in CamRock (Moderator: TheMayor1)

Some more detailed conditions for CamRock:
We got a little less than half of the trails groomed Saturday before we had a mechanical issue. Groomed areas: All of Creekside (White River, Beaver Hole, Fat Tracks), Connector going south to the Roundabout (Dave's Deer Path, Raspberry Fields Forever, Rip 'N Ride), and the lower sections from the Roundabout into Rockdale (Mayor's Meander, Beer Cave). These trails are awesome. The groomer smoothed out any pock marks from hikers, and the 1" of fresh over the top gives lots of grip. Fun!
But really all the trails are in great shape. It's just that the groomed sections are better. We were talking yesterday we would love these conditions if we did not know how nice the groomed sections were. Spoiled already.
Just to know: The first short section out of Cambridge (White River), is rutted. It was ridden right after grooming Saturday, then of course it froze. The snow over the top helps a lot. It will get better quickly as that area gets a lot of foot and snowshoe traffic. There is also a tree down at the bottom of Turn It Up. Very visible.
All the rest of the groomed trail is pretty awesome! Flat, hard, and fast with just enough snow over the top to make it even better. The non-groomed trail is hard frozen snow with powder over the top for grip and cushion. There are a few areas with some pock marks from hikers, but even there the fresh snow makes it pretty darn nice.
A little drifting in the upper prairie on Wouldchuck, but most of it is rideable now. We walked maybe 100' of trail, but blasted through most of it. Fun!
Best snow conditions in over a year. Get out and enjoy it! Another bonus is when we have typical winter north or northwest winds, 95% of the trail is protected as it is on the leeward side of the hill. Just a couple of layers yesterday and we were plenty warm. It was a beautiful sunny day. A great day to be out on the trail!

Sounds good Chuck. Gonna head out there tonight and check it out.

I'm giving it a try also, temps are supposed to rise through the night with little wind.

The groomer will be back together Tue and hopefully ready to roll.

I'm giving it a try also, temps are supposed to rise through the night with little wind.

The groomer will be back together Tue and hopefully ready to roll.

You are the man Mike! Thanks for all of your work on the Rokon getting in shape for grooming.
You guys have a good ride tonight. I was out in the start of the snow. It was great. Got off about 5:30. Another 2-3" on the ground now.

The trail was great last night. The grooming that was done has really transformed CamRock's winter riding. Group ride Thursday night?

I plan on riding Thur night. The groomer is repaired so hopefully we can fit in some
time to make a pass on the trails before then.

A good bit of trail got groomed last night, though not all of it. Basically everything north of Rip 'N Ride was groomed at least once. The creekside stuff was groomed twice.
The reports I have gotten say that the groomed stuff is amazing today!
But everything is fun and rideable.
We will keep working at getting the groomer around the whole park. We just ran out of time. The first couple of times through grooming will take a lot more time as we learn how to groom certain areas.
Thanks for all your work out there Dave!
Enjoy!

Almost every inch of trail got groomed yesterday. And we taped off the trail so hopefully that kept everyone off.
Things should be closed to perfect out there. All the drifted areas are now either groomed or bypassed. Heck even most of Outback got groomed. All of it that is accessible with the groomer.
Everything is hard and fast. It is going to be some awesome riding out there!
There is one tree down at the bottom of Turn It Up. Use caution, but it is very visible.

With all that sweet groomed single track accessible from CR cafe and sport and CR3.....please please please read the signage and stay off the double track at camrock 2! This is designated for cc skiing only this time of year. Hikers and a few irresponsible fat bikers really wreck things on that loop for skating. Thanks!

PS- the single track grooming kicks ass- thanks Dave and Mike!

it is pretty amazing out there right now. The little bit of snow we got was just enough to take away any of the icy spots. It really does not get much better.
The next couple days are going to bring some changes for sure. Thaw time. So get out early or late. By the forecast, prolly better be off the trails by noon on Saturday, and by 9 on Sunday. Or anytime that big orange globe is below the horizon.
Believe it or not there are actually a couple of bare spots showing up. They are very small yet, but those bare spots will soften up as soon as the sun comes out. Please try to avoid them and ride on grass or snow.
The cold will be back Monday. And keep fingers crossed. We need some snow!

Anyone been out to give a detailed report? Unless there is some new snow I would guess a few icy spots. But that is just a guess.
I am out of town until next Tuesday.

Is CamRock (or any other trail) getting close to dry enough to ride, or should I stop getting my hopes up?

Well it did not last long. But chalk this year to the earliest we have ever had trails open. For riding dirt anyway.
I've been working on CamRock trails since 1998, and this beats our previous earliest opening by about a full 2 weeks!
Now get your butt to church in the morning and pray for some more dry weather and we will open again soon. The soil is actually quite dry considering the frost only went out about Wednesday this week. Not a puddle to be found.

Still really dry considering this is early spring. Expect soft tacky conditions until the trails get armored for the year.
I changed the status because we need to stay off the middle section of the Creekside trails - Beaver Hole if you know your trails or look at a map. There are a few really wet spots there that will take a few days to dry up.
Watch out as lots of sticks down and a couple leaner trees. We removed a bunch of the worst offenders tonight. Feel free to lend a hand as there are lots more sticks and some small trees that are down on the trail.