CURRENT TRAIL REPORT CONDITIONS & OPENINGS

Took a ride today around noon and headed south on ITS 87 into Solon, then continued on the secondary ITS 113 trail, then to the Solon Snowhawks Club trail #23, to the Iron Gate Rd. Then continued on the Windmill Loop around to the Bald Mountain trail. From there I followed the Pleasant Pond trail back to ITS 87 and followed it all the way back to the shop. Here is what I found. The 12" of fresh snow we received has finally got some moisture in it and is now more like mashed potatoes. A little cold weather to follow will set them up nice for the start of vacation weekend!

ITS 87 south down to the Solon Dam was in good shape with minimal bumps. Solon had not been out to groom by the looks of it Saturday night, or there was a tremendous amount of traffic Sunday as there trails are usually in great shape.

ITS 113 was much of the same bumpy conditions but had good coverage.

Iron Gate Rd was in great shape, with excellent coverage and groomed after the storm. There were studder bumps up the middle but they were small and consistent enough to get a good rip down that 2 mi stretch of straight.

Windmill Loop had great coverage but was very rough and irregular. Good news is the logging operation appeared to finished up as you last leave Rt 16 at the top of Cook Hill.

Once hitting the section at the end of Austin Pond where we join with Northern Outdoors, the trails were fantastic all the way back to the shop. The upper portion of Bald Mtn was not groomed yet but the Pleasant Pond trail and ITS 87 south back to our system was in great shape despite the fair amount of traffic on Sunday afternoon on it.

Once hitting our club section on ITS 87 south I found much of the same great conditions. Even some of the thinner spots coming in town were covered up pretty well and iciness was minimal to non-existent.

Well 2"-3" of fresh snow has fallen in the last 24hrs, putting a nice coating of fresh lubricant on our trails. All Valley Riders SC trails were groomed at the end of last weekend and are in great shape. There is still the occasional loose rock exposed so be mindful. ITS 87 north toward the Forks is thin for the first 8mi but has good coverage and is as flat as can be considering conditions. From that point to where we meet the Forks is flat and fast with excellent coverage. ITS 87 south is groomed and in fantastic shape all the way to the Solon Dam. Pretty rough and thin if continuing toward the Solon Superette, but should be taken care of with 1 pass from the groomer. ITS 84 east toward Athens was groomed and fantastic all the way to the end of Mahoney Hill. IRON GATE RD...It is being groomed again this year!!! This trail hasn't been groomed for about a week but is fairly flat with excellent coverage. You will find some studder bumps that are very manageable, and still allow you to hit 100mph while going around that rocket ship loop with spots you can see for 2mi. If you have ever checked this trail out we highly recommend it. From ITS 84 at the end of Mahoney Hill Rd it will loop you around to the Wind Mill trail intersection and connector back to ITS 87. Feel free to stop in the shop for directions. Sunshine trail to Withee Pond trail is in fantastic shape as always. When continuing back to ITS 87 you will notice that the Town Line Rd did finally get plowed down to Dead Water but still has good coverage on it. The other club connector closest to town has also been recently groomed and in great shape, offering our tightest and windiest trail in our club system. The Wind Mill trail is still in good shape as well. Grooming efforts flattened the trail back out and make this a great route. The very top has gotten thin, but is covered. It is however very icy at Tower 30, which is the big lookout bluff most people are familiar with. Breakneck Ridge trail has been being groomed and I was told was in great shape! Finally...not bashing, but I did go through the Forks system from Austin Pond to the Bald Mountain trail and then headed left on the Pleasant Pond trail and followed ITS 87 south back to the shop. Coverage was good but their trail system was very bumpy. It appears that they did not groom at the end of last weekend, but possibly got a late start last night as I came through the Pleasant Pond intersection at 5:30pm putting out trail signs and had no groomer sightings. Coverage was actually still quite good, trails just needed a pass with the groomer. Even though is was bumpy and somewhat annoying,it was also tolerable. Do be careful if you come across other sections like this that did not get groomed at the end of last weekend as the corners very quite icy even with picks. If you are up this way and either need or want some new gear, helmets, gloves ETC stop in and see us. From now through the rest of the season we are offering 20% off any gear related item (coat, bibs, gloves, boots and helmets) or 30% off 3 items or more! See you on the trails!

