There are two great signs welcoming folks to Whitecourt: “The Snowmobile Capital of North America” and “Where Even the Rivers Meet.”
During the winter months as my son was growing, on average we spent one day every weekend in the Whitecourt area.
Myself, my wife Judy, our daughter Jodi and son-in-law Kirby Millar headed to Whitecourt for a family adventure. The town has grown a lot and was bustling when we got there.
I have ridden the Golden Triangle and many portions of it for many years now and decided on something different. We all agreed on an adventure and I decided this time we would head off into the bush, without the benefit of groomed trails. We were not to be disappointed. We went into the Virginia Hills area, a place I have ridden before.
To find Virginia Hills, drive westerly on Highway 43 for 39.6 kilometres from the Tim Hortons in town. At the 39.6-kilometre mark there is a large sign for Virginia Hills and a right turn. You will travel 17.9 kilometres north on this road to the Virginia Hills heli-pad on the west side of the road. There is a plowed parking area there with lots of room. Be cautious on this road—there may be logging trucks and/or oil industry service vehicles.
We unloaded, I set the GPS and off we went in a westerly direction. The powder seemed bottomless as evidenced when most of us were stuck a stone’s throw from the truck. It was decided that I would break trail and off we went again. The area is vast—there are countless cut lines, trails and unplowed roads. Try as we may, we could not track up all the powder. Virginia Hills, as the name implies, has many rolling hills, it is heavily forested and after living in the city, the scenery was very refreshing. We managed 40 kilometres of good riding on virgin powder and were pleasantly tired when we got back to the truck.
The town of Whitecourt is an easy drive from the Edmonton area, and Highway 43 is twinned all the way. Whitecourt is a full-service community with everything you need before or after a great day in the outdoors. We stopped for fuel and a great dinner at one of the local restaurants, then headed home.
Thank you to Art, Tony and all the staff at Riverside Honda and Ski-Doo in St. Albert. Riverside is a full-service snowmobile and ATV dealership. They, too, know sledding is all about family and the outdoors.
I am an avid mountain sledder and my heart goes out to the families who have suffered a loss as a result of avalanches this winter.
