What is new for Northwoods Drifter in 2026
On the first Friday of the New Year, the downtown parking lot in Lake Tomahawk looked more like a dealership showcase than a small-town streetscape. Rows of colorful snowmobiles gleamed under the winter sun, their riders packed into trailside bars and restaurants, swapping stories about the morning’s run. For Cory Beldon, up from Waukesha with his father Curt, the scene was unprecedented. “This is the most I’ve ever seen, this amount of sleds,” he marveled. It’s a scene playing out across the Northwoods every winter, but Lake Tomahawk has become something special — a magnet for sledders seeking what many call the best snowmobiling Wisconsin has to offer.
Lake Tomahawk sits at a geographic sweet spot that snowmobilers dream about. The town straddles the intersection of multiple groomed trails, making it a natural hub where riders from across the Midwest converge. Over 400 miles of maintained trails spider out from this Oneida County community, connecting seamlessly to another 900-plus miles throughout the region. It’s not just about quantity — these trails wind through snow-draped forests, alongside frozen lakes, and through terrain that shifts from fast straightaways to technical twists that keep things interesting.
The New-Tom Sno Fleas, a snowmobile club with roots stretching back to 1973, maintains roughly 130 miles of trail connecting Lake Tomahawk to neighboring routes in Oneida and Lincoln Counties. They’re part of a network of volunteer organizations — including the Knight Owls, Northern Trails Unlimited, and Northwoods Passage clubs — that groom trails, clear brush, and keep the system running. These aren’t just recreational paths; they’re community arteries that bring life to the region when temperatures drop.
Curt Beldon has been making the trek to the Northwoods for 15 winters now, and his reason is simple: “It’s just so enjoyable, the scenery and the people. The people in all the bars and restaurants, they’re just down-to-Earth people.” That sentiment echoed through conversations with riders from as far as Des Moines and the Chicago suburbs. Katie Herman, leading a nine-person, three-generation family expedition from her place in St. Germain, summed up the trail conditions with a grin: “Lots of snow on ’em. A few bumps along the road but it’s pretty nice.”
For riders from places with marginal snowmobiling infrastructure, the contrast is stark. Rick Rogers and Vince Payne traveled from Iowa, where limited snowfall means most riding happens in roadside ditches — what they call “ditch-banging.” “Riding in the dangerous ditches, banging side-to-side, missing the culverts, missing the pipeline markers,” Rogers explained with a wry smile. “You know… just going a little risky.” In Lake Tomahawk, those same riders get groomed trails through forested corridors where trees bow under fresh powder, and the only risk is deciding which bar to stop at next.
When snowmobiles pack downtown parking areas along Highway 47 and Bradley Street, local businesses feel the impact immediately. Restaurants fill with riders peeling off layers, comparing GPS tracks, and ordering another round. Lodging from Tomahawk to St. Germain books solid on winter weekends. Even small touches — like the $2 trail maps available through the Tomahawk Chamber of Commerce — add up across a season.
The ripple effects extend beyond cash registers. Snowmobiling creates a rhythm to Northwoods winters, filling the months between ice-fishing opener and spring thaw with activity and energy. As one Iowa rider put it, “It’s a long winter, and if you don’t find some way to enjoy it, you’re going to be miserable.” For communities like Lake Tomahawk, recognized as a Snowmobile-Friendly Community by the Wisconsin Association of Snowmobile Clubs in 2019, that philosophy has become an economic development strategy that works.
The snowmobiling economy runs on one critical fuel: snow. Adequate snowfall and consistent cold separate banner seasons from disappointments, and recent years have tested the resilience of trail systems. Lincoln and Oneida County trails that opened in mid-January 2026 closed shortly after due to insufficient snow cover. Similar closures happened across the region in March 2023, leaving groomed trails exposed to bare ground and rider frustration.
Trail maintenance clubs work within these constraints, grooming when conditions allow and posting updates through 24/7 hotlines (the Tomahawk Chamber’s snowmobile report line runs at 800-569-2160). The volunteer nature of these organizations means they’re nimble but resource-limited, relying on donations, memberships, and sheer dedication to keep trails rideable. When the snow falls and stays, though, the system hums like a well-tuned sled engine.
Jenna Powers made her second trip to Lake Tomahawk from Lake City, Minnesota, this time bringing friends who’d never experienced Northwoods snowmobiling. “I think they’re loving it,” she said. Her friend Katie Yorde appreciated the social dimension: “Getting together with friends, getting away, having a nice trip we can take altogether as a couple, it’s really relaxing.” These stories repeat across parking lots and trailheads — families spanning three generations, couples from southeastern Minnesota, fathers and sons from Waukesha — all discovering that the Northwoods knows something other winter places don’t.
The magic isn’t just the trails or the snow depth. It’s the combination of terrain, hospitality, and a community that genuinely enjoys welcoming visitors. It’s the bartender who knows which trails got groomed that morning, the restaurant server who recommends the scenic loop past frozen lakes, the stranger at the gas pump who warns about a rough section near the county line. That’s the Lake Tomahawk difference, and it’s why riders keep coming back winter after winter, adding another chapter to their family’s snowmobiling story in the Northwoods.
Written by
Mike has been coming up or living in the Northwoods since his childhood. He is also an avid outdoorsman, writer and supper club aficionado.
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