Reports Archive - Page 224 of 627

Trail Report – : Ely, Minnesota – February 25, 2021

Reporter:Ely Chamber of Commerce/Explore MN Visitor Center

Trail Conditions: Fair

Snow Cover: 8-18″

Date of Report: February 25, 2021

Area Report:

GENERAL INFORMATION: With the warm weather, high snowmobile traffic, and little snowfall over the last week, the trail base has taken a hit. Also, due to the warm temperatures and thin base, grooming is suspended until we get more snow.

There is active logging happening on a number of spots throughout the Grant-in-Aid and State Trail system, especially as you go further north toward Orr and International Falls. Please slow down and give trucks and logging equipment space. No Motorized Vehicles other than snowmobiles are allowed on State Trails or Grant-in-Aid snowmobile trails.

There is also a section of the Arrowhead State Trail closed between Hwy 53 (SE of Ericsburg) and the Hagerman Grant-in-Aid trail while the Rat Root River bridge is being replaced, so watch for trail reroute.

Area Trails:

Grooming on the Tomahawk trail is currently suspended due to warm weather. There is not enough base to groom, but the trail is still in fair shape and can be ridden with caution. Some spots are rough. The lake portages will still be groomed if the morning temps drop enough. More snow is needed before grooming operations resume.

Arrowhead State Trail: The Arrowhead State trail is the backbone to an extensive Grant-in-Aid trail system that travels through remote areas.

TRAIL CONDITIONS: Snowmobiling: Condition- Poor; Trail – Groomed; Base – 0-3”

TRAIL CLOSURE/REROUTE: Hwy 53 east to the Hagerman Grant-in-Aid trail is closed due to a trail bridge being replaced. This section of trail will remain closed until the project is completed. Please use the Hagerman and Slatinski Grant-in-Aid trails to route around the closed bridge. There is signage on both sides of the project directing riders on the reroute.

The Arrowhead State Trail is groomed and in poor condition. Caution, Groomer broke through shelf ice by Galvin line east of Blue Ox/Arrowhead junction; location is marked, and groomer operators will repair trail as snow allows.

Bearhead Lake State Park: Bearhead State Park trails provide rolling topography through birch and pine stands. You may see a variety of wildlife ranging from deer, wolves, ruffed grouse, and pine martens. You can snowshoe anywhere in Minnesota’s state parks and recreation areas, except on trails that are specifically groomed for another activity, such as snowmobiling or skiing.

TRAIL CONDITIONS: Snowmobiling: Condition – Fair; Trails – Groomed; Base 3-5”

The Taconite Trail in Bear Head Lake State Park was groomed and is in fair condition with some areas of debris and thin base under the large pines.

Lake Vermilion – Soudan Underground Mine State Park; The park has six miles of snowmobile trails that connect from the Taconite State Trail to the Lake Vermilion ice trail. The ride takes you through old growth pines and young aspen forests with large wetland complexes to view along the way. You can snowshoe anywhere in Minnesota’s state parks and recreation areas, except on trails that are specifically groomed for another activity, such as snowmobiling or skiing.

TRAIL CONDITIONS: Snowmobiling: Condition – Poor; Trails – Groomed; Base – 1-3”

Trails are in poor condition and will not be groomed before this coming weekend due to thin trail base. The trail continues to get rougher as more rocks are uncovered, especially in those areas with heavy tree cover.

Putnam/Fishing Lakes – Bear Island State Forest: The Putnam and Fishing Lakes Trails traverse forested, rolling topography through birch, ash, and pine stands. Several small lakes dot the landscape along these scenic trails.

TRAIL CONDITIONS: Snowmobiling: Condition – Fair; Trails –Groomed; Base 1-3”

Trail is not being groomed this week due to rocks and thin trail base and is in poor condition. The trail continues to get rougher as it sees more use and more rocks are uncovered.

Please use caution on the trails, travel at appropriate speeds, and stay to the right. There is active logging happening on a number of spots throughout the Grant-in-Aid and State Trail system. Please slow down and give trucks and logging equipment space. No Motorized Vehicles other than snowmobiles are allowed on State Trails or Grant-in-Aid snowmobile trails.

Taconite State Trail: Taconite State Trail stretches 165 miles from Grand Rapids to Ely through many scenic vistas of rolling hillsides, lakes, rivers and forest.

