Mn northshore

[Winter Warlock]

Chased snowflakes to the North Shore of Mn last Thursday to Sunday. They supposedly had the best snow in the Midwest, so we paid the $51. trail permit fees and were off.

NORTHSHORE TRAIL - TRAIL 60
Started out early Thursday morning from Two Harbors. Tons of snow, today we would see anywhere from 2 to 3 feet of snow all the way north to Grand Portage. WOW! rare this winter!! Ran into (1) groomer coming up from Duluth in the south....had 2 miles of groomed trail until we caught him. That was the LAST groomed trail we would see all day. Took the boys to the Trestle Inn for lunch and gas at Crooked Lake...moguls....tons of snow no grooming little brushing and absolutely terrible signing! No intersections, towns or businesses were marked with signs on the trail.....the maps, if you could find them had confusing names and/or lettering/numbering.

Talked to many locals they say grooming happens only once a week(if at all) in most areas on the Northshore. Talked to a Forest Ranger outside of Grand Portage. He had called the MN DNR and they weren't going to groom Trail 60 (the main state trail) until Saturday. Folks they had gotten over 1 to 2 feet of snow a week ago......frustrating!

The casino at Grand Portage had their trails groomed Friday morning and about 20 miles towards trail 60 on the Gunflint trail, after that the Gunflint wasn't groomed.

We headed west on the Tomahawk trail.....more of the same great snow no grooming. Then headed further west on the Taconite trail towards Tower and Lake Vermillion. Picked up a grooming by where we were staying at Fortune Bay Casino.

Everything was groomed up pretty good around Tower and especially in Babbit, where their trails were groomed 20 miles or better west and east of town on the Stoney spur trail. Lost grooming after the Babbit system and pounded moguls to Isabella and picked up the Yukon trail by the Knotted Pine bar. Yukon (cornelius?) trail was groomed about 50 out of 60 miles headed down to Two Harbors. only bad where they couldn't groom the swamp....tooo wet. Once hitting the "just groomed" trail 60 to get back to the motel in Two Harrbors the trail was "junk" all the way to Two Harbors.

560 miles in 3 days. I was supposed to go riding for another 3 days with Jim Andros just outside of Duluth but respectfully declined as I won't be riding Mn anytime soon in the future.

 

[oldguy]

Winter Warlock
Sorry you had rough trails but as a local in northern MN this is a reality with a warm winter. The state of MN grooms most of the rough trails you were on. If a swamp is wet, mostly caused by beaver dams, the state simply will not groom it until the area is fully froze or the beaver dam is eradicated. With limited road access to these areas the groomers simply can’t take a road to go around the wet areas. The local clubs do the best they can to get around these wet spots and that’s why you had a patch work of groomed and not groomed trails. As far as signage I would agree completely with you. It’s frustrating when you come to a "T" in the trail with no sign about what direction to take. Some clubs do a much better job on this then others. A lot of the brushing and fixing up of trails don’t start until the groomer makes it’s first pass thru and they use the groomer to push back the brush.

I have a little over a 1,000 miles on so far this season riding in this area. Some of those miles were horrible, but some of the miles were not so bad. By they end of next week I believe everything will be groomed and excellent shape except for the lack of signage in some areas, that problem seems to be a issue every year. You paid the $51.00 you might want to reconsider about coming back up later this season.

 

[firefighter1]

As a Minnesota resident I agree with most all of your comments. Three of us headed to Moose Lake area last Tuesday for the day to ride. While a lot of the trails were groomed the signing was very limited and anytime we got off the corridor trails it looked as though they hadn’t been brushed in years. In two weeks about 4-6 guys are going on a week long ride and some wanted to do Northern Minnesota but after last week I can’t take that chance. I will give you my point of view on signing from a guy who travels to different areas to ride a fair amount. My opinion is both northern Minnesota and Wisconsin seem to sign the trails with locals in mind. So if you are not from the area a sign with a local bar name on it doesn’t help us in determining where I am going. On our trail system we put a sign up at every intersection with names of the next towns and miles to get there. We also have added an enclosed trail map sign showing exactly where you are on the trail system, below that we put the name of bars, restaurants and gas stations. I understand everyone signs differently and if I only rode one a year and got lost that’s probably on me. But I ride 2500-3000 miles a season and if I circle your city twice (St. Germain) to find my way in we may have a signing issue. Luckily we met another group who had done the same thing we did because of no signs and we each showed which trails we had taken and finally figured we take the only trail left that neither group had ridden yet. 15 minutes later we were checked in to the motel. This is not meant to hurt any feelings, I am just agreeing with the post above on some signing problems I have noticed over the last 20+ years. Sometimes getting lost is part of the fun.

