siberia087
Be a Part of the Ride That Changes Lives!
Join the annual Wertz Warriors snowmobile endurance ride on February 5th –February 11th and ride 900 miles in six days across Michigan’s Lower Peninsula. All to raise funds and awareness for people with intellectual disabilities and the programs of Special Olympics Michigan. Don’t miss out on this opportunity to be a part of the ride that changes lives. For more information on becoming a member visit www. Somi.org

North Guide
Sault Ste. Marie Snowmobile Association 19th Annual Fun Runs & Rally - Jan 28 & 29, 2011

The Sault Ste. Marie Snowmobile Association 19th Annual Fun Runs & Rally is only 3 days away.

The Rally is Jan 28th & 29th at DonDee Lanes. Registration opens at noon on Friday and runs to 7pm, then reopens Sat 8am-10am. Completed fun run cards need to be returned to the DonDee by 6pm on Sat. The cost for this great event is only $25, which includes a catered dinner by Ang-Gios starting around 7pm Sat at the DonDee.

There are 2 fun runs, one in the city and one country with each having cash prizes for the top 3 places, plus hit all the stops and be in an extra drawing. Go by car or snowmobile. You need not be present to win. The Grand prize is a Blu-Ray surround home entertainment system valued at over $500. Plus we have thousands of dollars in other prizes donated by Association supporters.

Look for the colored golf balls at Rally stops, bid on items in the silent auction, or take a chance on cash in the 50/50 draw. Please come out and support the group that is maintaining your snowmobile trails in and around the Sault! Visit the web page for more details www.sootrails.org

St. Ignace VB
Snowmobile Trail Conditions as of January 19, 2011

The trails are ridable and in good condition, with the railroad grade in guarded condition. We got a good snow Monday, maybe 10 hours worth of good system snow that packs very well. The northern trails got about 8 inches of snow on Monday and have at least 6 inches on the trail. You lose a little snow as you go south but it isn’t too bad. Snow drops off a bit in the Moran area into St. Ignace, but Castle Rock and Round Lake are in good shape like always. Everything has between 2 and 6 inches on the trail surface. Things are thin, but should hold up to some decent traffic, with the normal early season issues of some ice corners and thins area in the open. As far as the railroad grade, there may not be enough of a base to hold the rocks down as they tend to work their way up until completely frozen, which takes at least 6 inches of good base. It should hold up through the week with no problem, but if we get a ton of traffic over the weekend the rocks may start poking through again.

Groomers will run a very limited schedule over the next week. Everything will be panned down, and new problems will be reported as they develop. This should at least keep us going for the time being.

Information provided by the Straits Area Snowmobile Club.

spotter
Be A Part Of The Ride That Changes Lives!
Join the annual Wertz Warriors snowmobile endurance ride on January 30th – February 5th and ride 900 miles in six days across Michigan’s Lower Peninsula. All to raise funds and awareness for the Special Olympics Michigan state winter games. Don’t miss out on this opportunity to make a difference for more information on becoming a member visit www. Somi.org

St. Ignace VB
Snowmobile Trail Conditions as of March 1, 2010

Last Friday’s snow amounted to about 3" on the Northern Trails, and about 2" on the Southern trails. The Northern trail was groomed on Friday, and things turned out well.

The Southern trail remains ungroomed, and there are no plans to grooming those trails without an 8” snowstorm. All Mackinac Bridge crossers are advised to take the Western loop or trail #473 to get out of St. Ignace. You should be able to get through OK, but it won't be anywhere near perfect - especially in town, which has not been groomed at all this year. Right now, plans are to groom the Northern and West connector trails on Thursday or Friday, and they will probably sit there for the weekend. Additional grooming will depend on any snow that we get - if any.

The forecast for this week, should just barely maintain what snow we have, and then we will loose some this coming weekend. The last weather report showed a warm up, and maybe rain on Saturday.

Information provided by the Straits Area Snowmobile Club.

St. Ignace VB
Snowmobile Trail Conditions as of February 25, 2010

EVERYTHING we have is total ice. Some trails have a bit of broken, processed ice on top of the trail ice base, but there is not much, and it isn't very good.