TRAIL CONDITIONS: Snowmobiling: Condition – Poor; Trails –Groomed; Base 0-3”

The entire Taconite between Ely and Side Lake has been groomed and is in poor condition. Trail base is thin in numerous areas throughout the trail, especially in the first ten miles west of Ely and the trail portion going west from Hwy 53.

News and Reports:

For more information on Ely area news and events please visit our homepage.

Trail Report – : Oconto County, Wisconsin – February 25, 2021

Reporter:Oconto County Tourism

Trail Conditions: Fair

Snow Cover: 1-4

Date of Report: February 25, 2021

Area Report:

Northern Oconto County is open. South of Bagley and Brazeau is closed. The Nicolet State Trail remains open. Find full trail report at www.ocontocounty.org.

Trail Report – : Eagle River, Wisconsin – February 25, 2021

Reporter:Holly t

Trail Conditions: Fair

Snow Cover: Ice base – most snow covered – trails on northside open areas burning through

Date of Report: February 25, 2021

Area Report:

6:25am Currently 21 – High 32 – Low 19 tonight
Trails on average FAIR with areas of GOOD & POOR
And Trails are OPEN
GTS Trails app shows groomers out in the last 24 hours

Trail grooming continued last night with an almost full grooming. This morning reporting the trails that were NOT GROOMED last night.

Alt13/3S that heads to Threes Lake & connects with Three Lakes trails
70W that heads west out of Eagle River & connects with St. Germain trails
17S that heads south off of 70W & connects with Sugar Camp trails
7 aka paintball field that is located off of 17S heading west & connects with Sugar Camp trails

Best way to learn the trails is to buy a Sno-Eagles trail map. It also had the entire Vilas county trails on the backside. Plus download the GTS trails app It is available at the App Store.

Trails have downgraded to FAIR on average. There are GOOD areas east & northwest. POOR in open areas. Will be out riding today & will have a report on what we see tomorrow.

We have entered the “Adventure Sledding” time of the season. When riding expect all sorts of conditions. The small SNOW yesterday was a disappointment. Added to the warm daytime temps. Need ya to THINK COLD for during the day. Next SNOW is Sunday. 70% chance with totals all over the place so stay tuned. START DANCIN‘

Please stay on the trails if you are riding.

Catfish & Eagle Lake trails are marked with orange reflective barrels. Watch for ice fishing holes on both lakes. No surface slush as of this morning.The lakes are marked by the businesses on the lake so stop in & thank them when you’re out riding.

Ride it while we got it. SEE YA ON THE TRAILS!

Holly Tomlanovich
THE SNOWMOBILE CAPITAL OF THE WORLD® – Eagle River
Phone Trail Updates 715.479.5185 reporting conditions weekly
Eagle River area events – Sno-Eagles club events
Snowtracks Reports

News and Reports:

Thursday Guided Trail Ride
Start at the Historic Railroad Depot on Trail 10/13N – 9am departure
Be sure to contact Club President, Howard Wolf at 262.442.4876 for more information on the rides

February 27 – UTV Arctic Derby Dash – Volunteers needed
February 27 – Groom to Ride raffle drawing – 1pm – Trackside – Hwy 45N – Tickets available at businesses all through Eagle River, Conover & Three Lakes – Buckets raffles too!
March 2 – Sno-Eagles Board of Directors meeting – VFW Post 8637 – 6pm – One block west of Eliason Realty – Hwy 70 on the left – Public Welcome
March 18 – General Membership Meeting – 7pm – Via Facebook – Goes to Sno-Eagles Snowmobile Club
March 19-20 – RAM Trucks National Snocross – World Championship Derby Complex -Stay tuned for more details!

To volunteer or for more information on Sno-Eagles activities
contact Howard Wolf at 262.442.4876

Snowmobile Information:

Wisconsin Snowmobile Registration
Discount Trail Pass for Snowmobile Club Members – $10 – Time to join a club!
Standard Wisconsin Trail Pass – $30
Out of State Trail Pass – $50
Newly Updated Vilas County Map It Trail App GPS style app of all trails in Vilas Cty. Plus includes the brown 3 digit emergency numbering system. If an emergency happens call 911 & give them that number. Find you quicker.
Newly Updated Groomer Tracking Systems (GTS) Gives you trails groomed in last 24, 48 & 96 hours
AWSC – Association of Wisconsin Snowmobile Clubs
DNR Snowmobiling Helpful Information

Trail Report – : Rhinelander, Wisconsin – February 25, 2021

Reporter:Hodag SnoTrails

Trail Conditions: Good

Snow Cover: some base

Date of Report: February 25, 2021

Area Report:

We did get a few inches of fresh snow earlier in the week. All of the trails were groomed this week and the fresh, heavy snow helped. There are some thin spots and a few icy corners. Some rocks are starting to be rolled up. I would rate the trails as GOOD. Please be aware, we try to do all of our grooming at night, but there are instances that we have activity in daylight. Keep a watchful eye out for groomers on the trail. If you meet a groomer, please pull over and let them by. The guys worked hard and got another groomer up and running. One is still down, but the other two are making up for the downed machine.

