A 15-year effort to connect two sections of New Hampshire’s enormous web of snowmobile trails is finally coming to fruition because the trail has been given the OK to run alongside I-89 in Sutton.
“You have to go almost 25 miles north of this to cross over, or 20 miles south to cross under the interstate,” said Tom Schamberg, a state representative for Sutton and Wilmot. He introduced a bill last year (HB513) that authorized the state to give a right-of-way use agreement for a mile along I-89 starting at New Hampshire Route 114.
When completed, the connection will give riders from Warner and other points east quicker access to snowmobile trail 390, which connects to Newbury, Bradford, Sunapee and points west.
New Hampshire has almost 7,000 miles of snowmobile trails that have been developed over decades. About two-thirds are on private land and maintained by local snowmobile clubs, while trails on state land are maintained by the Bureau of Trails.
The dependence on private land makes the trail network possible, but it also makes it vulnerable because landowners can deny access if they think the trail is causing problems from noise, trash or other issues.
That’s what happened in Sutton, Schamberg said. Some 15 years ago, a landowner decided the trail couldn’t run on their property anymore, breaking a connection.
The key to restoring it was being allowed to run a mile of the trail inside the right-of-way for the interstate highway, where normally no non-automotive traffic is allowed. Although Interstate 89 is a federal highway, the state owns the land and maintains it.
“It was a good cooperation project between them,” said Shamberg.
Snowmobiling is a big part of the state’s winter recreation scene. A UNH study once put the annual economic impact of snowmobiling in the state at more than $360 million, including more than $1 million in registration fees.
As for Shamberg, he won’t benefit from the connection because he doesn’t snowmobile.
“There are things I learn in this job,” he said of being a state representative. “I didn’t know anything about snowmobiles.”