 

[snowman0808]

I was up in Grand Marais this past weekend as well and for the most part I am going to have to agree with Winter Warlock's overall summary.

Here is an in-depth summary and some thoughts on our trip. Drove up Thursday night and town was virtually deserted at 10PM. Trying to find a place to grab a refreshment after the long drive was a challenge as most options closed by 10PM.

Friday morning we took of from GM to head up the Gunflint trail and it was in good shape and plenty of snow. Went north on the Clearwater Spur and it was also in good shape. Stopped at Hungry Jack Lodge for a bite to eat and refreshments. Great place, good food and nice people... a must stop. Continued north to Gunflint Lodge and trail was not groomed as well and in some places was downright terrible. A quick stop at the Lodge and decided to try to go a bit farther north and we would live to regret this decision. Trail was terrible.... period. We made it a handful of miles and abandoned our plan and turned around and pointed the sleds to Trail Center and Gunflint trail was starting to get a little rough. Once arriving at Trail Center it was packed with the sled dog race pre-festivities so we moved on. Hopped on the Expressway Trail to Devils Track Lake then across the lake to Skyport Lodge which was full. Had some dinner and headed back to Grand Marais. By this time the Gunflint trail was hammered and the short trip back took it's toll.

Saturday morning our plan was to head to Grand Portage and the Gunflint had been groomed overnight so it was in fair condition going north to Blueberry Road. Portions of southern Blueberry Road were decent others were bad and a small portion was absolutely terrible. There is a 1 mile section were logging is going on that is bad followed by 2 more miles of plowed road and then a few miles of very rough and uneven trail. About half way up it got much better and you can make up the lost time. Once you enter the reservation the grooming is always good and traffic is light. If you take any of the loop trails it is likely that only a sled or two has even been on it. We took the Partridge Falls loop and this was great. We stopped at the Casino, which has been remodeled, for lunch and then turned back. Upon hitting the Gunflint to head back to Grand Marais we realized we were going to be in for a long trip. By late in the afternoon is was complete trash. We decided to stop at Skyport again to take a break from the beating. Just when we thought it could not get worse we were proven wrong! The trail back to town was some of the worst miles I have travelled. The conditions were so bad and mogals so big I stood for almost the entire eight or so miles.

We were planning to stay until Monday but after seeing the forecast and the announcement of the Cook County club not to groom Saturday night we changed plans and loaded up first thing Sunday morning and left for home.

I also agree that the signage is a complete joke. It would not take a lot of effort to simply put the towns and main points of interest with an arrow. I think we will look at Babbitt area for our next trip.

 

[dragonwannabe]

Headed up there on Thursday and this thread concerns me a bit. There were predictions of some significant snowfall last night and today. Anybody know if that just turned out to be a flop??

 

[JimAndros]

Jeb & others,
For those that are not familiar with my background: In the recent past is I lived in Conover, WI (Vilas County) & was a member of the Conover Sno-Buddies for for 5 years, groomed for 3 & was the recording secretary as well as the trail reporter for the SnoTracks report & the phone line. Moved to Duluth area in Nov '17. I ended up Buying a house in Meadowlands Jan 31st. Meadowlands is basically a ghost town from the past when family farms were profitable. Population about 135, one bar & post office. School is long closed, no gas station and/or convenience store. And no motel or resort to rent a room, so only snowmobilers are locals. Our trail thru town is an old rail grade for several miles each way before you can make any turns off it.

So with that in mind, understand that I will compare trails, grooming, signage & ability to get in contact with the local clubs based on living there.
The area here is flat as the name implies. Several trails run rail grades & power lines, no lake crossings. Boring but it is what it is. The North Shore area and from the Range (Hibbing/Virginia/Ely) north has more terrain.