The decent trails are: Caffey from Rexton in, most of the Burma Grade, most of the RR Grade from Trout Lake to the Burma Grade / Iron Bridge area, and most of the Cedarville connector - on our side.

The rest of the trails - the majority of them have various problems, ranging from sand on the trail surface on the pipeline section of #473 to long total gravel sections on the RR Grade from St. Ignace to Moran. There are some gravel problems, and major ice problems on the Carp River TT, heading North out of Brevort, and even the Cut River trail has some problem areas, and water holes.

We have a total stoppage on grooming until further notice. We need AT LEAST 4-6" to get things back to ridable in the Southern Areas, and MAY BE able to get away with 3-4" in the Northern Areas. The groomers will not be run in the mud and gravel, and we need to get some decent snow Friday if we have any chance of getting things back in shape. The forecast is anywhere from 1" to 5" of snow, so who knows what we are going to get. Next week is not looking good for snow; in fact it may warm up and start melting a bit again. The sun is higher now for sure, and we need to get another workable base up to get any riding in. This information will be updated if we get a decent amount of snow.

Information provided by the Straits Area Snowmobile Club.

St. Ignace VB
Snowmobile Trail Conditions as of February 12, 2010

Groomers did not run all week, and will both run tonight to pack down that 1" or so we got on Monday/Tuesday. That snow brightened up the trails, and they actually look pretty decent for the amount of snow on them.

Just as before, all the trails have a decent ice base, with between 1” and 4" on them - even the RR Grade. There are still two bad, but passable sections of trail. There is still the problem with the pipeline section of 473 out of St. Ignace; for about 1 mile, you will have to ride to the side. And there are two 100-yard sections of the RR Grade between Castle Rock Rd, and Moran that are down to gravel in the middle of the trail. St. Ignace out is OK.

Information provided by the Straits Area Snowmobile Club.

snowsoo
Sault Ste. Marie Snowmobile Association is Hosting a Radar Run south of the Soo on trail#49 and 6 mile rd. on Sat Feb. 13, 2010..See how fast your sled really is or just come to watch with free cocao and hot dogs..
go to http://www.sootrails.freeforums.org/radar-...r-2010-t12.html
or log onto www.sootrails.org for info..

North Guide
Newberry Trail Report - Visit Newberry - 01/28

We are grooming, although the snow is in granular icy form. We ended up with about an inch of new snow overnight with more on the way.

Trail #9 south to Hemlock Ridge road (trail 2) has a 0 -4 inch base and is in fair condition.

Trail #9 north is in fair condition. The base is 4 - 6 inches and riders are reporting Fair conditions, please watch for ice and dirt, especially on hills and around curves. There have been reports of some thin spots due to the warm weather.

Trail #45 North is in fair shape with a 4-6 inch base, but, there are 2 logging areas on it. One north, and one south, of the Skyline Trail Head. It is plowed and can be rough at times. There is very little snow on trail from 500 to the falls.

Trail #2 to Rexton is in fair condition with a 1 -3 inch base.

Trail #473 has about 7 miles of plowed road from Rexton south to Epoufette due to logging in the area. Please watch for trucks and deer in the area. The base is marginal to 3 inches and in fair condition.

Trail #473 Rexton to Trout lake is in poor condition and willnot be groomed until we have more snow.

Town trails are open and in poor condition with a 0-2 inch base. The ally is down to dirt.

*Please remember our groomers are out daily to keep the trails in the best shape they can be for your riding pleasure. Please keep a safe distance from the groomer if possible.*

We have updated the Newberry Village trail map. There are just a couple of changes from the last map. Look for our upcoming article in the February issue of the Michigan Snowmobiler Magazine.

THINK MORE SNOW!!!

Sherry

North Guide
Newberry Trail Report - Visit Newberry - 01/27

January 27, 2010 1:00p.m.

