Trail Conditions: Good
Snow Cover: 9 to 16 inches
Date of Report: December 27, 2019
Area Report:
Hello Riders!
Lake Reports: While the warm weather is not what we want to see we are grateful that we had the amount of snow that we had that still allows us to have good wooded trail riding. We would like to have full transparency so the following info is to help you get an understanding of the conditions and why the wait on our lake riding.
The large amount of snow is good, actually great, but when trying to make ice and freeze the base. Good because we have great trail riding but bad because our lakes were not froze with a good layer of ice when the large snow fall fell. That large amount of snow fell on the small amount ice we had creating an insulation so the freezing process on the lakes is slow. The large amount of snow on the unfroze lake also creates slush. Now after the last few days of warm weather some of the ice that was there has opened. The few lakes that had been staked such as Spider and the Tiger Cat Flowage have had stakes fall down due to the slush melting. The weight from the heavy snow on the ice puts pressure on that ice weighing it down and water comes up those holes from the stakes or holes that were created with the ice trying to form, almost like a drain backing up. This water that comes up and the slush that was on the lakes that has melted makes it hard to decipher what is standing water and what is open water. Many area lakes also have had the issue of inconstant ice. One bay may have 10-12″ while another 5″ and another 2″. So you may be on one side of the lake and you have great ice but the other side may not and they will not stake until the whole lake is safe. We wish we could report a better report on the lakes but not yet, even the few that had been reported as staked we recommend not riding on them. Our primary goal is safety. We will update as soon as we hear any lake activity, but no target date yet, perhaps Monday’s low temp and into next week will give us a better idea. But please remember you can still get to many locations without the lakes.
With the bad news over the GOOD news is the wooded trails are still GREAT! We have a 12-16″ base and you will find a lot of good trail riding out there, just peek at the map and map out your route prior to your ride.
The weather looks to continue to be mild through the weekend but then we drop again below freezing and see some fresh snow fall. We anxiously await those colder temps!
Surrounding counties: Washburn, Bayfield and Price are open. Ashland and Rusk are partially open and Barron is closed.
Keep checking back as we are the hub for your most up to date trail reporting and will report as soon as any change! Until then hop on those beautiful wooded trails! A big thank you to all the volunteers out checking lakes and trail reporting!