As of 12-18-14, I took a ride on my own sled on the trails to see what they were really about. I started out from my motel and ventured towards Whitepine and Silver City on trail 1. The low areas (swamps) are really wet and some spots are not frozen over completely. Once you get outside of town a little bit, the trails were not that bad.

I was the first to break trail on the fresh snow we had from the other night. I made it to Silver City and back without running into any problems. The trail groomers are out, but once again they are trying there hardest to redo what they just got done doing. At this time they are mostly out trying to get the bad spots passable by sled. Old railroad grades along with higher ground areas are alright for sledding. Once again you just have to use caution for the wet areas. I recommend at this time to stay off trail 13 on the east side of Lake Gogebic and trail 102 going toward South Boundary Rd. Trail 8 west of Bergland towards Wakefield has a lot of swamp. With the few days of warm weather and a day with rain. Trail 8 has some very bad spots, this may change as the colder temps freeze them up. Snow is in the forecast, so as the days go by the trails should be getting better. As always feel free to call and asked for the latest conditions.

Thank you!

Casey Yesney
Owner

We’ve got the snow back that we lost (about 8-inches), but conditions are still very wet. A lot of the streams re-opened earlier this week and the word is the woods are still very wet. Once again, it’s very important that you stay on the trails as the conditions off trail will be worse. We’ve got a few nights coming up with very cold temperatures that will help the trail situation. Groomers have run on all the trails, some with drags and hopefully all with drags by this weekend. If daytime temps get a little too high the grooming will be restricted to night hours only.

Watch for a change on trail 1 South from Rd. 8800 to Marenisco soon. We’ve been encountering more water problems in this area and hope to reroute…just watch for signs.

For any who are planning to spend Christmas day up here please be aware that not all of the restaurants will be open so it’s best to call ahead. Also, by law, all bars must close Christmas Eve by 9:00et/8:00ct.

You can legally ride any county road that does not get plowed, but check with the Forest Service for a map to these roads. They have a waterproof one for $10.00. Call 906-932-1330 or go to www.fs.usda.gov/ottawa for more info.

The new snowmobile maps are out and available at most local businesses. Please remember that only money put into the wooden map money boxes with the photo of the groomers on it goes towards the trails – so please be aware of this and watch for this.

That’s all for now from Carolyn at the Hoop! We can’t wait to see you all back up again enjoying our beautiful area. For additional information about the Lake Gogebic area please visit the chamber website at www.LakeGogebicArea.com or call them at 1-888-464-3242 (888-GOGEBIC). Have a great day and a great ride.

Lake Gogebic Area Chamber of Commerce –

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