River Ride St. Charles to Bay City
BY ANN DRZEWIECKI
primary drop off point, filled many weekends with trucks and trailers as riders race up and down between the bridges or take off for a ride to Saginaw. Later in the day many will ride their sleds up from the river, park and eat at the Bad River Bar and Grill, Tony’s or Subway and enjoy some warm drinks and delicious food. The Bad River Bar and Grill is a favorite among locals and once inside you will see it is decorated with snowmobile and motorcycle parts and memorabilia. Riders can drive their sleds right up to the side parking lot and come in and warm up and enjoy a hot meal before departing on their next leg
T of the ride. Tony’s “The Home of the Steak Sandwich” has been a long-time establishment in St. Charles and is open all day to start you off on your journey with a home cooked meal. The Alley Bar and Grill is just down a-ways from the river, but none the less has great service and delicious warm food to enjoy after a long day on the river. Have a break down and need some parts? Horger’s Automotive is located right by the river and has many parts in stock to get that sled running in continued on page 30
his picture makes me wish the snow was falling and the water ways were turning to deep ice! Won’t be long and this river run will be one more option for snowmobiling fun. As you can tell from the photo, not one of the sleds on this adventure is new or even nearly new, but well maintained. So this photo got us dreaming at the Michigan Snowmobile & ORV office that we should do a feature on good ideas for maintenance and attempting to prevent breakdowns on the trail. Just as a sneak hint, keep watching our instagram account and facebook page for more info from one of our new sponsors. But back to this amazing river ride. This group left from one of the rider’s back yards. But for most of us the St. Charles DNR office located at 225 E. Spruce Street very near to downtown St. Charles, MI is an equally great spot. The DNR lot has plenty of parking for vehicles with trailers and a nice spot to go from
shore to river using the boat ramp. Obviously, this group waited until the ice is at least 12 inches thick. And when river riding it’s always advisable to stay away from any objects in the water like buoys that can weaken ice. However, if you respect the water/ ice, this can be a great adventure to enjoy with your sled. Just like in this photo, our group made a few stops along the way. Most of the riders in this group, grew up along this river and they tend to stop in areas they know are a bit more shallow versus the deeper portions of the river. After leaving the St. Charles area it takes about 40 minutes to reach Saginaw, then another 40 minutes to reach Bay City, most of this entire ride offers many options for food, drinks and rest stops all along the ride. The river also changes names along the way. Our group started on the Bad River which changes into the Shiawassee River within about 6 miles of the DNR office. Then eventually continued on page 30
MICHIGAN SNOWMOBILER + ORV • SEPTEMBER • 2021
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