Meadowlands does not have a club, we are sort of absorbed by Alborn & Floodwood. Alborn has nothing except for 1 bar in town & one a few miles NW. The area map is a composite of both clubs. Alborn has an ad including the address of their clubhouse/groomer shed but no phone number. They have a FB account, no website. I don't do FB but was able to determine meetings are the 2nd Tuesday at 7PM. But I can only assume they take place at the clubhouse as they don't bother to state that.
Floodwood also has no website and I am unable to find a phone number or time or place for their meetings. Oh yes, they also DO NOT have an ad in their own map! How ridiculous is that?

With limited snow last season, I got out once at the end of February. Trails were actually pretty nice (the grade & powerline sections boring). Signage was bad, horrible actually. Only locals that have lots of years could really know where they are at all times.

Fast forward to this season. I had time to drive around & learn some roads and basically get orientated with the area. That was a help, but signage is still horrible. Would you believe that about 200' from the Alborn clubhouse the trail goes due north heading towards Virginia but has absolutely not one sign marking it's existence? On the return heading south, you will find a "stop ahead" sign that is partially bent over but no stop sign at the intersection, just an empty post. Fail to stop & you will be flying straight into HWY 47.

I did 145 miles today, Meadowlands SE on the grade to Alborn, then north on the above mentioned trail to Canyon (bar & food, no gas) crossed HWY 53 heading east on the trail that eventually connects to the North Shore. Trail was basically good until I crossed 53, then horrible; 20 MPH at best. There is a turn that is poorly marked at best directing you to the gas station at Independence (gas/convenience but no food). Eventually I connected to the Three Lakes trail & headed north. Overall, the best trail I found today. Took that until I crossed back across 53 then north towards Cotton (food & gas). Trail was fair to good. Looped around the River Loop & headed back to Alborn. From Canyon to Alborn I was following my own trails back, no one else had ridden it. From Alborn I took the trail to Floodwood. Trail was fair to good until I got to the Floodwood (gas/food/rooms) section, then it was a bit worse. Stopped in Floodwood to eat, then west along the north side of HWY 2 to the powerlines north. I will rate this whole section as good. Took the grade back SE to Meadowlands. This stretch was good to very good. I was making the 1st tracks thru the snow at the road crossings and that was at 8:30 PM. Saw one other sled the whole day.

- - - Updated - - -

 

[ehendog]

JimAndros
We live in the cities but have family in Floodwood and have snowmobiled out of there for over 20 years. We agree signage is horrible and the clubs & business owners need to realize that people from out of town may be on their trails and looking for places to eat and get gas. I can get you a contact for the Floodwood club if you are interested. We are members but not active since meetings are usually mid week. It would be great for a newcomer to get involved to bring up these signage issues as a new person to the area. I'm sure if you were willing to help they would greatly appreciate it because as you know from being a club member its usually a few doing the majority of the work.

Did you ride before or after the rain on Monday. We may head up to Floodwood on Friday but thinking everything is frozen???? Let me know your thoughts on riding up there this weekend.

 

[JimAndros]

I rode Monday afternoon, cloudy but after the precip. In Meadowlands, it started ad a drizzle maybe midnight Sunday then turned to about 1/4" of crusty snow. As I got east of 53, there was maybe 1 inch of new crusty snow.

I get that this isn't Vilas & don't expect trails to be groomed nightly. But that being said, just as I was getting ready to leave the Mainline Station in Floodwood, 2 guys (50-60ish) came in without riding gear, so I assume by car. They asked how the trails were & I told them. Maybe I was a bit harsh, considering the terrible conditions were all east of 53 & I had not yet ridden west to the power line & north back home. They replied that they wouldn't be groomed until Friday for the weekend. I have no idea who they were, someone from the club or just someone spouting out.

In my opinion, trails should be groomed for the weekend and then again after it is over. Fresh trails Monday would typically stay decent until Friday considering the light traffic we have. If there is a decent snowfall, they need to be groomed again.

Since this isn't really the North Shore (I hijacked it responding to Jeb's original post), I will start a Meadowlands/Alborn/Floodwood thread.

 

[old abe]

Yeah Jim, Minnee isn't Wissy, no way. But we really like that N/E part of Minne, but the grooming is not Wis. like. I believe I met you in Jan of 17, in Sidnaw if my memory is good. One of my farm landlords winters in Conover. Perhaps if we go your way this year, I'll PM you. We have had a plan to ride from Conover to Minnee, and then to where ever, and return to Conover. My riding bud is down with knee surgery, and my wife has a has a immobilizer on due to broken foot. So I'm down, and side lined as of now. Be safe.