Christmas riding

southdakotaboy

New member
I am heading to duluth mn area for christmas and i will be trailering my sled with as well. just curious if there were any areas within an hour or so from duluth that would be awesome to ride.
 

vmax1994

New member
Unless things change, the closest area with snow will be the Bayfield Peninsula of Wisconsin. You can drop in Iron River and head north or you could drop in Port Wing/Herbster/Cornucopia.

Don't expect great conditions but things should be OK especially in the northern half of the peninsula.
 

vmax1994

New member
Come to think of it, you could try to trailer to as close as Poplar, Wi and take Trail 2 (Tri-County Corridor) to the east. Since Trail 2 is right off Highway 2, you can stop and check it out and see if you want to drop there or head farther east to drop.
 

vmax1994

New member
Stop at one of the bigger gas stations on Highway 2 as you head out of Superior and they should have a trail sticker ($35). They may have a Douglas County map but probably not a Bayfield County map. Almost all of pit stops (bars) in the area will have maps.

For an online Bayfield map, go to bayfield.org/pdf/snowmobilemap07-08.pdf.
 

vmax1994

New member
I have a 98 600 vmax that is now a backup sled. My current ride is a 2007 SkiDoo GSX 600 Limited. If I see a 96 vmax up there after xmas, I'll say hi.
 

southdakotaboy

New member
Sounds good me and a buddy are planning on making the trip over to wisconsin on saturday morning and staying all day and going out again on sunday as well
 

98zr600Jory

New member
ha yea i cant wait...cudos to john dee this is a great webpage. so sdboy and everyone else would it be a better idea to travel withen a hour of duluth or would it be better to just go to ironwood mi?
 

southdakotaboy

New member
hahah i am already going 6.5-7 hours to duluth i dont know how much more i could take but for some good pow pow i wouldnt mind going a few extra miles
 

vmax1994

New member
Here's the latest report for Bayfield County....hope the storm hits so conditions improve.

Northwest: Sunday, December 20: All trails in the Port Wing area have had at least one pass by the groomer this past week and are in good to very good condition. Use caution on trail 1 from Port Wing to Cornucopia due to icy spots in the low areas. We expect more snow later this week and grooming will resume at that time.

Northeast: Sunday, December 20: All trails have been groomed except part of trail 1 that is too wet. Waiting for more SNOW.

Central: Sunday, December 20: all trails in and around Iron River have been groomed. At this time any lake crossings are not advised as the ice is not deemed safe on any of the surrounding lakes. Trails 21 and 31 are extremely rough and rocky. The remainder of the trails in the area are in good shape. We have had only 8 to 12 inches of “fluffy”, dry snow since the 8th of December which has settled leaving little to groom.

Southeast: Wednesday, December 16: Made the circuit the last couple of days. Can't go to Clam Lake on trail 8 yet. Almost no base to speak of. Wetland areas were scary at times but didn't get stuck. Early season conditions.....
 

southdakotaboy

New member
Nice info thanks alot! ... we are tracking a big storm in south dakota as well they are forecasting 8-12+ which is kind of unheard of for the southeast sd region lol/ hopen it returns the favor up north!
 

dafuzz

New member
If the storm JD predicts stays on track, you should be able to ride from Duluth, or maybe up the north shore somewhere. If the snow misses the north shore, drive the extra miles to Ironwood, you won't be disappointed, the snow there is great for early season. I've been trailering over there instead of riding anywhere in Ashland or Bayfield counties, the snows just so much better after you cross the Iron County line.
 

southdakotaboy

New member
good to know i hope i just make it out of town on wed before the storm hits we are under a winter storm warning for wed through friday snow ending on saturday
 

bladerunner

New member
Fish lake & Island Lake area

If you want to ride very close to Duluth go here, reservoir riders www.reservoirridersduluth.com have a very good good trail system that connects to North shore trails to the no and iron range trail to the west. Even if you just stick to the club trails you will have a blast. I reccomend the Cloquet River in as a good pit stop, and you can unload at one of 3 bars on fish lake (I like Hi Banks if it is still there?)

If it dumps like they say there is no need to, or will you want to drive to Ironwood or Bayfield.
 

bladerunner

New member
Iron River

If you feel the need to head east You can access the Bayfield trail system on the west end at Iron River. You do not need to drive all the way to Bayfield, and they are way more snowmobile friendly in this area. Don't forget your trail permit in either MN or WI.
 
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