Sault Ste. Marie Trail Report – 02/16
SAULT STE. MARIE UPDATE via Sault Ste. Marie Snowmobile Association – 02/16
2/16 7pm update-
Lane just got back after pulling a double route on what we call Kinross east and Kinross west. Trail 49 South of Kinross, 494, and 472 west to the Rudyard turn around. Not a lot of pics as he was solo and had a long day as it was.
Here’s what he had to say-
“There are 2 water hazards south of airport on 494, should freeze over tonight. Looks like a truck broke through them. There are some thin snow spots but the lake effect on top is nice. Definitely not ideal, but gets better west and north”
Thanks Lane!!
Turbo should be done soon and I’ll have another update.
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This literally never happens! 2 of our groomers met at an intersection a bit ago. I promise I will have reports from both. They are on some LONG runs, pulling double duty before it gets busy. For sure better conditions west and north than south of Kinross and in the Soo. That much I can tell you with certainty. We are just on the edge of the lake effect today, so not much of anything is falling in the Soo yet, but I can see the bands just west.
We’ll have our 3rd machine out tonight too. Reports will come as I get them. Please watch for our groomers if you’re in our area! Lane is heading back to Kinross from south of the Spile Dam on 472, and Turbo is heading back to Raco on 480, from north of the Spile Dam.
Ride safe! Some hazards are around, and they are working on them.
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2/16- update. Quick look at how things are coming out with panning. Much more detail later on. Let’s give them a chance to set up, please.
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2/16 Good morning all! I show a solid 8” on the ground here in the Soo after what we got yesterday has settled. Light snow is falling now. A few more inches are expected today. I am still waiting to hear back from our groomer bosses, so I do not know if we will have groomers out panning yet or not. You often hear us and other clubs say that we need a foot or more to groom. This is because 10” of snow compresses to about an inch on the trail.
In areas where this is zero base, you can see why we would want more snow. Our Raco/Bay Mills area had a base left in many spots, so I can see this being the first area to be panned. Please give us the chance to assess and get out there. If you do ride, some throttle control goes a long way to helping preserve the surface. As always, ride safe and be prepared for what we would consider early season conditions.
🚨 As a reminder, trail 49 from Alberta Lane all the way to Gaines Hwy remains closed due to excessive water. Also, gates on trail 480 are also closed from the Spile Dam to Tilson Rd, but we’ll try to get those open once it’s panned to smooth the truck ruts🚨
I’ll keep you posted, as always!
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Sault Ste. Marie Snowmobile Association Facebook Page
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Sault Ste. Marie Snowmobile Association Trail Report on MSA
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Postings From Regional Pages On Facebook
WEATHER UPDATE via US National Weather Service Marquette Michigan >> Temperatures will dip near or below zero again tonight, but a warm up is on the way as highs climb into the 30s Monday afternoon. Daytime temperatures are then forecast to remain above freezing through the rest of the coming week, climbing above 40 across most of the U.P. by Wednesday. #miweather #keweenaw #westernup #marquette #munising #seney #newberry #soo #straitsareaTemperatures will dip near or below zero again tonight, but a warm up is on the way as highs climb into the 30s Monday afternoon. Daytime temperatures are then forecast to remain above freezing through the rest of the coming week, climbing above 40 across most of the U.P. by Wednesday.
SAULT STE. MARIE AREA UPDATE Sault Ste. Marie Snowmobile Association >> 3/1/2026
Good evening! Turbo and Diane did an earlier run for a change today on trail 8 from Raco all the way to the Soo. While we typically do not like to groom during the day on a weekend, sometimes that’s what we need to do due to scheduling purposes. With cold temps and light sled traffic, it should help keep the snow a little looser for cooling.
It was a beautiful sunny day, and they saw a few groups out enjoying it, and some wildlife too.
As a reminder, this is a shared trail with ORVs less than 65” wide between the Soo and the Raco turn off. This is only shared trail in our area, and it isn’t wide enough for a SxS and groomer to pass on the trail. They encountered one SxS today that turned around so that they could continue on their way. We appreciate the driver moving so that they could pass.
Thank you to the Turbos! Looking awesome! ❄️❄️❄️ #soo #soo0301b #snowphotos
SAULT STE. MARIE AREA UPDATE via Sault Ste. Marie Snowmobile Association >> 3/1/26
Happy March everyone! Hard to believe it’s the last (official) month of the season. And what a season it has been!
We had another record traffic Saturday, and our operators have been working so hard to keep things as smooth as we can for you.
After a long, cold, and windy day on the St Mary’s River at the radar run yesterday, Brimley Bill got a few hours of sleep and then headed out to hit the Mission Hill route. We call this route M40 for our reporting purpsoes. It’s 480 from M28, to 8, to Ranger Rd, and the 889 grade and 889 loop in the Raco and Bay Mills areas.
