Support the Crow Wing County Snowmobile Trails

For the 16th year, the Brainerd Lakes Chamber is helping to coordinate a fundraising event to defray the costs of grooming and maintaining snowmobile trails in our area. We have 875 miles of grant-in-aid trails, which happen to be some of the most heavily used trails in the state. According to the DNR, there are over 10,000 registered snowmobiles in the Brainerd Lakes Area. Another 3,000 snowmobiles are registered in nearby counties and primarily use our trails. It’s expensive and important to maintain, groom and keep legible signs on all of our trails in order to keep people coming back to our area year after year.

To help meet this years anticipated $500,000 in maintenance expenses, a special fundraising event has been planned. A buffet dinner starting at 1 p.m. on Sunday, January 9, 2011 will take place at the Old Waterfall, 18512 Highway 371, Brainerd, MN 56401 Drawings will start at 3 p.m. Grand Prize: Ski Doo 600 Etec Adrenaline, 1st Prize: Suzuki King Quad 400, 2nd Prize: Aluma 8x10 Aluminum Trailer, 3rd Prize: Log Furniture Bedroom Set. Dinner tickets are $12.50 per person. Additional donations will also be accepted.

The goal of this event is raise $30,000 for grooming efforts. Even with minimal snowfall, the association must pay for groomers and other equipment, insurance and trail items such as signs, posts, culverts and bridges. They raise money through a combination of state funds, charitable gambling, the sale of snowmobile map ads and raffle tickets and events such as fun runs and radar runs. Dues and the Community Sponsorship Program make up the difference.

One example of the efforts the Crow Wing County Snowmobile Association has put forth to better our trail system is the GPS (Global Positioning System) mile markers that have been installed throughout the Lakes Area. This has been added to the Sheriff Departments 911 dispatch system. This new GPS system will aid in safer travel on our snowmobile trails throughout the area. This years map will depict the markers for this new GPS system.

You can join in by becoming a Gold, Silver or Bronze Sponsor:
$300 Gold Sponsorship: Receive 24 tickets to the buffet dinner, recognition in the local media and a membership certificate.
$200 Silver Sponsorship: Receive 16 tickets to the buffet dinner, recognition in the local media and a membership certificate.
$100 Bronze Sponsorship: Receive 8 tickets to the buffet dinner, recognition in the local media and a membership certificate.

Snowmobiling is an important economic benefit to our community and your support of this event is greatly appreciated. A special thanks to the following sponsors for their tremendous support over the past year: Gold Level Sponsors ($5,000+): Brothers Motorsports; Bronze Level Sponsors ($1,000+): Forest Log Furniture, Cragun’s and Power Lodge

For more inforamtion contact Holly at the Brianerd Lakes Chamber or mail a check to: Brainerd Lakes Chamber Welcome Center, 7393 State Highway 371, Baxter, MN 56425.

For trail conditions in the Brainerd Lakes Area bookmark this page.

Gretchen Ennis
Tourism Director
Phone (218) 822-7118
gennis@explorebrainerdlakes.com