Wanderlust: strong longing or impulse toward wandering.
As much as I love riding from Indian Lake, late winter is the time I look for something outside my usual radius.
My most recent ride on South Warren Snowmobile Club trails was way back in 2015. Other than riding up Prospect Mountain, I had very little “muscle memory.” Essentially, I would be riding the system with a new set of eyes.
Perfect! Tuesday morning, I pulled the trigger and hauled the ilsnow mobile command center SOUTH.
To Lake Luzerne
Got to South Warren groomer barn off Interstate-87 Exit 21 and began rolling by 10:30am. When I saw fresh groomer marks in every direction, I knew the day was won! All I had to do was collect my prize.
Embarked on my ride through C4B. SWEET!
From WARR 17 intersection, S43B to Lake Vanare had yet to enjoy a fresh groom. But it was enjoyable enough.
Picked up a fresh groom on C4A at the other side of Lake Vanare.
GREAT RIDING on S44 and S49 to Lake Luzerne.
From Lake Luzerne, I couldn’t find the connector railroad trail into Saratoga Snowmobile Association trails. Don’t think I would have ridden it because I despise riding on rails, but I was curious and gathering intel. Some fellow riders I would meet at lunch later told me how it’s done.
Doubled back to WARR 27 intersection and rode C4A winding between two mountains with a beautiful view.
Found a bit of pole dancing on C4A when I got to the valley below.
C4A dead-ended at the substation, so I doubled back through S46 to American Legion for a nice little spur jaunt.
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To Hudson River and Prospect Mountain
From WARR 22 intersection, I rolled through S47 & S44. Found some bumps for a short stretch, then followed a fresh groom through S42/Buttermilk trail which led to an absolutely GORGEOUS ride along the Hudson River.
From there, S42 was a fun and ear-popping elevation change toward the back side of Prospect Mountain.
Saw a new groom on the connector trail toward North Warren Trailblazers. More great riding!
Alas, mint riding ended at the entrance to North Warren. Trail became littered with low to modest rollers for miles. Didn’t have the will to press it through to Warrensburg, knowing what I left behind. Took a breather at this spot and enjoyed the view before turning tail.
Last few miles of S42 leading to Prospect Mountain had a surprising amount of carbide clank for the good amount of snow hidden up there.
When in Rome, the view from Prospect Mountain is must see, even during an overcast afternoon.
After a stay up there to enjoy, S42 was an effortless slide down the Prospect Mountain snowmobile superhighway.
To Lake George
After I got back to South Warren groomer barn, I embarked on a loop via C4A, S44 and C4B. With the exception of a tattered-at-times stretch on C4B between WARR 27 and 19 intersections, most was nice riding.
After I completed the loop, I rolled C4 into Lake George and found the groomed trail along NY-9L.
Encountered some roadside rash until I found the trail to The Garrison for late lunch.
Talked to a group of riders for a while who spotted me as I walked in. They had started at Lake Desolation, rode through South Warren, Thurman Connection and much of the way to Speculator before turning back. Didn’t seem like they were missing the couch.
After that crew headed back out to finish their ride, I ordered a blackened bacon blue burger and side of sweet potato fries. Good eats on a cold day!
Back to the truck
After lunch, I dropped onto Lake George, just to say that I did. Lake was pretty rough with frozen slush, didn’t have any interest in tooling around on it.
Once I got back to South Warren groomer barn, I rolled a mini loop through S41 & S42C via C4A to finish the ride. Caught sunset along the way.
Got back to the truck with 100 easy going miles. EXACTLY the ride I was looking for! Nearly everything I rode in South Warren had been freshly groomed for Tuesday.
High traffic trails were brown-ish in places from holiday week volume. But groomed flat is groomed flat in any color.
Ride map
Click here for ride stats, larger map and 3D Flyover
Bottom line
South Warren Snowmobile Club enjoys a strong reputation for working their snow, whether they have little or a lot.
I can tell you they milled it to EXCELLENCE! On my way back to the truck, I encountered a South Warren groomer leaving the barn to lay down MORE RIBBON.
Destination signs were at most major intersections. Very good at guiding visiting riders around.
I won’t wait another 11 years to ride here again.
If you got an itch for South Warren, definitely hit it this week! Keep it in-house for a leisurely ride or connect with surrounding trail systems to pile on miles.
We’re almost into March. Gotta ride it while we got it!
For the ilsnow nation,
Darrin
