Christmas In New Brunswick
Further setting the holiday mood , some of the trails we rode featured names celebrating winter and holiday classics , like the Comet , Candy Cane , Cupid and North Pole trails .
We felt particularly blessed to enjoy all of this last winter , which featured limited snow in so many areas of the Snowbelt . Yet we found just what we were looking for in New Brunswick , which sits like a cap atop Maine .
Chasing The Snow
Our adventure came to fruition after brainstorming ideas for upcoming trips . As a Connecticut resident and hardcore snowmobiler , I ’ d ridden in most of the usual New England destinations in places like Vermont , New Hampshire , New York and Maine . Staring at a map , New Brunswick seemed to call out to me . Having never been there before , I felt the sudden urge to rectify that situation . But where to in NB ? A quick online search showed New Brunswick ’ s 5,000-mile trail network is divided into eight zones . A downloadable trail app with an interactive map shows which trails are open and also how recently each trail had been groomed .
Choosing our exact destination became rather easy after we realized the Bathurst area on the far northeastern edge of the province was the only region with good snow at the time of our planned adventure .
Next came a check on the rules : Requirements to ride in New Brunswick include having your sled registered in any state or province , proof of liability insurance , a trail pass and a fixed-position left side rearview mirror . Our group opted to utilize the tourism weekend permit : It cost $ 50 Canadian ($ 38 U . S .) to ride February 16-19 – a small price to pay for access to so many great trails .
The drive up from central Connecticut was a little more than 10 hours . Adding to the anticipation was the need to cross an international border and change to a time zone few North Americans know exist ( Atlantic ). Crossing into New Brunswick turned out to be easy , as everybody in our group had a passport or driver ’ s license and birth certificate .
I will admit also being nervous during the drive about the lack of snow I was witnessing . It was unusual to not see snowbanks increasing in size as we ventured further north . What sort of adventure was I taking my crew on ? But after many moose sightings later , we arrived at our hotel , the Atlantic Host .
The Atlantic Host was a true snowmobiler ’ s hotel . It featured plenty of trailer parking and two lockable sled areas – one being a first-come , first-park indoor heated area where visitors can work on their sleds ( more on this later ), the second was an outdoor gated corral . The hotel featured a full-service restaurant with overflow seating in the bar area as well as an indoor pool , hot tub and exercise room .
After checking in , we headed down for some food . It was promising seeing and hearing from other snowmobiles who had been out riding . They talked about a mixed bag of conditions , with the most common theme being about how they hadn ’ t seen a winter like this in years . But still , these people were out riding while most North American snowmobilers weren ’ t .
The Atlantic Host ( top right ) seemed like it is custom-made for traveling snowmobilers . We made use of its heated parking area to fix a problem .
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