Silver Bay area makes winter fun a priority

• Northwoods Ski Trail

Skiers from Duluth glide along the Northwoods Ski Trail near Silver Bay in 2008. File photo

Talk about it

The Silver Bay area is home to a variety of winter outdoor adventures. There’s the 100 miles of snowmobile trails. Or the Northwoods Ski Trail system.

The trouble is, not as many people are enjoying the attractions as local boosters would like to see.

That’s where the Silver Bay Area Tourism Association comes in to promote activity in the city and in neighboring areas of Beaver Bay, East Beaver Bay, Finland, Little Marais and Isabella.

The association, along with the AmericInn of Silver Bay, will host a free seminar at the hotel Dec. 4-6 revolving around winter recreation. It’s all an effort to get more tourists to the area in winter.

“Tourism is our second biggest industry,” said George Pope, vice president of the SBATA. He said the mining industry has been good to Silver Bay but it’s been up and down and there is no promise it will be a stronghold forever. “We just wanted to have a second industry to rescue us.”

Pope said the snowmobile and ski trails are ideal but just aren’t getting the use that would be expected in what is a snowbelt in the state.

Mike Giuliano, general manager of the AmericInn and SBATA board member, said there are plans for more seminars during the slow tourism times of the year. Another might come in the spring. “We should be attracting more [tourists] than we do,” he said. “People pass through here on the way to other places.”

Not that Giuliano’s not complaining. “In September, we did as good as we ever did,” he said. The economy has brought things down a bit, he said, but perhaps the thought of staying closer home for vacations has stuck with those from the region.

There will be presentations in the hotel meeting room by people who are well versed in the geography, wildlife, business and other attractions of the region followed by a tour of the area.

People from area state parks, the Superior Hiking Trail Association, and Wolf Ridge Environmental Learning Center will be among the presenters. There will also be an opportunity for organizations to present information.

There will be unstructured time for participants to engage in activities on their own. The hotel will provide late checkouts to those who would like to stay later on Sunday to explore the area.

For more information about the event, call (218) 226-4300. For more on the SBATA, visit www.heartofthe northshore.com.

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