A hate to say it, but this is rapidily moving to “late” season riding. The areas in the woods are really good, the exposed areas have a marginal base. You will find a range of conditions out there, but they are rideable. Warm temperatures on Saturday will put a big hurt on the trail base. There is a chance of more snow late in the weekend.

We are continuing to groom on our regular schedule. All lakes are marked and ready for traffic. It is always beneficial to ride near the lake markers for the best ride. There are some signs of slush on the lakes, but they freeze up as soon as they form. There is more a risk of frozen slush than wet slush. Also, Boom Lake (Wisconsin River) does end up with roads being plowed across them. The club can’t keep up on marking all of them, so beware when running the river sections.

As always, please stay on the marked trails. It may sound like a broken record, but it is sooooo important for the life of our trail system that all riders respect the rights of our landowners (over 150 just on Hodag Sno-Trails system).

Trail Report – : Walworth County, Wisconsin – February 25, 2021

Reporter:Ryan Strand

Trail Conditions: Open

Snow Cover: 12″

Date of Report: February 25, 2021

Area Report:

Trails will re-open Thursday February 25th at 6AM. They are nearing late season conditions, thin in spots, maybe a little icy and some spots still good. We will be reviewing our conditions daily and determining if the trails will stay open or close. Groomers were out overnight to smooth things out. Night time temps are still cold but daytime highs are above freezing. Please try to limit riding activity when temperature is warmer than 32F. Please check back frequently as conditions change this week into the weekend.

Thank you & Enjoy before it is gone!

Trail Report – : Walworth County, Wisconsin – February 25, 2021

Reporter:Ryan Strand

Trail Conditions: Open

Snow Cover: 12″

Date of Report: February 25, 2021

Area Report:

Trails will re-open tomorrow at 6AM. They are nearing late season conditions, thin in spots, maybe a little icy and some spots still good. We will be reviewing our conditions daily and determining if the trails will stay open or close. Groomers were out overnight to smooth things out. Night time temps are still cold but daytime highs are above freezing. Please try to limit riding activity when temperature is warmer than 32F. Please check back frequently as conditions change this week into the weekend.

Thank you & Enjoy before it is gone!

Trail Report – : Land O’ Lakes, Wisconsin – February 24, 2021

Reporter:Phil

Trail Conditions: Good

Snow Cover: 16-18 inches

Date of Report: February 24, 2021

Area Report:

Rode to Hoppy’s today in Kenton. From Sunrise to Land O Lakes trails were good. LOL to Watersmeet fair. Watersmeet east to trail 3 poor…..the grade became vary good east of trail 3 cut off and 8 from Kenton to Bruces Crossing was good also. After that all trails were excellent. Bond Falls was beautiful and trail 107 was a delight. Hope we can keep getting a little snow each night and keep those temps down and sun away. Looks to be a tad warm this weekend—especially Sat.

News and Reports:

See you at Candlelight bowling Friday night—7PM at THE ALLEY in Land O.

Snowmobile Information:

Ride Right and Ride Safe

Trail Report – : Hayward / Sawyer County, Wisconsin – February 24, 2021

Reporter:haywardlakes

Trail Conditions: Good

Snow Cover: 6-9 inches of snow

Date of Report: February 24, 2021

Area Report:

The scenery is beautiful this morning!! Can’t imagine what the scenery is out on the trails with the canopy of trees! If you’re out please share your photos with us!

While we didn’t get the 5” we were hoping for we got approximately 1-3”. Anything fresh is welcomed! A chance of some more on Friday. While the temps have gotten warmer our wooded and protected trails are holding up nice. The temps cool down in the evening and things freeze back up. Your ride in the woods and the lakes will be good. Many road trails, trails out in the open and along the roads will be snirty. Also many plows need to push the snow to the edges of those roads which leaves dirt in some intersections so the ditch may seem bare, whiles some may be some may just have that plowed dirt lying on top.

