Courtesy Top of the Lake Snowmobile Museum
Top of the Lake Snowmobile Museum Expands
The Top of the Lake Snowmobile Museum in Naubinway houses the history of snowmobiles.
Slednerds and slednecks can find snowmobile history heaven in Naubinway at the Top of the Lake Snowmobile Museum.
Museum Chairman Charlie Vallier promises you can see one-of-a-kind, one-of-two-made and even a one-of-eight-made sleds, along with the history of the snowmobile in a nutshell.
Courtesy Top of the Lake Snowmobile Museum
Top of the Lake Snowmobile Museum Expands
A 1985 Russian Buran.
And by Christmas, there will be even more to see, thanks to completion of a 36-by-76-foot building addition that will bring the number of displays to 180 unique and prototype sleds stretching back decades.
The addition will mostly accommodate 33 snowmobiles donated by the J.A. Bombardier Museum in Valcourt, Quebec. Valcourt is where Bombardier, considered an originator of the snowmobile, makes its sleds. The museum there was changing displays to feature only company products and wanted to give away its Polaris, Arctic Cat and other “oddball stuff,” Charlie explains. Top of the Lake was more than happy to receive them.
Among the sleds gifted to the museum are a 1985 Russian Buran model made by Russkaya Mekhanika or “Russian Mechanics,” which does snowmobiles and ATVs, and a Finncat made in Finland by Finncat Vehicles. In all, there are sleds from five countries besides the United States and Canada. Also new to the museum is a library of snowmobiling books and manuals.
Courtesy Top of the Lake Snowmobile Museum
Top of the Lake Snowmobile Museum Expands
A Finncat from Finland.
Top of the Lake Snowmobile Museum, which opened in 2007, is not just about history, displays and memorabilia. It sponsors vintage snowmobile events, including the Snowmobile Show & Ride in February, that will draw several hundred people.
A few years ago, it started a February ride to Mackinac Island along a 2- to 3-mile “ice bridge” route marked by a line of Christmas trees. In 2016, conditions weren’t cold enough to produce the required ice, but Charlie says everyone has fingers crossed for a deep freeze in 2017. Vintage snowmobile enthusiasts also hope to gain approval for a one-day Mackinac Bridge crossing, similar to annual events that allow walking, jogging and even driving tractors over the bridge.
It all makes this winter a great time for a trip through snowmobile time at Top of the Lake.