Reports

Reporter:BayfieldCounty

Trail Conditions: Good

Snow Cover: 3-6 inch base

Date of Report: February 15, 2018

Area Report:

The trails have held up with the little warm spell yesterday, and we have snow in the forecast! Sunday and Monday look like they could see some significant snowfall so cross your fingers that the whole county gets some fresh stuff. If you’re out riding this weekend, Drummond is having the bar stool races on Saturday the 17^th starting at noon at the Black Bear Inn.  Frosty’s Vintage Riders is also having a Weenie Roast Fundraiser at the intersection of Trail 4 and the Tri County Corridor on Saturday from 12:00-3:00 PM. For those riding forest roads on National Forest Service land, please use caution and stay alert! Especially in areas where you see activity i.e. plowed roads. We can’t monitor all the forest roads throughout the county so unsafe conditions may exist. We’ve had reports of large plowed snowbanks on the roads which can be hard to see, so slow down and stay safe. Detailed reports from the local snowmobile clubs are posted below. Stay safe and stay on the trails!

Namakagon Trail Groomers: Not a lot of change in the system thanks to the cold weather. Namakagon Trails are holding up well considering the traffic. Trails have a good base of 4-6 in. Trails are fair in areas to very good in others. The heaviest used areas have some brown mixed in however are grooming well. Riders can expect some icy corners. With the warmer weather Wednesday, 2/14, and again approaching 30’s this weekend, trails can expect to soften some. PLEASE ride with this in mind to help maintain trail conditions with this being one of our busiest weekends.  Areas of concern are trail 90 east between old grade and federal Rd! Follow reroute signs and watch for logging TRUCKS! Another area is Trail 15 between Rock Lake Rd and Camp Eight Rd at the Great Divide. Heavy ICE over the Trail due to a spring that continues to spread water across the trail! SLOW Down!!!

Drummond Snojacks: Trail #63 south from Drummond to Lake Owen was very good on Sunday and much improved from previous icy conditions.  Trail #63 north to Sweden Road was good.  Trail #7 to #31 is in very good condition. Grooming continues this week on all trails. They are in good to excellent condition and expected to hold their base through the warm up Wednesday. Snow forecast on Thursday and lower temps should make for good riding for the coming busy holiday weekend.

Barnes Barnestormers: Groomed 7 and 17 town trails in Barnes on Sunday, did 31 up to Ruth lake and down to trail 7 to Drummond yesterday. They are in good shape, the hills and corners are getting bare and icy. They are certainly rideable, caution needs to be exercised on the icy portions. A warm day today 2/14/18, but with a forecasted cool down and hopefully a little snow we should be set for the weekend. Grooming operations will suspend over the weekend due to heavy snowmobile traffic in and around our surrounding area.  

Washburn Valhallers: Trail #13 into and out of Washburn is still good as of this morning, 2/14; trails are hard and flat with a icy corners.  We are not grooming during the week but may try on Friday.

All trails in the Valhalla area are in good shape. With the warm up that’s predicted not sure how well they will hold up. Daily grooming is happening.

South shore Trail Club – Port Wing, Herbster & Cornucopia: Trail 1 into Herbster 40 and 41 were groomed yesterday 2/13 and are very good to excellent. Trail 1 and 11 to Corny will be groomed tomorrow 2/15 and will be poor into Corny and good away from town – Woody

WAINO Riders- Northwest corner of the County: Trail 1 was groomed Monday and may be done again before the weekend. We’ve been told it’s in very good shape.

Closures:

• Trail 1 near Port Wing: This is now open but use caution as ruts have frozen into the ground.
• Trail 63 in the Cable Area: Trail 63 just south of the intersection with Trail 70 south of the town of Cable is closed until further notice.
• Trail 31, South of the intersection with Trail 1 near the City of Bayfield is not signed and not being groomed. There is currently no trail access to the City of Bayfield, but there is access to Legendary Waters Casino.

ReReoutes:

• Trail 13 outside Washburn, follow signs. Permanent reroute.
• Trail 4 east of Mason, follow signs. Seasonal reroute for now, includes road routes.
• Trail 70 south of Cable, follow signs. Seasonal reroute for now, includes road routes.

Logging Activity

• Trail 40 Southeast of Port Wing has a timber sale going active this week so keep your eyes out and stay alert in that area.
• Trail 51 south of Cornucopia near Jodi road is now being used for an active timber sale. They are logging off the trail and using the trail as a haul route so use caution. Jodi road is also being plowed for a short distance.