Places that allow skijoring on at least some portion of trail
MIDWEST
- Brule Mountain in Iron River, MI. Very nice groomed XC trails.
- Lake Ottawa National Forest in Iron River, MI. Very nice groomed trails.
- Gooseland Trail outside of Horicon, WI. This is basically a
snowmobile trail. Not groomed, but the snowmobiles pack the snow down
nicely.
- DuPage Park district. Herrick Lake, McKee marsh, Springbrook.
- Rock Cut state park near Rockford. I have not been with my dogs,
but at least the portion of the trail open to snow shoeing is open to
skijoring.
- Scuppernong Trails in Eagle, WI. No pets allowed on the groomed portion, skijorers can use the snowmobile trail.
- Lapham Peak. The snowmobile trails are open to skijoring, but not
the groomed trails.I was not impressed with the snowmobile trails, but
the snow was pretty thin everywhere when I went.
- Old School Park and DuPage River Trail in Lake County, IL (near Libertyville). The DuPage River Trail is open to snowmobilers
- Gartzke Flowage Cross-Country Ski Trail near Antigo, WI. Groomed.
There are several nice trails in the area that allow skijoring.
WEST
- Mt Pinos, 34.813637, -119.126251 . Ski patrol staff quite
friendly, but the trail they recommended (Condor) was up, and up, and
up. 2 1/2 miles in there was a meadow that might have been okay, but I
couldn't tell - the fog was so thick I didn't dare go into it for fear
of getting lost. There is another trail recommneded to me later
off the McGill campground that goes out to Iris lake. It is about 1 1/2
miles each way ... but pretty flat. I went back a year later, and the
traffic was so bad we aborted and went to go visit with a friend local
to the area. There was a serious traffic delay ... getting off the
mountain took on the order of 3 hours. Fortunately, we waited that out
at my friend's house.
- June Lake. I found a hotel http://www.junelakevillager.com/ that allows dogs, and
several of the trails (Obsidian Dome, Shady Rest) allow dogs. I tried
to book a visit in mid-March but the conditions were too warm, the snow
had melted.
- Brians Head, UT. I stayed at the Comfort Inn. The best area I found was at N37
32.301' , W112 46.770,
Deer Hollow Winter rec. Route 148 is closed and groomed not far from
there (by route 14), but it is 3 miles uphill skiing. After that I
don't know what there is, we were too tired to continue and turned
around. Across the street, though, is some very flat terrain. Here is a note I got about it: If you check the
Deer Hollow Winter Rec. Area brochure at
http://files.meetup.com/18566851/DeerHollowBroc...
you
will find that there are some groomed trails there (purple, yellow and
green) on which dogs are allowed. This area is at about mile 22.5 on
Hwy Ut-14 east of Cedar City. See our website for events held there
and further info about where to ski near Cedar City and Brain Head.
If
you wish to "skijor" long distances, I suggest you try Cedar Breaks
Nat'l Monument on the groomed snowmobile trails though the park and then
down to Hwy 14. You could park at the parking area at the
intersection of ut-148 and 14 east of Cedar City (Midway Valley) and
then ski up 148 into the park (2.5 mi.) and then through the park (some 6
miles) and then back down. If you are a skater you may have problems
with snowmobile ruts.
- Ebbetts pass,
http://www.ebbettspassadventures.com/winter/cross_country.html , allows
dogs on their XC trails. Permit is $5/day.Go to the Lake Alpine Sno-Park . Not far from Lake Tahoe.
- Mount
Baldy (NW of LA) allows dogs on the ungroomed (snowshoe) trails, and on
all trails prior to grooming. I went to the Maker Flats trail
today (Saturday, 14 Jan 2017); yesterday the website showed 6-12 inches
of snow cover. The conditions on the trail were really terrible. There
were large patches of exposed roadway, and the icy snow was frequently
mixed with
slush. The trail itself was very crowded. Parking was very difficult to
come by, even though I arrived by about 9:45. Had I arrived 20 minutes
later I would have had to park too far away from the trail to even
attempt the hike in my XC boots. I have drawn 2 conclusions: 1) Don't
attempt to skijor during the weekends unless you like sitting in
traffic. Venues are very, very crowded if school is not in session
2) XC skiing in South CA sucks. What little there is all
involves inclines.
Albuquerque/NM and environs
- Here is a link that looks hopeful:
https://www.hikingproject.com/trail/7032750/otero-canyon-loop
or
https://www.hikingproject.com/directory/8009314/albuquerque
- https://www.nps.gov/vall/planyourvisit/basicinfo.htm
. It should be noted that there are groomed trails available. $20
annual pass for wrinklies. There is a link to current conditions here:
https://www.nps.gov/vall/planyourvisit/conditions.htm
-
Valles Caldera Cross Country Ski Area, Los Alamos, NM is less than 1.5 hours away. Leashed dogs are allowed on LaJara K9 trail as well as ungroomed areas 39201 NM-4, Jemez Springs, NM 87025 (575) 829-4100. There are some nice back country paths around the Redondo campgrounds, but they are a bit tricky for skijoring
- The Aspen Vista Trail near Sante Fe is not groomed but allows snowshoeing and dogs. Hyde Park Road, Santa Fe National Forest, Santa
Fe, NM 87501
Directions:
Follow Paseo de Peralta to Washington Ave on the North end of Paseo de
Peralta. Turn away from the plaza heading north on Washington Avenue to
Artist Road (Ski Basin Rd). Follow the Ski Basin Rd. 13 miles. Access
this trail from Aspen Vista Picnic Area, just beyond the 13 mile
marker. Ample parking is available.
http://trailsallianceofsantafe.org/local-trails/ Only
90 minutes by car. According to the reviews I read it is a long climb.
- The 10K trailhead looks
great, only 1 hour 10 minutes away. I don't know that anybody enforces
it, but the NMCCSC (which maintains the trails) prefers that dogs stick
to the service road by the Ellis trailhead.
- Enchanted Forest (near Taos) has a small amount of trails set aside for dogs. They are not welcome on most of the trail.
- Parajito Mountain near Los Alamos has a very nice trail. Dogs are permitted on most of it.
- Vallecito Nordic https://www.vallecitonordicclub.org . I haven't been there
yet ... they are about 3 1/2 hours away, too far for a day trip but
fine for an overnight. Or long weekend. They welcome dogs. You must
purchase a land use permit ($50/year or $5/day). This does not include
groooming, which is done by a 501(c)(3) - money to them is optional.
$75/year for an individual, or $100/yearfor a family. The Nordic club also asks for $5/dog for a doggie membership. Bayfield CO offers
hotels starting at about $100 / night.
https://www.priceline.com/relax/in/3000002520/from/20220114/to/20220116/rooms/1/adults/2?amenities=PETALLOW&vrid=5ac0a719115dae77c799766e49864e4f
Places that flat out prohibit skijoring
- Rim Nordic, by Big Bear, does NOT allow dogs. There does not appear to be anywhere by Big Bear that allows skijoring.
- Mountain High does not allow dogs
- Yosemite prohibits dogs in the park in most places, and explicitly prohibits dogs anywhere XC ski-able.
- The New Mexico Nordic ski club (sandianordic@gmail.com) does not allow dogs on their trails except on the service road.
However, this is not enforced.
- The Durango cross country ski area in Colorado does not allow dogs.
- Norski cross country ski track in Santa Fe does not allow dogs.