SAULT STE. MARIE UPDATE via Sault Ste. Marie Snowmobile Association – 01/05
Update 1/5-
Good evening! Here’s the scoop on what I know for now-
Trail 8 – Soo to Brimley, groomed this morning. I’d rate it good on my ride back just now. A few wet spots but nothing major.
Trail 8- Brimley to Raco, groomed tonight. Excellent! One water hole to watch for in the eastbound lane. Hopefully it’ll freeze up after Groomer Zeke smoothed it over tonight.
Trail 889- groomed today, good to excellent. Not really any hazards here other than the washout on the way to Bay Mills Resort and Casino. Please use the shoulder here. It’s a small section but that area is very poor.
Trail 49- part of the city trail, down to Kinross. Mix of fair, poor, and good. Groomer Mike P was out there tonight and turned around north of the beaver pond which is north of Gaines Hwy. It’s still in really rough shape in spots due to water holes. This is what he had to say, “I didn’t go down 49 from 3 mile to 5.5 due to the water hole. 5 1/2 Mile to 7 Mile is great, 8 Mile to 9 Mile open water holes, 9 Mile to 10 Mile open ditch, 11 mile to 12 mile open ditch, 12 mile to the Beaver Pond, lots of open water. Riders need to watch out for ice chunks that got pulled out of the holes. We need single digits for a week.” Use caution and be prepared for water holes if you choose to ride south of the Soo!
City Trails- fair to good in places. Water hole between the tunnel hill and Ashmun Creek is still an issue. We have been grooming the bypass around it so just follow that. Be sure to yield in case others go around it. The city trails will be groomed tomorrow again.
Trail 480 and the powerlines from 889 to Raco to the Spile Dam turnaround- good to excellent. Being groomed right now
480 east of the Raco groomer turnaround, 472, and Kinross south- poor. Lots of water holes and has not been touched in several days. The groomer that was down with a bad track is back out there but the guys haven’t been out yet due to water holes.
We have such a variety of terrain on our trail system and these photos really show that. We’re doing the best we can with what mother nature has dealt us. We appreciate your patience as we battle through it.
Ride safe, ride right, ride sober and have a great time out there! ❄️❄️❄️
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Good evening! Finally got my sled back for a little test ride. We met up with our rookie Zeke and Raco Dave on trail 8 between Raco and Brimley. On our way out this section was in rough shape. Zeke is doing a fabulous job with what we have to work with! Still warmer than it should be and the evidence of a week above freezing is definitely out there. Watch for one water hole in this stretch. Hoping it’ll have time to freeze up overnight. We need colder temps to really help them set up but this should hold up ok through tomorrow before lots of traffic hits it.
Sharing our other updates and observations in the next post.
Great job Zeke! We appreciate your time and efforts! Welcome aboard!
WEATHER UPDATE via US National Weather Service Marquette Michigan >> Quiet weather is expected today as highs climb into the 40s with increasing clouds through the day. A cold front will bring light showers to the area tonight, with a wintry mix of precipitation types possible, but not much snow or ice accumulation is expected as lows fall near 30. #miweather #keweenaw#westernup #marquette #munising #seney #newberry #soo #straitsareaQuiet weather is expected today as highs climb into the 40s with increasing clouds through the day. A cold front will bring light showers to the area tonight, with a wintry mix of precipitation types possible, but not much snow or ice accumulation is expected as lows fall near 30. ... See MoreSee Less
WEATHER UPDATE via US National Weather Service Marquette Michigan >> A breezy day is expected today, with westerly gusts to 30 mph expected and a few gusts to 45 mph along the Great Lakes, but otherwise expect showers and fog to clear out in the morning and breaks in the clouds this evening through Friday. Light showers return to the forecast for Saturday. #miweather #keweenaw#westernup #marquette #munising #seney #newberry #soo #straitsareaA breezy day is expected today, with westerly gusts to 30 mph expected and a few gusts to 45 mph along the Great Lakes, but otherwise expect showers and fog to clear out in the morning and breaks in the clouds this evening through Friday. Light showers return to the forecast for Saturday. ... See MoreSee Less
WEATHER UPDATE via US National Weather Service Marquette Michigan >> A wintry mix of freezing drizzle and snow/sleet is expected. Warming temperatures into this evening will change the wintry mix into rain by this evening. Widespread strong southeast gusts to 25 to 35 mph are expected into tonight. Gusts of 40 to 45 mph are possible on the Keweenaw and the eastern sections of the U.P. Light lake effect snow showers are possible for the northwest wind snowbelts on Thursday. #miweather #keweenaw#westernup #marquette #munising #seney #newberry #soo #straitsareaA wintry mix of freezing drizzle and snow/sleet is expected. Warming temperatures into this evening will change the wintry mix into rain by this evening. Widespread strong southeast gusts to 25 to 35 mph are expected into tonight. Gusts of 40 to 45 mph are possible on the Keweenaw and the eastern sections of the U.P. Light lake effect snow showers are possible for the northwest wind snowbelts on Thursday. ... See MoreSee Less
