Book closes on lengthy snowmobile season

All Taylor County trails will close March 31, trails south of CTH M already closed due to conditions

All of Taylor County’s snowmobile trails will close for the season on Friday, March 31 at 11:59 p.m.

This will bring to the close a season that got off to a bumpy start but which well-exceeded average for the number of days of snowmobile access.

Last week, the county closed trails in the southern areas and on Tuesday, further extended the closure to include everything south of CTH M except for the Pine Line Trail.

The Pine Line Trail serves as a major connecting corridor between the city of Medford and trails to the north including connections to the Price County trails system. The county typically opens the Pine Line before other trails and closes it much later.

According to county forest administrator Jake Walcisak, not including the Pine Line, the trails were open 71 days this year. This total includes the one-week countywide closure that took place in February.

The season got off to a rocky start with an ice and snow event before Christmas which saw a large number of downed branches and trees across roads and trails throughout the county. This delayed the start of the season as volunteers worked to get the debris cleared.

The season opener was January 13 and the season closure will be March 31.

Walcisak noted that this is only the second time in the 30 years of records at the forestry department, that the trails have been open until March 31.

“March 31st is the longest our trails can be open in Taylor County because that is the end date for all of our private landowner agreements,” Walcisak said.

According to Walcisak 2014 was the longest season on record at 94 days.

Between 2014 and 2022, the average season length was 55 days. The average season opener was on January 15 and the average season closure was March 23.