Trail Report – : Minocqua, Wisconsin – January 16, 2025

Reporter:minocqua
Trail Conditions: Closed
Snow Cover: 4-6
Date of Report: January 16, 2025
Area Report:

http://We know that most of you are wondering when the Forest Riders Trails will open. The short answer is “not until we get more snow”. Trails in Oneida County are overseen by the Oneida County Snowmobile Council – which consists of the 9 clubs in the Country plus a representative from the Oneida County Forestry Department. Decisions on trail opening are made by this Council, and require a super-majority of the clubs to vote to open the trails. All trails in the county must open and close together. Currently there is not enough snow to safely open the trails. Opening the trails before there is sufficient snow creates the risk of damaging the land the trails run through. For our Forest Rider trails – we have over 100 land-use agreements with different land-owners, and have a responsibility to manage the trails in a way that respects these lands. Losing usage of land from even 1 land-owner could significantly impact the ability to keep trails open. Opening the trails without enough snow also risks damage to your snowmobiles, and to our grooming equipment. Our all-volunteer team of Forest Riders trail maintenance and groomers has been doing everything possible to prepare the trails in advance for opening once we have more snow. Our trails have been packed by our groomers and groomer-team members have run snowmobiles across all swamp areas to pack them down and form a good base. Once a decision has been made to open Oneida County trails there will be a PSA announcement. Clubs will have 24 hours after the announcement to do final trail preparations. We will also post on the Minocqua Forest Riders Facebook page and website. Minocqua Forest Riders Facebook Minocqua Forest Riders website