Please be careful around curves. The weather has cooled down and there is some ice around the curves, and bare spots on the hills. We still have some snow on trails but it is getting thin in spots. We are adjusting the times we go out grooming. We are expecting snow and cold weather to move in starting tonight with 6 -12 inches overnight. We are grooming, although the snow is in granular icy form. Dave in groomer #11 went north on trail # 9, and Louis in groomer # 10 went North on trail #45 to the falls.

Trail #9 south to Hemlock Ridge road (trail 2) has a 0 -4 inch base and is in fair condition.

Trail #9 north is in fair condition. The base is 4 - 6 inches and riders are reporting Fair conditions, please watch for ice and dirt, especially on hills and around curves. There have been reports of some thin spots due to the warm weather.

Trail #45 North is in fair shape with a 4-6 inch base, but, there are 2 logging areas on it. One north, and one south, of the Skyline Trail Head. It is plowed and can be rough at times. There is very little snow on trail from 500 to the falls.

Trail #2 to Rexton is in fair condition with a 1 -3 inch base.

Trail #473 has about 7 miles of plowed road from Rexton south to Epoufette due to logging in the area. Please watch for trucks and deer in the area. The base is marginal to 3 inches and in fair condition.

Trail #473 Rexton to Trout lake has a 1 -3 inch base and is in fair condition. The groomer did break through the ice and there are some wet spots. We need more snow in this area.

Town trails are open and in poor condition with a 0-2 inch base. The ally is down to dirt.

*Please remember our groomers are out daily to keep the trails in the best shape they can be for your riding pleasure. Please keep a safe distance from the groomer if possible.*

We have updated the Newberry Village trail map. There are just a couple of changes from the last map. Look for our upcoming article in the February issue of the Michigan Snowmobiler Magazine.

THINK MORE SNOW!!!

Sherry

St. Ignace VB
Snowmobile Trail Conditions as of January 11, 2010

Thin-thin but ridable.

We made it through last weekend OK. It has been more than two weeks since we have seen any new snow, and it is showing. The RR Grade from just North of St. Ignace to Moran in the open areas is showing more and more rocks. The pipeline now has a couple of bad sand holes, and there are some rocks poking through here and there in the areas where the loggers plowed things. Everything is actually pretty flat out there. Anyone in the area can head out and get some good riding in, just understand that there are some rocks out there here and there.

January 14 update

It has been right at freezing for the last 2 days, and things are getting soft. Trails have not improved, but have not gotten a whole lot worse either as we have had no traffic. I can't recommend riding out of St. Ignace. The Northern trails are in better shape, but not a whole lot better.

Information provided by Neil Hill, from the Straits Area Snowmobile Club. (www.straitsareasnowmobileclub.com)

skidoo
I have been hearing alot about Kims Tally Ho in Curtis..... trails pretty good getting there?

St. Ignace VB
Snowmobile Trail Conditions in the St. Ignace area as of December 4, 2010.

Well, the phrase that still sums everything up is: Thin, but perfectly ridable.

We really could use some more snow though. As more and more sleds ride what we have, it will get pounded down into the ice. Right now the groomers are just pulling the snow back in that the sleds are blowing to the sides.

It was cold here over the weekend. Friday the big lake was clear of ice, and Saturday morning there was skim ice all the way to the island (which has since mostly blown away)

Logging on the Borland Road (#471) is all done and is nicely fixed up. It may be another 2 weeks for the other company to finish up.

Information provided by the Straits Area Snowmobile Club.

St. Ignace VB
This is the trail report as of December 30, 2009

The RR Grade heading out of St. Ignace is quite thin, but perfectly rideable. The base developed about perfect, and there is between 2" & 4" on top of a smooth ice base. The trails should hold some traffic well for the upcoming weekend.

There is a trail hazard, about 5 miles north of Moran, or 2-3 miles north of the Burma Grade, on the RR Grade, where there was some water flowing across the trail for a short stretch. Not sure if this is still a problem, but just be aware when riding that stretch between Trout Lake & Moran.

