Wednesday was a great spring ride, but conditions have gone steeply downhill since then.
It’s one thing to have warm days. But having it stay mild like it did Thursday night keeps the snow melt going 24/7.
Lakes have standing water with the ice getting incrementally weaker by the day. They are certainly “at your own risk riding.”
The smart call would be to stay off the ice:
Snow cover is still running 2 feet or greater in spots over the south-central Adirondacks, but that doesn’t tell the whole story this time of year:
Snow cover is getting rapidly eaten away from roads, buildings, driveways, trees and southerly exposures as the strong early spring sunshine continues to do its dirty work. Thin and bare areas are growing daily.
Weekend Outlook
Could you ride the Indian Lake local trails? Clinically, technically, you could. But I would not advise doing that. Anything near roadsides are getting skunky and melt water is starting to break up the trails over swampy spots. Even in the woods, trails are becoming wet ice.
With the roadsides and parking lots pretty much skunked, making the connections into town for food and gas is gonna be ugly at best.
538/Newcomb trail may still offer a good ride for the majority of it. But that first 3-4 miles is likely to be thin and getting bare in spots due to the plowing it received most of the winter.
Perkins Clearing from the Mason Lake parking lot is probably the most solid bet, with plenty of snow cover remaining….especially as you head toward the back side via Jessup River Road and Carpenter Hill Road.
Speculator Tree Farm probably still offers some decent left-over riding as well. People like to park at the Pig Rock parking lot north of Speculator or the Old Route 30 parking lot in Wells to hit that.
I heard that Moose River Plains was rough from Cedar River Headquarters to Silver Run, but still smooth riding on the Inlet side earlier this week. Of course, the final 2 miles to the Limekiln Gate is likely to be completely shot. You’d have to hump the dirty snowbank to get to the trailhead from the Brown’s Farm parking lot, which doesn’t sound like much fun.
Early April?
ilsnow land will probably pick up some minor accumulating snow Sunday night into early Monday. But that would be nothing more than a cheap thrill as we close out the snowmobiling season.
Town of Webb/Inlet snowmobile trails officially close for the season on April 1st.
Unlike the “good old days” when you could run trails on State land until the snow disappears, the gates will likely swing shut on that before we know it.
So if you got an inkling to give it one last shot, do it this weekend.
For the ilsnow nation,
Darrin
This report is brought to you by Adirondacks Speculator Region Chamber of Commerce. Speculator has long been one of my favorite places to ride! There are lots of options, whether you want to ride around Speculator for the day, or launch a 250 mile mega-miler. Speculator is loaded with businesses eager to cater to snowmobilers. Look them up at the Speculator Chamber and grab a copy of their snowmobile trail map. Be sure to tell them that Darrin @ ilsnow.com sent you.
