(Photo: Visit Cook County)
With this week’s dose of winter, many snowmobilers are itching to ride during the holiday — but the D-N-R reminds people that most state snowmobile trails are not yet ready. Spokesman Andrew Korsberg says it’s important to have solid frozen ground underneath, “so that when they do the initial packing of the trail system, then the conditions can stay good throughout the season.” Korsberg adds a number of trails cross over swampy areas and “when we get too much snow early in the season, it can impact the ability of those areas to freeze properly.”
December 1st is the official opening of state snowmobile trails, but Korsberg says some could remain closed after that due to individual conditions. And officials remind all Minnesotans that, after an unusually warm fall, lake and river ice is not safe anywhere in the state.