This is looking like a great weekend for the trails! If you were here last weekend, you wanna come back this weekend because the trails have gotten even better.

We received 3"-4" of fresh snow on Tuesday the 23rd followed by sleet and freezing rain before switching over to rain, which we got a lot this of this storm. As a result, the snow settled to between 2" and 2.5" of wet pasty snow. Thank you to all of those of you how stayed off the trails until today. Groomers were out last night from Bingham, Maine to Jackman, Maine and all looked excellent.

After going for a short loop this morning up ITS 87 north from the shop and looping around the Town Line Rd (which is still not being plowed this season), past the Wind Mill trail intersection to the Sunshine trail back to ITS 84, and then back to the shop via the ITS 87 Bingham/Solon railbed, I am happy to say the conditions are fantastic! Yes, for some we could still use 6" to 8" more snow to make it "PERFECT," but relatively speaking the trails are there considering the winter we have been dealt thus far. There is still the occasional 3 to 4 inch rock cresting the surface of the trail to be aware of, but far few and far between and should also diminish outside of any towns.

ITS 87 north in its thinnest spot were covered and flat with no bare spots, and most ice bars covered up. I did not bother traveling further north from 10mi out at the 2nd intersection leading you back to the Town Line Rd when taking a right. This section is typically in the worst shape but should fair OK through the busy weekend.

Wind Mill trail has yet to be groomed, but I anticipate that 10hr project being completed tonight, as last night was the first night out since the most recent storm.

ITS 84 is groomed an in excellent shape with very good coverage through its entirety to the pole line at the end of Mahoney Hill Rd.

Both club trails have also been groomed, and have excellent coverage. These may become good alternatives in and out of town as the ITS 87 hillside see's more and more traffic throughout this busy weekend.

Other trail news, we believe that ITS 86 on the Shirley Rd connecting the Forks and Greenville has been reopened. This means the opportunity now for a loop through the Wind Mill trail to the Bald Mountain trail, where you could then go to Greenville and take ITS 85 to the Breakneck Ridge trail loop, or head into the Forks for a shorter ride returning on ITS 87 south and never seeing the same section of trail!

Folks its going to be a very busy weekend with a lot of traffic on the trails due the Reciprocal Weekend. Please be extra cautious when riding this weekend. Brake checking into corners and hammering the throttle coming out of them is only going to make things worse. This will require riders to be even more cautious later in the day and weekend, and will hurt us more for the remainder of the season.

Be safe, ride right, join a club or make a donation to help with grooming cost, and we will see you this weekend!

