Trail Conditions: Good
Snow Cover: 2 to 16 inches of snow
Date of Report: February 27, 2020
Area Report:
Hello Riders!!
A bit of an update, while we did have a warmup on Sunday and Monday we still have VERY GOOD conditions! We’ve had such a great base that has been a blessing to help us make it through the couple of warmups we’ve had this season. The wooded trails are great! You will find many trails that are near the roads to have slushy or bare spots and some as we call “snirt” spots (snow + dirt). The roads as well are quite bare. However, these areas of mention are generally connecting routes from one trail to another so you will not have to travel them long and they are most certainly passable. The groomers are out this week now after the cool down and smoothing everything up as well as pulling some side snow into corners where needed and they are able. The lakes with-stood as well, due to the warmup after the weekend there was not much traffic that created grooves in the lakes when they were slushy to refreeze, so they are not rough. The temps dropped back down last night, and we even got a bit of fresh snow over the night to our surprise to freshen things up.
Speaking of lakes, the Chippewa Flowage, while a great ride and filled with your favorite stops we do just want to advise you to stay on the staked trails and ride with caution. It’s excellent riding but the lake level has dropped about 8’ over the course of a few months as the energy company and DNR do this each season so with this lowering there are sand bars and stumps that you don’t normally see. The last 2 weeks or so those bars/humps and stumps are more noticeable. Volunteers have staked some of the concerning stumps but please keep your eyes peeled. Also, at some areas of entrance on the Flowage you may find the level is so low there isn’t much water/ice and it’s muddy, but those areas are off to the sides of the trails and again, very much passable. Just please ride safely and watch your surroundings.
Some logging is being done north of Nelson Lake on trail 8. Also trail 8 west to Washburn County has some logging happening on it.