The Sno*Drift Rally

Every winter, the quiet forest roads around Atlanta turn into a racetrack. The Sno*Drift Rally is one of the best-known stops on the American rally circuit — the kind of race where drivers slide purpose-built cars sideways down narrow, snow-and-ice-covered gravel roads at high speed, guided by a co-driver reading off the turns. Its roots go back to 1973, and in its current form it has been run here in Montmorency County since the late 1990s, kicking off the national rally season each year and drawing forty or fifty teams from across the United States and Canada.

What makes Sno*Drift special is the cold. It’s the only winter event on the national schedule, and because Michigan law won’t allow studded tires, the drivers have to handle sheer ice with ordinary rally tires — which racers consider one of the toughest challenges in the sport. The whole rally runs on roads within this one county, looping through the forests around Atlanta, Hillman, and Lewiston.

For residents, it’s a highlight of the long northern winter. You don’t need a ticket — spectator spots are set up around the county, and you can get close enough to feel the cars roar past and watch them vanish into a cloud of snow. You can find dates and viewing locations at sno-drift.org.