Sorry for the delay everyone, shop has been crazy busy this year and we have been down a man all week with the flu. Last night I left here at about 3:30pm and headed north on ITS 87 out of town to make sure we had seen the worst. Traveled all the way up into Northern Outdoors trail system to the to the Pleasant Pond intersection, then looped around the mountain to the Bald Mountain trail, taking the Windmill trail back to ITS 84, then hit the ITS 87 rail bed 3.2mi south of here and back. That being said here is the short version....."I cannot believe how good the trails are, considering  last weeks rain storm!" I have seen a lot worse and had folks tell me that they had a good time, so there is no reason to not get here and check it out. However, riders need to use extreme caution. There were several people that just could not keep themselves off the trail despite pleading and warning them of the damage they would cause for the remained of the season to the base. So there are a few places that were very wet that sleds dove through and have now froze up solid. There are also I shelving is some parts of the trail systems where ice dams were created at bridge crossings, flooding water over and around them. Water is down now, but there are still ice chunks in the trail at these places, as well as anywhere you are use to seeing puddles in the summer time if you are ATV riding and that trail is used for both seasons. The only other per-caution is to keep in mind that out no 10" amazing base, is rock hard and basically a solid block of ice, under the 2" of fresh snow we received Wednesday night. Please slow down long before the corners to avoid sliding off the trail, and avoid potential trail issues just around the corner. ITS 87 north out of town for the first 10mi is very thin and has the majority of ice shelving in our trail system. Once hitting the sunshine trail where you could take a right to head back to Rt 16 crossing that will bring you to the Windmill trail, ITS 87 is in great shape until about 3mi in to Northern Outdoors trail system where it is now going by the face of Moxie Mountain again as it did for many years. As many of you know, at that point until the Moxie Mountain lookout trail is always somewhat thin with small gravel rocks in the trail, and no is no different, but again I have seen it much worse. The Moxie Mountain look out trail has not yet been groomed though Northern outdoors did make it down to us during the day yesterday or the night before. After the lookout trail 87 is in really good shape to the Pleasant Pond intersection. Pleasant Pond trail around the back side of Moxie Mountain for the most part, but that is where I did see the majority of now frozen issue from last weekend traffic. The groomer had not been through as of last night, but I would imagine they are going to do there best to get down there by the end of the weekend. Bald Mountain trail for this year is only accessible by taking ITS 87 to the Pleasant Pond trail. The connection where the Valley Rider system is not open this year which you can see on the Forks Trail System map provided by the chamber of commerce. Once on Bald Mountain trail conditions were good to the intersection leading you back to Bingham via the Windmill trail, or continuing on Bald Mountain trail to the ITS 86 intersection on the Shirley Rd. The last we knew Northern Outdoors had put out a report that ITS 86 to Greenville from the Forks was still closed due to logging, but they were hoping to get it back the week or next. Please do not prolong the access by riding on it. Taking the right will bring you back by Austin Pond where the Breakneck Ridge trail veers to the left. As you are traveling that you will notice that it got plowed recently, but it was just to get that piece of equipment out. Just past the Breakneck Ridge trail you will see another piece of equipment with an arrow pointing you to the right. That is the Palmer Pond rd where you only travel about 5mi before taking the left into the Windmill Project. Windmill was in really good shape from there up to the bluff at tower 30, or the really good lookout. Though it is thin up there all the gravel is covered in ice allowing you to ride over the top without grinding down you carbides. Coverage was good after that all the way to the point where you go back into the woods and down that steep hill. At the bottom of the steep hill, the gravel quarry road is plowed with an active logging operation present, so be respectful and careful. When you pop out to the edge of Rt 16 at the top of Cook Hill, you will find this section of the Windmill trail rough all the way back to their main office where our club trail "Heart of Gold" connects, where you can also go by and link back to ITS 87 from the Townline Rd. Heart of Gold trail was fast, firm and flat as a board all the way to the ITS 84 intersection. ITS 84 west from Mahoney Hill back to the Bingham/Solon rail bed ITS 87 is in great shape. This is definitely the beset way in and out of town, just don't forget to stop down and see us. Have fun, be safe, and we will see you out there!

Well another year is almost here! Sorry for the delay, I know everyone wants to know what is going on in Bingham, ME for trail conditions and I just figured out how to do this on the new website. Anyway the long and short of it is that we have received 2 storms that amounted to any sort of accumulation. This last storm added a thin layer of crust, settling snow but also holding it down. Currently about 6" exist, with varying amounts up Rt 201 to as much as about 10" at Lake Parlin Lodge. Groomers have yet to move, but are anxiously awaiting the 2017-18 season. Please keep in mind that most of Maine's ice is no where near safe at this point, and many establishments have yet to open. Contact the local club of the area that you "have to" ride in before you go out to keep land owners happy and you out of trouble. Think snow and stay tuned...it's going to be another great season!