WEATHER UPDATE via US National Weather Service Marquette Michigan >> Snow this morning may create sloppy road conditions for the AM commute. Warming temperatures today will change snow to freezing rain/sleet this afternoon, and then to rain by this evening. Widespread strong southeast gusts to 35 mph expected today. 40 to 45 mph possible in the Keweenaw Peninsula and eastern UP. #miweather #keweenaw#westernup #marquette #munising #seney #newberry #soo #straitsareaSnow this morning may create sloppy road conditions for the AM commute. Warming temperatures today will change snow to freezing rain/sleet this afternoon, and then to rain by this evening. Widespread strong southeast gusts to 35 mph expected today. 40 to 45 mph possible in the Keweenaw Peninsula and eastern UP. ... See MoreSee Less
WEATHER UPDATE via US National Weather Service Gaylord Michigan >> Sunny skies this morning give way to clouds and snow by tonight as another winter weather system heads into Upper Michigan. Continue to monitor the forecast for any changes, and prepare for changes in travel plans, especially in the south central. #miweather #keweenaw#westernup #marquette #munising #seney #newberry #soo #straitsareaSunny skies this morning give way to clouds and snow by tonight as another winter weather system heads into Upper Michigan. Continue to monitor the forecast for any changes, and prepare for changes in travel plans, especially in the south central. #906wx #miwx ... See MoreSee Less
SAULT STE. MARIE AREA UPDATE via Sault Ste. Marie Snowmobile Association >> 3/31/25 A couple of our volunteers, Lane and Dennis, made it out for an 180 mile ride from the Pickford area all the way to Cut River and places in between today, even up trail 49 from Kinross! They definitely encountered some low hanging branches, but no major downed trees and they were surprised how well the trails have held up! Love to see our hard working volunteers out enjoying themselves on this last official day of an amazing season! Are you done riding for the season? Where was your last ride? #soo #snowphotos... See MoreSee Less
WEATHER UPDATE via US National Weather Service Marquette Michigan >> Clear skies are expected overnight. Lows tonight will fall into the single digits over the interior western sections of Upper Michigan. Power outages caused be the ice storm continue over portions of south-central Upper Michigan and may last through the night. Remember to be safe with any type of space heaters and have a working carbon monoxide detector. Please consider checking on your neighbors! #miweather #keweenaw#westernup #marquette #munising #seney #newberry #soo #straitsareaClear skies are expected overnight. Lows tonight will fall into the single digits over the interior western sections of Upper Michigan. Power outages caused be the ice storm continue over portions of south-central Upper Michigan and may last through the night. Remember to be safe with any type of space heaters and have a working carbon monoxide detector. Please consider checking on your neighbors! #906wx #MIwx ... See MoreSee Less
SAULT STE. MARIE AREA UPDATE via Sault Ste. Marie Snowmobile Association >> 3/31/25 Last day of the official season, and oh what a season it has been! We did see significant icing last night, followed by about 2” of snow. I’m sure the trails are icy under the snow. It looks like areas to our northwest such as Paradise and Pine Stump got mostly snow. I would imagine that there are low hanging and broken branches and downed trees in spots, but we were very fortunate based on what I have seen in the Gaylord and Alpena areas. Please keep your eye on those clubs pages. They may need some assistance in the coming weeks. I’ll share if I hear of anything. We got very lucky here. If you’re out and about getting those last rides in, please be safe! Remember, trails on public lands do not close, but will not be groomed. After today, please be mindful of where you are riding to be sure you are not trespassing. We will get gates closed as soon as we can on private property. Ride safe! Thank you to all who have visited our area and supported or local businesses, to all of our members, donors, our volunteers, and especially the landowners who so graciously allow access on their property! We appreciate you all! Thank you for helping make it a great season!! #soo #snowphotos3/31/25
Last day of the official season, and oh what a season it has been!
We did see significant icing last night, followed by about 2” of snow. I’m sure the trails are icy under the snow. It looks like areas to our northwest such as Paradise and Pine Stump got mostly snow. I would imagine that there are low hanging and broken branches and downed trees in spots, but we were very fortunate based on what I have seen in the Gaylord and Alpena areas.
Please keep your eye on those clubs pages. They may need some assistance in the coming weeks. I’ll share if I hear of anything.
We got very lucky here. If you’re out and about getting those last rides in, please be safe!
Remember, trails on public lands do not close, but will not be groomed. After today, please be mindful of where you are riding to be sure you are not trespassing. We will get gates closed as soon as we can on private property.
Ride safe! Thank you to all who have visited our area and supported or local businesses, to all of our members, donors, our volunteers, and especially the landowners who so graciously allow access on their property! We appreciate you all!
Thank you for helping make it a great season!! ... See MoreSee Less