The Nepisiguit Snowmobile Club           Club #1

    The Nepisiguit Snowmobile Club is located just south of Bathurst in the community of Nepisiguit Falls overlooking the Nepisiguit River.   
  
                                                                     
    The lodge is conveniently located at the junction of trail 23 and 52 and is accessible by vehicle offering both food and gas daily throughout the winter. The club, which is the oldest snowmobile club in the province, has  the second largest membership in New Brunswick with 610 registered last season (579 for 2008/9) with a strong Nova Scotia and PEI contingent and maintains a trail system just over 400 kilometers in length. The club has over 400 members from Bathurst and different parts of N.B. and over 200 from out of province who regularly travel to Bathurst throughout the winter to enjoy the abundance of snow and the superb trail system. We take pride in ourselves to offer one of the most friendly atmospheres in the system and tourists just love the product that our club puts out.

      The club has two Lamtrac 4000 trail groomers, which will be upgraded to new Lamtrac 5400 units this year, with 10 by 18 foot drags that are continuously grooming the system throughout the winter from as early as the first sufficient snowfall to around Dec 15  through to April. The 08/09 season was good one in that we had upwards of 8 feet total snowfall and we groomed in access of 1600 hours for the club, 400 hours less than our record of last year. The 1600 hours groomed was again the most in the Province, about 600 hours more than the second club.                                                                    .
       Our club employs 7-10 employees each winter in order to provide a level of service that can meet the expectations of our members and guests. This requires a tremendous amount of work from our volunteers who work very hard to keep the system signed, trimmed and safe as best we can. Also, in order to meet financial requirements of servicing this system our club must raise additional funds beyond the trail permits fees. We do this through special events such as our Wednesday night lodge suppers which are hosted and sponsored by many of our local business leaders who recognize the importance of the industry to the Bathurst area.

           "Bathurst is the Snowmobile Capital Of Atlantic Canada" 

      Begin your “Snowmobiling Odyssey” by dropping off in Bathurst and blaze a trail through the northern section of the Province and tour your way through the Acadian Peninsula, Campbellton, Edmundston, and the Miramichi. Together, these communities offer you continuous loops where you rarely have to retrace your steps. Believe us, it’s a genuine snowmobile rush… a White Gold Rush!
      With an average temperature of –5.2 C, an average snowfall of 400 cm and well over 3000 km of well groomed trails and add in the Appalachian Range, and then this area really has the best "snowmobiling experience" New Brunswick has to offer. 

      From the typically deep snowfalls are carved some of the best snowmobile trails you will find anywhere. The trail system leading from Bathurst to the Apalachian Range  
                                                      
                                                       Apalachian Range between Trail 19 & Trail23
further inland towards the center of the province is continually being shaped with the latest grooming equipment on the market. This to ensure that all members and guests of the Bathurst area system are treated to the safest and best trails we can offer. There are also excellent oportunities to ride off trail especially above Popple Depot in The Christmas Mountains, but is only recomended with people that know the area.

     Convenient lodges are located throughout the system to provide essential services to the snowmobilers and their machines. Additional shelters are also strategically located along the system to offer rest stops and a chance to warm up on those extremely cold days.

    The Bathurst and area clubs pride themselves in offering the best signage possible so that sledders can relax and enjoy their trip knowing to where they are travelling with confidence. All major intersections are dressed with detailed signs and even maps indicating the distance in kilometers to major destinations.

     Over the years the annual membership has kept pace in the Bathurst area because of the support of the out of town snowmobilers. These people recognize the importance of buying their annual trail permit "where they ride" as this is the only way the necessary revenue can be obtained to continue the level of trail maintenance required to offer the best. Most of the out of town members are actually out of province and are from PEI, Nova Scotia, Ontario, Quebec, and the New England States. Even with the support of these members the volunteers of the local clubs must find other fund raising sources to cover the heavy costs incurred keeping the trail system in place. In the case of the Nepisiguit Snowmobile Club of Bathurst, they have several fund raising suppers at their lodge throughout the winter to raise additional revenue. Additionally, they have an annual fun rally which includes a cash poker hand along with games and loads of prizes, plus they have the extremely popular Dannyburger Run
which is a hit with snowmobilers across the area. These events help to offset the increased costs each year as government support for the industry had fallen off prior to 2006, but has shown extremely more interest from 06/07 as it finally recognizes the tourism impact that snowmobiling has for NB.

    One of the main attractions to the Bathurst area has been the special accomodation packages that are available from all the hotels. Typically, you will find room rates at 50% less than rates in some of the other larger cities in the province. As well, our level of service to our guests is recognized everywhere as nothing but first class. Everyone is welcome in the Bathurst area and we want your stay here to be a memorable experience. 

  One of the icons of the Bathurst trail system is Governors Wilderness Lodge at Popple Depot on Trail 23 at the end of        
famous "Piston Alley".      
                                                         
Gas, food, and Lodging are available seven days a week at this location so sledders can move throughout the northern part of the province in confidence. This essential location ensures that sledders can top up with gas and continue to their next stop with ease. The owner is a Bathurst resident who has pledged to work with the snowmobile clubs to ensure this operation is a success for everyone now and into the future. This lodge is a must to see for any out doors person. Constructed from huge diameter logs from the region it is a most impressive site and is now conveniently located right on the main trail at Popple. We also have two more private lodges on Trail 23, they being
Serpentine Lodge with all the ammenities and new in 2009 was the construction of Roger's Lake Camp. Check these locations on our "Links of Interest".

       If you have never been to Bathurst during the winter you are missing an experience you will remember for a long time. For your convenience just visit the bathursttrails.com website for a complete information package on snowmobiling in Bathurst.