Here’s his report-
“I groomed M40 early this morning. Pretty much all of 889 was really beat up. I did my best to cut out all of the bumps. Some of the curves were so bad that I was not able to completely remove all of the bumps, (probably 90% gone.). The trail 8 Powerline and 480 RR Grade were still in pretty good shape. I smoothed out whatever bumps were there.”
Thank you, Bill! You’d never know now that hundreds of sleds ran those trails yesterday! ❄️❄️❄️ #soo #soo0301 #snowphotos
WEATHER UPDATE via US National Weather Service Marquette Michigan >> Expect morning flurries to give way to sunny skies this afternoon over the central and western U.P. Light lake effect snow showers will linger over the eastern U.P., mainly close to Lake Superior. Expect a warm up this week with the warmest temperatures over the west and near the MI/WI state line. #miweather #keweenaw #westernup #marquette #munising #seney #newberry #soo #straitsareaExpect morning flurries to give way to sunny skies this afternoon over the central and western U.P. Light lake effect snow showers will linger over the eastern U.P., mainly close to Lake Superior. Expect a warm up this week with the warmest temperatures over the west and near the MI/WI state line.
WEATHER UPDATE via Michigan Storm Chasers >> Lake effect flurries and snow showers are possible today, March 1st, 2026 across some of northern Michigan and the Upper Peninsula. With dry air mixing in, totals will be relatively kept in check, but a swath of 1-3", perhaps 4" is possible along M-28 south of Grand Marais. Changing wind fields will also allow for light/brief accumulations along some of our lakeshore regions in the Lower Peninsula, but it's not guaranteed for everyone. Timing is through the remainder of the day. Mild temperatures coming later this week, which should help begin the melting process for many. #miweather #keweenaw #munising #newberry #sooLake effect flurries and snow showers are possible today, March 1st, 2026 across some of northern Michigan and the Upper Peninsula. With dry air mixing in, totals will be relatively kept in check, but a swath of 1-3", perhaps 4" is possible along M-28 south of Grand Marais. Changing wind fields will also allow for light/brief accumulations along some of our lakeshore regions in the Lower Peninsula, but it's not guaranteed for everyone. Timing is through the remainder of the day. Mild temperatures coming later this week, which should help begin the melting process for many.
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WEATHER UPDATE via US National Weather Service Marquette Michigan >> Northwest winds will subside through the the day with partly to mostly cloudy skies. Lake effect snow showers are expected in the northwest wind snowbelts, especially over the eastern U.P. where 1 to 3 inches of snowfall is expected. High temperatures will be 10 to 20 degrees below average, coldest in the Keweenaw. #miweather #keweenaw #westernup #marquette #munising #seney #newberry #soo #straitsareaNorthwest winds will subside through the the day with partly to mostly cloudy skies. Lake effect snow showers are expected in the northwest wind snowbelts, especially over the eastern U.P. where 1 to 3 inches of snowfall is expected. High temperatures will be 10 to 20 degrees below average, coldest in the Keweenaw.
SAULT STE. MARIE AREA UPDATE via Sault Ste. Marie Snowmobile Association >> 2/28/26
Good morning everyone!
While we certainly didn’t need the warm and sun yesterday, our hard working volunteers were itching to go as soon as temps dropped.
Our first report comes from Warren-
“We went out at 1 AM. Club member Steve & myself at 27 degrees did 480 from the Spile Dam turnaround, and 8 all the way to Brimley and back as well as the electric lines. I think everybody’s gonna be real happy with that, it cleaned up really well. I finished up at about 19° and then left the Groomer for turbo. Turbo is gonna hit the 889 loop and Brimley grade so I think everybody will be ready to go by about 7:30 - 8 o’clock for all of our trails out this way.”
Thank you, Warren & Steve!!❄️❄️❄️
Trail 8 from the Soo to Brimley will be done tonight, the city trails were done yesterday, and will be done again tomorrow night. I’ll update when I hear from the Kinross crew as well, but I know that everything was done on Thursday ahead of the warm up.
Be safe all and enjoy!
Hope to see some of you at the Radar Run at The Cozy Corners Barbeau MI today! The fun starts at noon! See their page for more info! #soo #soo0228 #snowphotos
WEATHER UPDATE via US National Weather Service Marquette Michigan >> Strong westerly winds develop this afternoon and evening, with winds gusting up to 60 mph in the Keweenaw and 45 mph for the remainder of the northern UP near the Superior shoreline. Damaging winds could blow down trees and power lines. Power outages are possible. Travel could be difficult, especially for high profile vehicles.
Temperatures will plummet tonight, setting up a seasonably cold weekend with some light lake effect snow for the northwest wind belts. #miweather #keweenaw #westernup #marquette #munising #seney #newberry #soo #straitsarea
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