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Trail Report – : Sault Ste. Marie, Michigan – February 3, 2020

Reporter:SaultSteMarie
Trail Conditions: Good
Snow Cover: 3"
Date of Report: February 3, 2020
Area Report:

Chippewa County: 

  • Sault: (2/2)  Good. 3″ base. Trails are open and we have groomed all the way to the western end of our system.

    • Sault Ste. Marie to Brimley, Trail #8 – Base 3 inches -Trail is in good condition but soft from warm temps.
    • Brimley to Raco, Trail #8 -good Base 3 inches -Trail is in good condition. When going across the bridge in Brimley make sure you go with your the flow of traffic!  Watch for trail change going south just before getting to Raco.
    • Raco to Naomikong Trail #8 [where Paradise meets us], Trail #8 – Base  3 inches – Trail is in good condition. 2018 Trail change just east of Salt Pointe Rd.  Moved trail out of twisty section back to the old straight route, about 2.5 miles. 
    • Sault Ste. Marie City Trail, Trails #497, #449, parts of #8 & #49 – Base 3 inches – Trail is in good condition. We now have a marked trail going to Chippewa Motors.  It starts once you come out of the woods east of M-129 off #449.  It comes into their parking lot from behind if you need parts or service. City curfew is from 1 am – 6 am. Remember most City streets are open to traffic 20 mph, stop at all intersections, and ride on the right-hand side of the street, not on sidewalks. Watch for closed streets that are posted, mainly around the hospital, university, and state trunk lines.
    • Sault Ste. Marie to Kinross, Trail #49 – Base 3 inches – Trail is in good condition except for wet areas. Make sure you follow reroute once you cross the bridge going south at 7 Mile road. When the trail is running along roads make sure you go with the flow of traffic on the right side of the road.
    • Kinross loop & south to Pickford, Parts of Trail #49, #472, and #494 –Base 3 inches – Trail in fair to good condition. Watch for wet areas on the trail.
    • Kinross to Raco & Rudyard, Parts of trail #472 & #480 –Base 3 inches – Trail in fair Condition.  Last groomed today by driver Dave.
      • Paradise: (1/30) 25 degrees this morning and cloudy. There is very light snow floating around in the air right now. Here is a complete rundown of our trail system in case you are on the edge about coming UP this weekend……Pine Stump trail #8 is rated in good shape. It is hard-packed and icy in spots but it is FLAT. It will get groomed today. The Point trails #452 and #453 are rated good also. They too are hard-packed and icy in spots but are FLAT. They will be run today also. The Falls trail #45 is also rated at good. It is also hard-packed and icy in spots but FLAT. There is one small trouble spot at the intersection at the Lower Falls but it is easily passable. Groomer Zach ran it last night and was gonna work on it. The south trail #8 is also good except for the swamp just south of town which I rate at just fair. I ran this trail yesterday so I would know best. The swamp is passable but very icy. There are a couple of “potholes” in there that have developed but you can get thru easy and not worry about getting muddy or wet, I would send Grandpa and Grandma thru there on their 2 up 4 stroke and not have a concern, just be careful. The whole trail is FLAT also. Soooo….as you can see. Our entire system is FLAT and hard. It is FLAT because we were working and grooming hard in the warmer weather because we have the ability to do so with the drags we run. If we could just get 6-8 inches of snow I could upgrade them to even better. There you have it……COME ON UP……you`ll get some good riding in. LET `ER SNOW!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Groomer Chris
      • Eckerman: (2/1) 10″ base. Good condition. The guys all got out last night and groomed the trails. They all are in really good shape. Trails are sugary so please everyone be careful. Remember to stay on your side of the trail and ride safely. If you see a branch or tree down stop and cut it up or throw it off the trail. Please do not ride over them it makes it even harder for us to clean up. Carry a saw and help out the volunteers that have been cleaning the trails. Please be careful while riding. Let it SNOW!!!
      • Drummond Island: (1/29)  4″ base. Trails are in good condition.  We need snow and cold weather! The snow base varies from place to place! The west end of the island was in decent shape! But the snow is really, really thin along the south shore/canoe bay for about a mile. The east end of the island is another story! There are still water holes there that we are breaking through! Do not go between the Maxton plains and Glenn Cove that’s the worst area! Lots of water holes and little snow, through that area! You can go to Marblehead if you come from the other direction though!  The area I have marked with green is the area to stay away from on the east end between the Maxton plains and Glen Cove!
    • ​ ​Mackinac County: 
      • St Ignace: (2/3) Quick report to say that both groomers are running, and all trails are in good shape. It will be a bit crunchy out there today, as yes we did get 2-3in of snow yesterday morning, but it also rained in the afternoon/evening. Not much, but it settled down and made things crunchy, and a tad on the slick side. Water holes on the Caffey and Cut River trails continue to freeze at night and open during the day, so use some caution in the middle of those trails. As stated last week, we are starting to wear out the snow South of Moran. Trails still smooth and in good shape but we could use some fresh to fix them up some. North of there everything is a-okay. For those interested in Pond Hockey – it is coming up in 2 weeks, and yes despite the lack of ice, it is on – and they are trying to put it on the bay! There was 8in out there yesterday, so wish me luck when I’m out there measuring rinks tomorrow!– Neil VP Straits Area Snowmobile Club 
      • Curtis: (1/28) 8″ cover. Trails are in fair to good condition. All trails are being groomed and are in fair to good condition Due to warm weather, wet areas are reappearing. Caution advised when riding.
      • ​Les Cheneaux/Cedarville/Hessel: (2/3) Groomed trail 47 from m-48 to DeTour Village yesterday. The groomer is on his way north to trail 49 now. Snow is wet but groomed up nicely. Stay right, be safe.
      • Luce County: (2/3)  We groomed all the trails last night.  The lead trail out of town up to 3 Mile was done twice.  Cut in and smoothed out.  It will be above freezing today so it will get roughed up, but we will tackle it again late this afternoon and tonight.  Overall though they could be a lot worse with the temperatures being as warm as they have been over the past couple of days.  It will dip back down into the twenties tonight and tomorrow so after we groom tonight things should stabilize.  The information we have received from other clubs is it is not that bad and the trails overall are in pretty good condition considering we have not had much additional snowfall.  Certainly, there are areas worse than others, but overall pretty good.  Traveling out of town is one of the most heavily traveled portions and gets beat up pretty good alongside the road up to the trailhead of 45 & 9.   If you want to avoid that portion the Silver Creek Staging area is an option.  If trail 45 N is your goal and short zip 3 miles south of the staging area you can be back at the Trail Head of 45 and miss the roughness coming out of town and the side of the road.  We wish we could smooth that out, however, State Highway mandates don’t allow us to do so.  We will continue to put our best foot forward to keep things smooth out to the best of our ability.  The details for the trails are detailed below.  We Take Pride in Your Ride!
        • Trail 9/2/473: (Good) (South of Newberry) There is a washout 3 miles south of M-28 at 4 corners.  Stop ahead signs were placed at the area of caution.  We are grooming nightly.  
        • Trail #45 (Good) There is one area of interest.  It is from Skyline Road for 3 miles that is plowed due to logging.  Please use caution when going through this area.  Coming out of town up the side of the road to the trailhead is rolling.  We are grooming nightly.
        • Trail 9 North: (Good) We are grooming nightly.  Coming out of town up the side of the road to the trailhead is rolling.  An alternative solution noted above in the update.
        • Trail #498 off of Trail 9 NE over to the Northstore for gas We are grooming nightly. 
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