Both groomers will run today, and at the least again Saturday night. We are still really just panning things down - there is not enough snow to make huge moguls by any means. The trail inside town will not be groomed until we get more snow - can't risk tearing people’s yards up. You can certainly ride it, but no grooming. Things are very thin along the ice rink lot, but it improves as soon as you get under I-75 and head out of town. As stated, there is about 2"-4" on top of the ice grade, with a few rocks that poked through here and there. I actually see more grass and twigs then rocks - this is from the big brushing project last fall. All of the other roads have between 3"-6" over the ice base, with a little less on the Carp River TT, where the loggers plowed it. Watch for ice in the corners for sure.

Forecast is for a few inches of snow over the next couple of days, and big winds for New Year’s Day. That is supposed to hit the normal belts with lake effect snow. If the winds are strong enough it will bring that stuff across the UP to us. So things should improve a little over the next couple of days. Things certainly will not get worse with the very cold temps forecasted.

So, to sum it up – trails are thin, but perfectly rideable.

Information provided courtesy of the Straits Area Snowmobile Club.

St. Ignace VB
As of December 21, 2009

The Castle Rock Road, the south part of #471, has about a 10” base, but the Railroad Grade was much thinner with about a 4” base.

All of our trails have been initially panned down, but there is not really enough snow out there to do a major groom. The DNR wants us to wait to get some more snow before we do any heavy grooming out there. The good news is this morning’s forecast showed that we are supposed to get a Christmas storm. That should make us perfectly rideable for the week between Christmas and New Year’s. It still will not be anywhere near perfect, but we should not have any major problems either. Trails should be good to go for the weekend. The groomer will also go up the big loop to Trout Lake, and back to Brevort for its winter berth.

North Guide
NEWBERRY AREA SNOWMOBILE REPORT = December 16, 2009

Here are the latest reports that we have:

TASA TRAIL REPORT
December 16, 2009

The groomers are out and trails 45 & 9 are in good shape. It has been snowing most of day with expected totals to reach 1 - 3 inches. Trail 45 from county road 500 to the falls is wet in spots. With the grant we received we should have the spots cleaned up in early January. Trails have a base of 4 -6 inches but they get a little thinner the farther south you go. We have updated the Newberry Village trail map. There are just a couple of changes from the last map.

The TASA trail system covers state and private lands but please remember that during the off season the private lands are not open to the public unless you have permission from the landowner.

Thank you for your cooperation and support with this. THINK MORE SNOW!!!

Sherry

Trail Report by Halfway Lake Resort - 12/15
http://www.michiweb.com/halfwaylake

Just talked to our guests that have been out riding since early this morning. They said the trails are G R E A T! They bragged about running into only three other sleds and two groomers between here and Seney, and the fresh powder is awesome. They rated the trails on a scale of 1 to 10 at an 8.

The groomers are running.

North Guide
Working on getting reports for the Newberry area.... Cathy did a great job...

yooperwoman
WHOOPS!! I guess it would help if I had an email address for ya; northcountrycampground@gmail.com.

yooperwoman
Curtis Sled Head...hey!!! It is good to be missed!!! Dan and I were talking with one of the mechanics down here at the Wildlife Refuge shop (where we are working this winter) about grooming equipment. The man doesn't know anything about the type of equipment we are referring too so I told him I'd see if I could find any photos that I had posted online so started doing a search and it brought me here!!! It was so nice to read your comment!! So, anyway, I'm trying to find some TASA grooming shots that I had taken (I didn't bring any with me on my laptop) and after seeing a few photos and reading a few comments, NOW I AM KIND OF HOMESICK FOR THE EXCITEMENT OF TRAIL REPORTING AND PREPARING FOR SNOWSTORMS, ETC!! But we are having a a good time, even though it is only 42 degrees today!

I'll try to check in every once in a while and see how things are going!! Everyone take care and keep in touch! And try to keep these boards active! Patrick did one heck of a job putting this all together for you and to help promote the Newberry area so I sure hope everyone still participates!! Feel free to drop me an email because I probably won't be on this site a lot.

