since we’ve been able to get out here. It’s probably at least five or six years since we’ve been able to come up. We come up from Milverton, and it’s just smooth riding all the way up here,” said Byer.