Last year was a snow enthusiast’s dream winter. We had a monster blizzard in November that brought a solid couple feet of snow to most of the Black Hills.  This year – different story.

We’ve had a few inches of snow here and there, but no real dumping storm to speak of. No matter, the ski resorts are up and running and the snowmobile trails in the Black Hills open up tomorrow – at least where possible.

Over the weekend, there were a few inches of snow across the hills, which helped cover some of the trails at the higher elevations, although some trails do still have bare spots.

The crew with South Dakota Game, Fish & Parks has been hard at work preparing the trails over the past few weeks and have the grooming machines ready to roll.

Now we just need a doozy of a snowstorm to help establish those trail bases and cover up some of the hazards in the forest. As it turns out, the rubber track on snowmobiles doesn’t exactly agree with exposed rocks and stumps.

The weather for the rest of this week and into the weekend is predicted to be headed up into the 30’s and 40 – with very little chance of more powder.  Not the best outlook for skiing and snowmobiling, but this is the Black Hills and the weather can change on a dime.

If you head out on the snowmobile trails in the coming days – have fun and be sure to let us know how the conditions are. Happy riding!