Thanks Wag for the video's. I shows the trail conditions much better than I can describe. 5T has improved greatly since I was on it on Dec. 15. You do owe us for wrecking a perfectly groomed trail. What do you think of the new playground?
Christmas Holiday Condition, Black Hills
- Thread starter sdsnocop
- Start date
W
mixed feelings.....if we had 4+ ft. of snow 
....But when you see it with this much snow it's really scary looking...big rocks, fence posts, ect. but still sweet.
....But when you see it with this much snow it's really scary looking...big rocks, fence posts, ect. but still sweet.
S
You are correct SDsnocop. It is depressing looking at the temps on the weather reports but the snotel gives the temps on the trail which are colder. Thanks for the tip. 
The current temps listed are not actual current temps. The data is downloaded every night at 12am PST. There is an hourly chart giving current temps in celcius. The site is fun to play with. You can go back in history and see temp and snow depth info going back to 2003.
where to ride?
the family and i are heading up tomarrow and are going to ride tues,wed,thurs. was wondering were some decent snow would be. either thinking of trailering to rec springs or trails head. its one of my first sons trips out where he will be rideing his own sled so it will be slower rideing. any info would be greatly appreciated. thanks in advance.
the family and i are heading up tomarrow and are going to ride tues,wed,thurs. was wondering were some decent snow would be. either thinking of trailering to rec springs or trails head. its one of my first sons trips out where he will be rideing his own sled so it will be slower rideing. any info would be greatly appreciated. thanks in advance.
W
I would trailer out of Trailshead. The trails out of Rec Springs are narrower and wind through the trees. The trails are a little more open in the Trailshead area and there will be more opportunities to jump off along the trail if other snowmobilers need to get around your family.
C
Not good
Well rode around quite a bit. 140 miles. Was playing off trail at the lame 8-12 mph. Don't dare go any faster. Hit a rock at that speed and bent a A arm on the 08 Summit. Hopefully that is all I bent.
They are not grooming. Trails were actually fairly good until the way home on the 26th at around 7:00pm. They must have seen lots of traffic because they were looking like MN moguls the whole way down the trail. We went from a few 10 foot bare spots on the 24th to lots of bare spots, some for 1/2 mile at a time around the logging. I don't know why the loggers feel they have to use the snowmobile trail to access. They could send us sleds around the logging areas easy enough so we dont' have to drive across their dirt but whatever.
Not very good. Save your money for our first big 2+ foot dumping. It is coming. We are always late starters. Although this is one of the latest starts I have seen in years.
Well rode around quite a bit. 140 miles. Was playing off trail at the lame 8-12 mph. Don't dare go any faster. Hit a rock at that speed and bent a A arm on the 08 Summit. Hopefully that is all I bent.
They are not grooming. Trails were actually fairly good until the way home on the 26th at around 7:00pm. They must have seen lots of traffic because they were looking like MN moguls the whole way down the trail. We went from a few 10 foot bare spots on the 24th to lots of bare spots, some for 1/2 mile at a time around the logging. I don't know why the loggers feel they have to use the snowmobile trail to access. They could send us sleds around the logging areas easy enough so we dont' have to drive across their dirt but whatever.
Not very good. Save your money for our first big 2+ foot dumping. It is coming. We are always late starters. Although this is one of the latest starts I have seen in years.
Rode out of trailshead today went one one and jumped to 2 an that was ok nothing to bad or to good found a few little places for the kids to play. after dinner went out. Behind trailshead on 1 and it was pretty bumpy newer sleds are ok on the, older ones with old shocks you would get beat up. Found a couple places to play but there are alot of stumps and trees a few inches under the snow and ya have to really watch it. Were heading. Ack up tomarow. Ya have to realize tho that what is up here is what we usualy get at home all year long so i aint complaining.
The loggers have to make a living too. Due to the pine beetle epidemic agressive logging will be required. Due to wet conditions in the spring and early summer it is July before they can get into the forest to log. Frozen ground makes for ideal conditions to log. Whether we like it or not we will continue to have to deal with logging within some of our snowmobile trail areas. The loggers are limited to routes just as we are limited in developing snowmobile trail routes.
Grooming has been limited to protect what trail base we have. I expect they will touchup some of the busier trails that have groomable snow this week.
S
Snowmobilefanatics.com has a thread i created for Black Hill riders, i put a think on there to snowest. Feel free anyone to post on there, it is free and always will be.
http://www.snowmobilefanatics.com/forum/topic/127491-south-dakota#1273320
http://www.snowmobilefanatics.com/forum/topic/127491-south-dakota#1273320
going on trip to the hills tomorrow... hows it gonna be? any suggestions on where to go? last year we trailered from our cabin to trailshead... whats the best to do right now?
It has been raining in Hulett for a couple hours now. Maybe it is coming down as snow at higher elevations????
Looking at webcam it is definitely snowing at trailshead. I am guessing it is some heavy wet snow which should be good for building a base.
We left our cabin at terry peek this morning about 1100 and it was snowing real good at that time
S
W
3 inches of very heavy wet snow fell today in the Hardy Camp / Trailshead area. 3 inches also fell as far South as trail 1 South of 8. Less new snow as you go East. Less than 1 inch at Black Fox. I had reports of some rain in the Lead area, Spearfish Canyon and Deerfield. I have not been able to confirm those reports or seen what damage was done. The thin areas South on Trail 1 on FS 117 and trail 8 are now good with the new snow. The heavy wet snow now keeps your carbides off the gravel making access to some of the snow to the South much better. I rode into Mountain Meadow yesterday without any problems. I did take a shortcut accross the lake. Trail 2 around Flag Mountain was still very thin. Trail 9 going West was good. As I went by the jucntion of Trail 9 and 1 I noticed now one had been South of 9. It had been groomed around Dec. 15 and still had an inch of snow that fell last week and had not been touched. Those asking about trailering to ride I would recommend trailering to Trailshead, Spearfish Canyon or Big Hill. Trailering out of Dumont or Rec Springs you will find sections of bare trails due to prior logging activity. They groomed last night on some of the highly traveled trails that had snow. They plan on limited grooming again Friday night. Snow is predicted again Friday night thru Saturday.
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