Michigan Trail Report


Grayling Trail Report – Fay’s Motel – 11/20

Greetings Idled Sledders,

Beings that the ground is white from this little burst of pre-winter weather related energy that we received yesterday, it’s probably time for me to open up this digressive, often times parenthetical, diatribe called Fay’s Motel Trail Report.

For those of you that are new to this thing, hang in there some of what I write will eventually make some sense. Also for you newbie’s we are Keith and Sandy and we are the owners of Fay’s Motel located a short mile and a half North of Grayling. You can park and ride from our facility, the groomers are parked here and I manage the trails in the Grayling area for the AuSable Valley Snowmobile Assoc.
Something that you all can take to the bank is that this report is accurate and above all else honest, has been for the last 16 years and there’s no reason to change that now.

OKAY, we got all of that junk out of the way, what do you want to talk about now?

Let’s talk trails:

Trails # 487 and 489 near Grayling are gone, dead, kaput. These were located east of I-75 at 4 mile road, south of Grayling. To access those trails most folks crossed the I-75 overpass near the truck stop at 4 mile, this is where the Super 8 is located. The trail going north out of the parking lot at said truck stop, where the Super 8 is located is NOT affected by this action. The trails impacted by this move were seldom used and didn’t really connect to other trails. Don’t get me wrong the loss of any trail is not good and I’m not trying to minimize this at all. The bottom line here is please don’t venture across the 4 mile bridge as there is nothing left on the other side.

We’ve also been told that the the connector from Mancelona to the Starvation Lake area is no longer with us. Don’t know anything about that situation other than we’re told it’s shutdown.

Here’s a little tidbit of info to think about while you’re getting ready for the up coming season. We too have been getting ready for the season, to date we are approaching 400 man hours devoted to brushing, signing, and grading the trail system, and I plan on another two full days of dragging when we get closer to freeze up and the traffic has subsided a bit.

Please keep in mind that we are un-paid volunteers and a thumb’s up when you see the guys on the trails is greatly appreciated.

For those of you who are wondering about the sale of Fay’s, nothing has happened and I doubt that any activity will take place during the Winter months. So you can look forward to our smiling mugs for yet another season.

That said, we decided to jump on board with the latest in social media technology and be the first on our block to create a Face book page. I know what you’re thinking, way to go Keith and Sandy, getting right out there ahead of the curve and pouncing on a new means of communicating. I’ve been told that the report will be posted and available on this new media. But then again what do I know I just write the damn thing, what happens after that is out of my hands.

Yes we have snow on the ground and more than likely it will stick around for Thanksgiving. Is this a sign of good things to come? Not necessarily although we are cautiously optimistic.

There are a number of other topics that I could touch upon like trail permits and the state of the program as I see it and so on but I feel that I’ve taken up enough of your time as is, so I’ll sign off and you can expect another, somewhat shorter report when conditions warrant.

Ride Often and Please Be Safe,
Keith, Sandy and The Girls
Girl if you don’t count the cat. We’re unfortunately down to one dog left.

At Fay’s Motel enjoy direct access to the Grayling Area snowmobile trails.

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