The Coldbrook Snowmobile club was founded in 1997 by Dean Zuppio and a few of his friends in Barre, Ma. It was a grass roots effort to stimulate and promote snowmobiling as a safe & fun – family winter recreation. Since that time we have grown to be the largest club in the state. The Spencer Snowbirds club is the club directly to our south. The snowbirds are the club that our trail system joins up with in the southern section of our system. The Ware River Snowmobile Club is the club to our West.They meet up with our system behind the Barre dump.
Snowmobiling was extensive in this area in the mid seventies and then faded off. Since the start of our club we have reclaimed many of the grown in trails and cart roads in our area. We work with local, state, federal, and private landowners in our trail system. Making sure that the trails are safe and well marked. We have installed many gates in our trail system in the past years, these gates were part of a SYMMS project where we do work and are reimbursed. We have used these monies to purchase grooming equipment for the club.
We groom and maintain over 120 miles of trails that start in Oakham Ma. and extends into NH. This is where we meet up with the Sno-Moles club and from there the trails go to Keene NH. and beyond. We are responsible for the upkeep of the trail systems in Lake Dennison , Rutland State Forest and the Ware River Rail trail. These trails are located on DCR (Department of Conservation & Recreation) land. We work with these agencies and we provide a valuable resource for the state parks themselves. Most of our trails are on these properties and in being there no alcohol is allowed at any time. There is also a lot of private land in our trail system. While a SAM sticker is not required for State or Public land it is required for private land.
We have a seventy five foot seasonal bridge over the Otter River in Baldwinville. It is on Army Corps of Engineers land, they require us to put the bridge over the river at the beginning of the season and remove it at the end of the season each year. This bridge was needed to keep the snowmobile traffic from going down the side of the road and through the center of Baldwinville. Click on this link to check out the video of how we put the bridge in!!
We have won numerous awards from SAM. (Snowmobile Association of Massachusetts ) for our participation and our efforts. We were awarded the snowmobile club of the year award for Massachusetts, three times. Our members have received, Jr. Snowmobiler of the year four times, snowmobiler of the year two times, groomer operator of the year, and family of the year two times. Just this year one of our members was awarded 2011 Jr Snowmobiler of the year.
Our club continually strives to update our trail system and grooming potential. As with most clubs in Massachusetts we operate on a volunteer basis and we receive no financial support from the state. We try our best to maintain a well groomed well marked trail system for riders of all abilities. Lake Dennison offers many miles of wide flat trails for all to enjoy from the novice to the seasoned rider. We also have restaurants and gas, as well as convenient stopping places on our trail system. There is some great parking areas too.
So whether you are a seasoned veteran or a beginner, our trails have what you are looking for.