Curtis Sled Head
I sure miss Cathy being in Newberry to update us of any changes and the trail conditions. Trail report was last updated in April. It's December 9th people, come on. Is it snowing yet in the Newberry area? We need to know when to get our sleds ready to head your way!!!!

Doogirl
Hi Curtis Sled Head! My husband and I usually snowmobile from Newberry area(sometimes Paradise or Curtis). Love the eastern UP!!! A couple of years ago we went further west to the Baraga area. We stayed at a little place in Michigamme. The trails through Sidnaw, Bruce Crossings, Twin Lakes and Baraga were awesome!!! And it was even early season. Still haven't made it to Houghton - Hancock, but it sure sounds like fun! Bruce Crossings looked like a nice town to stay in, with lots of riding opportunities in all directions! It's a good 10-12 hour drive for us to the western side, which is why we tend to stay to the east side. We would rather be riding, than driving!

Curtis Sled Head
My husband and I always snowmobile from the Curtis area. This year we would like to head West across the Northern Upper Peninsula for a couple days. Any trip suggestions on places to stay, things to see, etc....

North Guide
NEW EASTERN U.P. MESSAGE BOARD FOR 2009 - 2010.... the link is

http://www.thetrailblog.com/?p=635


You can log into the new board with your facebook account or twitter. You can also try the disqus login (seems like a nice system as it keeps track of your comments.)

Email me if you have any questions - info (at) northguide.com

St. Ignace VB
Trails have been groomed for the last time for the 2008-09 winter season.

See you next winter!

St. Ignace VB
As of March 16, 2009

Things over the weekend were pretty good for those squeezing one more ride in. Overall our trail conditions were real nice, and perfectly rideable. The RR Grade is getting slushy over the ice base for sure, but no problems reported with overheating, and only 1 sled mishap that I heard of by running out of oil. Thanks to those who participated in the poker run. We had a few new faces around, which is always good to see. Everybody got a prize too, even if it was just a 12 pack of Pepsi.

Overall, trail conditions will deteriorate all week. It was below freezing last night, but not much. The RR Grade will be all ice by Wednesday, and the ice base on all the trails will probably be visible by this weekend. There is still about a foot of ice, covered by 6-12 inches of material on the Northern trails. I still think that there will be riding to be had this coming weekend, with problem areas, but mostly for the diehards. For the majority of us we are pretty much done, unless we get more snow on Thursday than just the trace they are talking. There will be mostly water and slush on the trails, even if there is ice underneath. The open areas are going to go pretty quickly in 50d temp days.

The forecasted temps are not good for sledding, and we may see the snow go almost as fast as it showed up last November. Overall, I guess that we can't complain about this season’s weather, or conditions overall, things were pretty darn good.

Information provided by the Straits Area Snowmobile Club.

St. Ignace VB
As of March 12, 2009

Our base survived just fine. We got a little bit of snow on the Southern areas, and a bit more in the Northern areas that have made them even more ridable, with some icy areas in the corners. The paved roads are shot, gravel roads about gone too. The logging area South of Trout Lake on the Truck Trail, where they had plowed it is icy for that mile or two, perfectly ridable though. In the St. Ignace area, the sides of Brevort Lake Road trail is rather tough for that short stretch. In town, there are the 2 sections of pavement to get by. The Mackinac Bridge connector has 2 blocks of tough going, but a shelf has been cut into the bank along a good chunk to fix up another block, with the rest of that trail holding fine. Drive your truck along that stretch to see if you are OK with it, otherwise trailer to the Ice Rink - riding is fine from there.

Going to be low 30s this weekend, almost perfect riding - with a warm up expected next week. Only 2 weeks left, might want to get while the getting is good.

EVENTS:
Timmy Lee’s Pub is sponsoring a poker run in St. Ignace on March 14th, signup is at the Driftwood Restaurant between 8:30 and 11 a.m.. The snowmobile club will be having our normal trail stop that afternoon as well on the North end of Trail #471. Come ride our trails, meet some club members and see a groomer or 2! Fun for the whole family.

Information provided by the Straits Area Snowmobile Club.

