Grand Marais Trail Report – 12/11
GRAND MARAIS UPDATE via Grand Marais Tavern – 12/11 GMSTA trail boss grooming update: I have had a lot of questions and inquiries on if we are grooming, when we will be grooming, and why we are not grooming, etc. Before I get into the scheduling I just want to give you all some insight to how we determine when and how much we groom. Of course one of the biggest factors is weather. How much snow, temps, conditions, what snow quality etc. Just because it’s below 32 degrees doesn’t mean you groom. If the snow quality is poor, sugary not packy, then grooming that type of snow when the base is not set up does very little for the overall "condition" of the trail. You cannot get all the woops/moguls out and the sugary snow just blows back out of the trail as the snowmobiles go over it. If this is the scenario, and it is early in the week with very low traffic, this would be the time to take a day off. The other big factor is the budget we have to groom for the entire season, Dec. 1st – Mar. 31st. One never knows how much snow we will get over the course of the snowmobile season, as proven last year. The season lasts 121 days, and we want to make sure there is enough budget to get us through the entire season. Budgeting is critical and plays a huge part in the decision of when not to groom. If the budget allowed, we would groom every day weather permitted. The next consideration is traffic volume. Usually Tuesday -Thursday is the slowest part of the week for traffic. Those are the first days we consider to not groom, as there is the least amount of traffic. This coupled with weather, snow conditions, and budget all help to make the call to groom or not. High travel times, we strive to groom every day to give you the best trails possible. We will be grooming this afternoon, starting with our East trail, trail 8, and our South trail, 443 & 88 from the park and ride on M77 east to 443. Then once they get back, we will head out on the West trail, 8, 89, 43/88 across Sunrise Landing to the south end of 888 and our North trail 8, from the split at 89, 888, and 88 all the way down to the park and ride on M77. The town route is usually done in coordination with the North run and or run as needed, as it is the single groomed trail route into the town of Grand Marais for food, gas, etc. Our scheduled grooming times are the same every day with the North and West trails being done early mornings, departing the groomer barn approximately 2am, returning approximately 9am. The East and South trails departing the barn approximately 5pm returning approximately 1am. Hopefully the snow that is in the forecast will come, and we will have the trails good and ready for a great sledding weekend. We want to thank everyone for your support, patience, and understanding. Thank you also for your comments and info from out on the trails. Your feedback is greatly appreciated. Last but not least, I also highly recommend downloading the Groomer Tracker app and for $10.00 download the GMSTA trails so you can follow the groomers in "real time". For $10.00 each, you can download the Curtis Area Trails, Seney Snowmobile Association, Tahquamenon Area Snowmobile Association, Chippewa Snow Chasers, and the Sault Ste. Marie Snowmobile Association and see all the trails that are being groomed in the EUP! Other club trail systems are also available for purchase as well as other States. A percentage of the $10.00 goes directly to each club who’s trail system you download. This helps and we greatly appreciate it. Take a minute and check it out. <> <> Grand Marais Sno-Trails Assoc. on Facebook >>>> <> WEATHER UPDATE via US National Weather Service Marquette Michigan >> Expect mostly clear skies across much of the UP tonight, with cold temperatures giving way to another day of highs in the 20s to near 30 degrees on Sunday. Clouds spread back into the area from west to east on Sunday ahead of the next system, along with light snow in the west during the afternoon. #miweather #keweenaw #westernup #marquette #munising #seney #newberry #soo #straitsareaExpect mostly clear skies across much of the UP tonight, with cold temperatures giving way to another day of highs in the 20s to near 30 degrees on Sunday. Clouds spread back into the area from west to east on Sunday ahead of the next system, along with light snow in the west during the afternoon. WEATHER UPDATE via US National Weather Service Marquette Michigan >> High pressure will bring drier, sunnier weather back to the U.P. this weekend as temperatures finally return closer to normal with daytime highs in the 20s. A weak system will bring another round of light snow Sunday night into Monday, but high temperatures look to remain in the 20s for much of the next week. #miweather #keweenaw #westernup #marquette #munising #seney #newberry #soo #straitsareaHigh pressure will bring drier, sunnier weather back to the U.P. this weekend as temperatures finally return closer to normal with daytime highs in the 20s. A weak system will bring another round of light snow Sunday night into Monday, but high temperatures look to remain in the 20s for much of the next week. PARADISE AREA UPDATE via Paradise Area Night Riders www.paradiseareanightriders.org >> 1/30/26 CURTIS AREA UPDATE via Curtis Area Trail Association >> #curtis #newberry #snowphotos This content isn't available right now GRAND MARAIS AREA UPDATE via Grand Marais Sno-Trails Assoc. >> Rendezvous of the Tuckers. Chad from GMST and Rick from Seney. Keeping the trails great. #grandmarais #newberry #snowphotos WEATHER UPDATE via US National Weather Service Marquette Michigan >> Expect lake effect snow showers today in the north to northwest wind snowbelts. Temperatures will start out cold with wind chills below -20F in the far eastern U.P. Frostbite can occur in as little as 30 minutes on exposed skin in these conditions. Stay warm and drive slow on ice and snow! #miweather #keweenaw #westernup #marquette #munising #seney #newberry #soo #straitsarea NEWBERRY AREA UPDATE via Pine Stump >> 1-29 NEWBERRY AREA UPDATE via TASA Tahquamenon Area Snowmobile Association >> Just entered 9, things are looking good for a great groom! 😎 CURTIS AREA UPDATE via Curtis Area Trail Association >> Eventful day at Curtis area trails… WEATHER UPDATE via US National Weather Service Marquette Michigan >> Lake effect continues tonight, with the heaviest snow likely to focus into the Munising area overnight. Dangerous cold conditions are also expected across the eastern U.P. tonight into Thursday morning. #miweather #keweenaw #westernup #marquette #munising #seney #newberry #soo #straitsarea <> Latest Trail Reports – Quick Links <>Postings From Regional Pages On Facebook
Minus 5 degrees this morning under a cloudy sky. No new snow in the last 24 hrs. but we do have about 3 feet of snow on the ground so no worries...LOL. Here`s whats been happening since my last report a couple days ago......
No bad news...the machines have been running beautifully....Mother Nature has been cooperating perfectly....and our trails are EXCELLENT!!!!
The Falls trail #45, the Point trails #452 & #453 and the South trail #8 all fall into that catagory. The only blip on the radar is on the Pine Stump trails #8 & #9 but it is only minor. Our section of trail #9 is still being plowed down from the Stump to the East branch of the Two Heart by the loggers. It is no big deal, just take trail #8 around instead of #9, just like the old days. Its a touch longer but you`re out there to enjoy the ride.....right? On the bright side, they are done up by Crisp Point but it will take us a couple trips to get that back in great shape.
Where is everybody?? Its been awful slow around here. COME ON U.P., You are missing out!!
LET `ER SNOW!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Groomer Chris #paradise #newberry
Several feet of the snow on the ground up here
Trails are excellent everywhere!
A little warm up coming it will be a great time to ride the trails are perfect!! #newberry #snowphotos
10:02 PM 10.4 to second stop sign, so far it all looks like the curve there, all of it, think I learned something in the Can Am earlier today. 🤓 #newberry #snowphotos
Started with an awesome care package of snacks/gloves from
Brian Weigel
Dug out our deep snow Dubie Drag
(It’s time)
6 club members came down to maintenance the machines…
Now we send them out!!!!!!
Great job , Great Team efforts! #curtisarea #newberry #snowphotos