Photo: Cody Chouinard
Wintertime is upon us and we have been working hard over the past several weeks to put together a plan for the most feasible and best use of the trails through the snowy season. We are happy to report that our grooming equipment has been repaired and we will be grooming this Winter! The specific details of which trails will be groomed are still to be ironed out, but plans are in progress and we should have more detailed information (hopefully in the form of maps) within the next two weeks. We will be grooming primarily for cross-country skiing, and hope to step up our attention to the interests of snowshoers, as well. Based on the results of our Winter Use Survey, we know there is significant interest in fat tire biking, as well, and we will be doing our best to take this into account as we move through the season.
What’s more, use of the groomed trails this Winter will be free with a suggested donation. Our goal for this year is to provide a consistent, well-groomed area within part of our trail network. Because we are in a transition year, moving forward from essentially no grooming last year, we are still building the commitments and resources necessary to accomplish this. For that reason, we hope that a donation-based model will be viewed as a fair compromise and that people will donate what they feel the trails are worth.
As always, we ask you to remember that we are a volunteer-run organization and that all of the tax-deductible donations we receive go directly to serving the maintenance, upkeep, expansion and development of the trail network in the Barre Town Forest. Donations are critical to keeping trails clear, machinery fueled and repaired and safety hazards removed.
Please consider donating what you can; a little goes a long way.
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AndyJ
December 2, 2014
Awesome news, I would love to see some fat bike trails open. It would be nice to make a trip from MA.