26 FALL 2021 ISSUE 01 / VOL . 03
SNOWGOER . COM 27
With wide , sweeping trails that take riders over a particularly dynamic landscape , the area north of Hayward , Wisconsin , near the town of Cable has long been a yeararound vacation destination . Its ties to snowmobiling history run deep , but that ’ s not the main reason for our visit there one recent winter .
Instead , the Cable area was one of the few Upper Midwestern locations that had snow in that particularly arid season . Yes , the Upper Peninsula of
Michigan had a patch , but that was under attack on a daily basis by thousands of snowmobilers who were packed atop one another in the tiny hotel rooms and cabins around Lake Gogebic . We spent some enjoyable time there ourselves , but when we heard Cable had snow ? Well , we hardly got boots on both feet before we were outside loading sleds .
Going to the Cable-Hayward area was like a return to our snowmobiling roots . In the 1980s and ’ 90s in particular , it seemed to be the center of the snowmobiling universe . We remember ending our days inside the spacious tavern at the Lakewoods Resort on Lake Namakagon . On weekend nights , it was always packed , and always friendly . Riders from near and far rubbed shoulders and swapped stories with snowmobile factory officials , dealership owners and others in the industry . Looking out the huge picture windows , one could see an almost constant stream of headlights funneling down into the southwest bay of the lake and up onto the lawn at the Lakewoods .