Is Snowmobiling Worth It Anymore In New York?

When you think about New York, many people probably think about mountains, lakes, and cold weather.  So is it worth it to buy a snowmobile when you live there?

We certainly get a lot of snow in New York State.  We even have a trophy that we pass around from city to city called the "Golden Snowball" to the city that registers the most snow that season.  Every year, there are stories from Buffalo about a blizzard that shut the entire city down for a couple of days, and Syracuse just beat another snowfall record.

It seems like the perfect state to own a snowmobile.  But is it?

How much does a snowmobile cost?

When considering if it's worth it to own a snowmobile in New York, you have to first consider how much you'll end up paying to get one.  Snowmobiles can range anywhere from around $1500 used to around $25,000 brand new.  That's just for the sled.  Then you have to figure out how much gas will cost and maintenance.  If you don't plan to ride it around your house and you want to move it somewhere, you'll need a trailer too.  So they're not cheap.

How often can you ride?

Now that we know approximately how much a snowmobile costs, the next question is how often we will be able to use it.  The more you get to use it, the more "worth it" it becomes.  In New York, we used to see measurable snow by November and it would stick around until March or April.

It feels like the last couple of years though, we will get a big storm that will drop a bunch of snow then it's followed up with a bunch of rain that makes the trails unrideable.  As hard as the clubs who maintain the trails work, there's not much you can do with mud.  The snow just doesn't seem to stick around like it used to.

What do snowmobile riders think?

In order to get more perspective, I asked on Facebook if people who owned snowmobiles thought it was worth it.  These were some of their responses:

It can be worth it but it’s what you make of it. I have one and some winters I might ride once, other winters I may ride 3x a week - Tony

 

Need to travel anymore to make it worth it. Nothing is worth the price of the new ones. They’re crazy expensive. - Sandie

 

(We ride) 2-3 times (per year) if we are lucky; certainly not worth buying a new one; but a 10-15 year-old one and enjoy for far less $$ - Brian

See some of the other responses on this post:

It's worth it if you travel

Many people added that there are some great places to travel and ride. If that's something you can afford and have time to do, there's great snowmobiling in the hills of the Adirondacks and even further north into Canada.