Cupar, Saskatchewan, is located about one hour northeast of Regina. A dozen or so active members of the Cupar Snowmobile Club—Cub 303 according to the Saskatchewan Snowmobile Association—maintain the club’s four shelters and 150 kilometres of beautiful trails.
The Cupar club has existed for about 15 years and has been grooming trails for eight of those years. Terry Lipinski, president of the Cupar Snowmobile Club, said that a lot of the trail mileage goes through coulees, over creeks and through bush, so there’s lots of riding variety.
The trail network
The portion of Trail 303A that extends south from Dysart was built in 2012. Lipinski said it’s a curvy trail that will take you to sloughs with lots of snow just waiting to be carved up. The creeks in the trail system are shallow, so they freeze early and are easy to cross. Lipinski said that last year the Cupar area had four feet of powder in the creek beds—he described it as mountain-style snow—where sledders could get stuck as much as they wanted.
The trails north of Cupar run on summer roads that get a lot of snow on them. They also go through fields and bushland, with creeks to cross.
“We do have some flat, treeless land in the south area,” Lipinski said. “The trails are all double-marked with marker stakes, and at night they look like a landing strip.”
The club posts weekly online reports that inform sledders of the condition of the trails and any hazards. Lipinski said that there is good directional and hazard signage and, if necessary, the trails can be rerouted for safety. To the south and east, the Cupar club's trails meet the trails of the Fort Qu’Appelle and Dysart clubs.
Sledders' hangouts
For visiting sledders, hotel and motel accommodation is available in Regina and Fort Qu’Appelle. Cupar has two restaurants—Robinson Country Cookhouse and the Cupar Hotel restaurant—and nearby Southey has the Southey Homestead Restaurant and the Southey Hotel restaurant. Lipinski said that the T&T Tavern in Dysart also serves good food.