St. Ignace VB
Here are the snowmobile trail conditions as of March 9, 2009.

After a pretty rough weekend where there were quite a few riders here on Saturday, the trails got pretty tore up. Snow was loose and slushy, with a few slush holes here and there. Nothing that could be done about that with the weather we had. Sunday things cooled back down and got a bit crunchy, but everything was quite icy and slick. There were no major meltdowns to ruin sections of the trail. The sides of the roads were tough going however.

Sunday night we were on the North edge of the surprise snow, and got between 4 and 5 inches of fresh stuff. The groomers are out this morning packing it onto the base, and riding should be pretty good for the coming week. As that snow gets used up, you can expect some icy areas in the corners - normal March riding stuff. The sides of the roads will likely go away in a few days.

The weather forecast is all over the place again for the coming week. Some say a bit of rain, others a bit of snow, all say very high winds mid week, and cold temps for the weekend. Our base can survive another week of drizzle no problem, so with the cold temps, the Poker Run this weekend will be on, and trails should still be perfectly rideable.

Information provided by the Straits Area Snowmobile Club.

St. Ignace VB
Things are just great around here right now. Trails are thick, hard and flat. Off trail has great riding, and people are still currently crossing the ice bridge. It is currently 29d and warming, with a worrisome forecast ahead of us.

The calendar says it is March, and the forecast is looking that way too. They are now saying that we will have several says of above freezing temps in the day, and it is not going to get very cold at night. This means that the sides of the roads and the small parts of the town trail are going to go away soon, but the main trails will be fine for some time to come. We have a heavy 12" ice base, covered with over a foot of packed snow. Riding will be just fine. We will however have a more difficult time keeping up with the grooming. Expect things to get tore up if we have any kind of traffic - there is nothing that can be done about that. It looks like it will be like that across the whole EUP.

Information provided by the Straits Area Snowmobile Club.

St. Ignace VB
As of March 2, 2009
Trails around here are currently in good shape, and will be excellent after today with a cleanup groom. There is a small one-mile section of logging on the truck trail up by Trout Lake, no major problems with this plowed portion. All roads and access in St. Ignace are travelable now, and the town trails were groomed last Saturday night. Off trail is back in a big way. We don't have the 4' deep powder like along Superior, but over a foot still makes for some fun riding.

Ice bridge to Mackinac Island is still being traveled regularly. Check local conditions before you go.

EVENTS:

This coming weekend, St. Ignace presents the Ice Chip Golf Scramble on the wild waters of Moran Bay in St. Ignace. An 18-hole course will challenge the most savvy of players while they compete for the top prize. Registration at Mackinac Grille Restaurant, 8 am to 9 am, includes lunch and dinner.

Timmy Lee’s Pub is sponsoring a poker run in St. Ignace on March 14th, and the snowmobile club will be having our normal trail stop that afternoon as well. Come ride our trails, meet some club members and see a groomer or two! Fun for the whole family.

Information provided by the Straits Area Snowmobile Club.

St. Ignace VB
As of March 2, 2009
Trails around here are currently in good shape, and will be excellent after today with a cleanup groom. There is a small one-mile section of logging on the truck trail up by Trout Lake, no major problems with this plowed portion. All roads and access in St. Ignace are travelable now, and the town trails were groomed last Saturday night. Off trail is back in a big way. We don't have the 4' deep powder like along Superior, but over a foot still makes for some fun riding.

Ice bridge to Mackinac Island is still being traveled regularly. Check local conditions before you go.

EVENTS:

This coming weekend, St. Ignace presents the Ice Chip Golf Scramble on the wild waters of Moran Bay in St. Ignace. An 18-hole course will challenge the most savvy of players while they compete for the top prize. Registration at Mackinac Grille Restaurant, 8 am to 9 am, includes lunch and dinner.

Timmy Lee’s Pub is sponsoring a poker run in St. Ignace on March 14th, and the snowmobile club will be having our normal trail stop that afternoon as well. Come ride our trails, meet some club members and see a groomer or two! Fun for the whole family.