Maine Snowmobile Trail Alerts

March 1, 2010: Last week brought heavy rain to southern, central and eastern Maine, but mountain areas and highlands received from 12 to 24 inches of heavy snow. Very cold conditions expected for Thursday through Saturday nights.

Caution: Streams and inlet-outlet areas of lakes are not safely frozen. Northern lakes are still OK but be extremely cautious as ice is thinner than normal, and many were opened up even more due to flooding from the rain last week or have deep slush hidden under the recent snowfall.

Check out NOAA'a 24-hour snowfall map for Maine and other northeast snowmobile areas.

For more details, visit our snowmobile trail grooming reports page.

Current reports for the 2009-2010 season will be posted once the season starts. Here are some examples from past winters. Logging operations change frequently. Check with local clubs for up to date trail changes.

Note: Many trails are currently blocked or plowed due to forestry activities. This is typically over before sledding season gets going strong, but not always. For example, the Stacyville Road and the Logan Pond Trail in the Millinocket area are closed through New Years due to a logging operation. There is a chance that this would open up by New Years. Groomers not be grooming and NO riding is allowed on plowed roads. The Twin Pines groomers may not be able to groom south to Millinocket due to a current logging operation and a plowed road. The logging is scheduled to run into early to Mid-January and access to Millinocket will be via the Pole Line or the Wild Kingdom Trail. That's the way it goes.

• Greenville-Kokadjo-JoMary-Katahdin Area Riders - January 2010:

  The Kokadjo club has closed some old trails in the Roach Ponds area -- this is not by choice, but at the request of the new landowner, the Appalachian Mountain Club. The AMC has also blocked the 110 connector trail from Greenville to Gulf Hagas because another landowner at the Ironworks end is plowing the road for a logging operation. The trail from the KI Gate to B Pond is also closed due to this operation. Hence, even with a big snowstorm you can't ride the 110 from Greenville to Brownville -- you must go to Kokadjo, then to JoMary, and take the 111 connector to Ebeemee and then to Brownville.

  Greenville - September 2007:

  More bad news for sportsmen about the Appalachian Mountain Club's (AMC) Katahdin Ironworks lands. The AMC has negotiated a purchase agreement for 29,500 acres around the Roach Ponds east of Kokadjo, and just north of their KI lands. The actual purchase date is uncertain.

  They have agreed to continue the ITS 86 through the area (Kokadjo to Penobscot Pond, onward to Namakanta and Millinocket), but there are no announced plans to allow the club trails to remain open. This will mean an end to groomed trails from B Pond to Penobscot Pond and Kokadjo, and the several loops that this route incorporated.

  Greenville - January 2007:

  AUGUSTA - January 16, 2007: The Land for Maine's Future Board voted today to approve granting $1,250,000 to the Appalachian Mountain Club (AMC) for an easement on their Katahdin Ironworks lands. The AMC will also receive almost $4,500,000 from the Federal Forest Heritage program.

  The AMC receives these funds even though they have eliminated over thirty miles of formerly designated trails, as well as off-trail snowmobiling on 10,500 acres. The ITS 110 connector through the Ironworks will remain as a designated trail, and even though the AMC has installed gates and road blocks in the past, they promised today that the gates and roads will remain open. It is unclear whether off-road riding will be permitted, but time will tell.

  The Moosehead Riders have had ongoing talks with AMC and the DOC (Maine Department of Conservation) on trying to gain access to club and local trails in the AMC purchase. While almost every politician in the state has been involved in this process, it appears at this time we will not be getting any of the requested trails back.

  Even though AMC will receive nearly six million dollars of public money, motorized access is being denied in the northern portion of the track because it is being designated as an ecological preserve for "non-motorized" recreation. This area cuts right through the club and local trail system that has been used for decades. Even though snowmobile traffic in this area would be minimal, AMC claims that they must keep this "quiet" area free of any motorized traffic.

  However, the AMC uses their own snowmobiles to groom snowshoe and ski touring trails, and to bring paying customers to their commercial lodge on Little Lyford Pond. They also use snowmobiles to transport gear to other camps while the guests travel by ski or dogsled.

  It seems that very few people, including the politicians who originally supported this easement, knew that the $6,000,000 was buying a private, "quiet" area for a commercial operation. A representative from Senator Collins office attended today's meeting and expressed concern that this outcome may not have been clear when the AMC first applied for the Federal funds.

  The AMC's purchase of 37,000 acres in the middle of important snowmobile trail country that has served residents with outstanding back-country riding for years is a major loss to our local sport and economy. Back-country riding is the backbone of local snowmobiling and brings many riders to Greenville to enjoy the grandeur of our mountainous region.

• Bingham: None at this time.
• Brownville: See the AMC alerts above.
• Caribou - January 2006: None at this time.
• The Forks/West Forks/Parlin Pond: None at this time.
• Greenville Junction/Squaw Mt. Area: None at this time.
• Jackman: None at this time.
• Katahdin Region-JoMary area: See the AMC alerts above.
• Katahdin Region-Millinocket area: See the AMC alerts above.
• Kokadjo: See the AMC alerts above.
• Oxbow: None at this time.
• Rangeley: None at this time.
• Rockwood: None at this time.
• Shin Pond-Bowlin-Matagamon area: None at this time.