We will continue to watch the trail conditions daily and post as needed with any changes, if there are no new posts please refer to the latest for your trail updates.

Groomers continue to be out daily. If the temps get too warm and conditions get soft the groomers will decide if they need to hold off so they don’t do any harm to the trails. What this means is if conditions are soft not only is the equipment heavy on the trails but also that soft snow sticks and balls up in the drag and stays there rather than laying back on the trail, then essentially you are then just pulling snow off of the trail. This is not happening at this point but worth mentioning if it does get to that point and a trail is not groomed it is not because of neglect but rather preservation. But again, at this point trails are groomed and good and we have fresh snow!! If conditions change we will post as accurate and honest as possible, it’s a large county with many trails to offer, the areas can vary greatly.

Also please note the American Birkie race is this week. If you have never heard of this it is the largest cross country race in North America hosted in Hayward and Cable. This race is still taking place this year however it is changed up a bit. Rather than Fri and Sat being the big days, the race is spread out through the week and the route has changed up a bit so it will not go through town. The race will still be in the Seeley Hills but not the full regular course so you may encounter the trail crossings and you may not this year. If you do, expect a small delay and be kind and patient as these athletes are competing in a tremendous race. The delays will be short. Please respect this race and their guidelines as we all know that in today’s world we celebrate what ever event allowed with precautions.

Get your gear and get out there, it will be a beautiful weekend and we are sneaking to the end of the season, enjoy as much of it as we can! Be safe and have fun!

Trail Report – : Bayfield County, Wisconsin – February 24, 2021

Reporter:BayfieldCounty

Trail Conditions: Fair

Snow Cover: 0-12 inches

Date of Report: February 24, 2021

Area Report:

Snow base (in inches): 0-12 inches

Status (Closed, Open, Partially Open): Open

Condition (Poor, Fair, Good, Excellent): Good to Fair

The warmup has definitely affected our trails, some areas more so than other. Most groomers are holding off grooming until temperatures get below freezing. Exposed trails will be thing and dirty, trails in the woods will likely hold their snow for a while longer. So far it looks like trails will be able to stay open for the weekend, but keep in mind there is likely to be some dirt. If conditions deteriorate throughout the week, we will update again.

The same trouble spots still remain:

The Grand View and Mason areas didn’t receive much snow and the warmup didn’t help. Trails looking very poor in that area.
The trail into the City of Bayfield will not open this year, but we’re hopeful for next year.
Trail 1 to the casino in Red Cliff is open with a re-route. It’s a bit rough in spots so use caution. The re-route utilizes the right of way along the highway so please respect private landowners and follow the signs and groomed path.

Namakagon Trail Groomers: Trails were groomed Sunday night. With the warmup a lot of brown. We will try grooming Wednesday night after the temperature drops below freezing.

Barnestormers: Trails are not looking good at the moment. I did some grooming Monday 22^nd and saw at least 50 snowmobiles on the trail. I fear with the warm weather and heavy traffic there will be little left. We will try grooming Wednesday after the temperature drops below freezing, however unless we get the snow tonight not sure how it will go.

Drummond SnoJacks: Unless we get significant snow there are no plans for trail grooming this week due to the warm daytime and overnight temperatures. The trails are snow covered but rough in some spots with road routes thin to bare north of Grand View. With these conditions, a reminder to stay on the trails and stay off of private land, especially on those trails the property owners have allowed us to use.

Iron River Area: Iron River area trails in fairly good shape but some corners are bare. Trail 4 from highway 2 to Delta smith but very dirty. The tri-county corridor is in very good condition. Over-all trails are ride-able but expect some dirty snow in spots.

Washburn Valhallers: We will know more in the morning once the groomer has been out, but right now the warm weather doesn’t look like it affected us much. Some of the snowmobiles I’ve talk to you today said the trails were still in pretty good shape. We have adequate snow just need to cool down to smooth them out.

WAINO: Waino Riders will groom the South end of trail 1 but it’s doubtful there’s enough of a base left on the North end. Snowmobilers have complained of rocks and gravel near Port Wing.

Trail Report – : Minocqua, Wisconsin – February 24, 2021

Reporter:minocqua

Trail Conditions: Fair

Snow Cover: 10

Date of Report: February 24, 2021

Area Report:

warm temps yesterday did some damage in town and sun exposed trails, trails in the woods are still in good condition, temps today are back down to 30 and cloudy, we are in late season now so the sun is more intense this time of year, should be ok yet this weekend with cloudy conditions and some small snow showers around.