Trail Design and Maintenance

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Q&A on the Sherburne County Snowmobile Trails

What is the Sherburne County Snowmobile Trail System?     The Sherburne County Snowmobile Trail System is a cooperative effort of Landowners, Snowmobile Clubs, County and City Governments, the Minnesota DNR, and the State of Minnesota to allow, construct and maintain, administer, and fund the 182 miles of Grant in Aid Trails within the county.

What does Grant In Aid mean?     Grant In Aid (GIA) is actually the Minnesota Trails Assistance Program that was put in place in 1973 by the Minnesota Legislature.  It is managed by the DNR to partially fund grants for off-highway motorcycles (OHM), 4 wheel drive trucks (ORV), all terrain vehicles (ATV), snowmobiles, and cross country skiing.  The snowmobile part of GIA reimburses snowmobile clubs 65% to 90% through their sponsor to construct, maintain, and groom their trails.

Who grooms and maintains the trails?     The snowmobile trails within Sherburne County are maintained by the volunteer efforts of the members of three clubs (The Big Lake Sno-Cruisers, Elk Lake Easy Riders, and River City Snow Riders).  The trails are groomed by equipment from the Sherburne County Snowmobile Trail Association which consists of elected representatives from the three snowmobile clubs.  The Trail Association is partially reimbursed from the Minnesota Trails Assistance Program and from Charitable Gambling donations to Sherburne County.

Why is the trail not always exactly as shown on the map?     Sherburne County is one of the fastest growing county’s in the state.  Because of the growth and property changing hands, trails have to be rerouted if the new landowner does not want a snowmobile trail on their property.  All Grant In Aid trails must have a signed permit from each private and public landowner prior to the clubs working on developing that piece of land for trail use.  Trail permit instructions are available here in Word format.

Why are the trails always rough?     Sherburne County trails are some of the busiest in the state all week long.  It is up to every rider of our trails to do their part to keep the trails smoother.  The groomers are on the trail as often as possible from 11 PM to 2 PM during the week.  Rough trails are a combination of Trail Design and User Responsibility.  It is very important that you ride responsibly on a trail that has not had a chance for the snow to set up.  Riding responsibly includes driving at speeds that do not push the snow out of the corners, and do not accelerate so fast that you leave mounds of snow on the trail.  If you don’t ride responsibly, it’s your own fault for the rough trails you are on.

Who does the Snowmobile Safety Training?     A dedicated group of volunteers who donate their time in order to make the sport safer and better for generations to come.  The registration fees paid, only cover the cost of materials for the classes.  If every family that benefited from a snowmobile safety training class put in as much time each year as the Snowmobile Safety Instructors, we would have the best trail systems in the Country.

 Last Updated:  Saturday, December 27, 2003 09:57 PM     Please send comments to: Dean Thompson