In an effort to attract more members and promote awareness about snowmobiling, the Four Flags Area Snowmobile Club is hosting a trail stop Saturday with free food and hot beverages.

The club will set up at a location two miles north of the Niles city limits off of M-51.

To reach the staging area from M-51, travel east on Burton Road until you reach the train tracks where Burton becomes Korn Road.

Club member Karen Persa said club members would be set up near the train tracks from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m., trail conditions permitting.

“Our hope is to get more people interested in joining the snowmobile club,” Persa said.

Although the club has around 30 members, Persa said the same eight or 10 people end up doing most of the work.

The club has been in existence since 1970 with the purpose of keeping the trail system up and running for the thousands of people who snowmobile in the area each year. The club is responsible for about 50 miles of trails.

Meetings are held on the first and third Thursdays of the month, except during the summer. The next meeting is 7 p.m. March 15 at the Four Flags Area Chamber of Commerce, in the lower level.

The club collects an annual $20 fee from members.

Persa provided the following information about the club and the area’s trail system:

• While trail systems are state funded, maintenance and grooming is the responsibility of each snowmobiling club

• Work is done by members on a volunteer basis

• Landowners are paid $75 per running quarter mile to lease 20-foot wide strips of right of way for snowmobile trails

• Niles trails connect with Edwardsburg and can go as far north as the Watervliet area

• Trails include various restaurants and gasoline stops

• Trail maps are $2 and can be purchased at the Shell gasoline station on South 11th Street in Niles or at the Irish Spartan Pub in Dowagiac on the trail

• Trail permits may be purchased at any snowmobile dealership and at the Marathon Gas Station in Watervliet

• Users are advised to stay on the trail because going off course can cause damage to a farmer’s irrigation system or crops

• The club faces vandalism in the form of the theft of stop signs or trail markers, which can result in accidents

• Snowmobile season begins Dec. 1 — not at first snowfall — and only if trails have been officially marked by that time

• Snowmobile safety classes are offered each year for youth and are designed to allow youth ages 12 to 17 to operate without direct adult supervision

• Snowmobile equipment must be properly registered, and have a current Michigan trail sticker on it

• Adult users must have a valid driver’s license, must not drive intoxicated and follow all the rules of the trails