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Petrifying Springs Kenosha Official 2011 Trail Report Thread

17K views 107 replies 20 participants last post by  BigVaz 
#1 ·
I thought I'd start an official trail report thread for Petrifying Springs Park (Pets).

Rode today (Sunday). A real mixed bag of some very icy sections and some beautiful stretches of nice frozen dirt. Fortunately the most fun/techy sections of trail tended to have no ice at all.
  • UWP land south of the river - almost 100% ice. Avoid unless you've got studded tires.
  • UWP land north of the river and south of Hwy A - The high ground and all the steep techy stuff was pretty good, some occasional ice but mostly dirt. The lower areas along the river were a mix.
  • Park land North of Hwy A - mix of ice and dirt, but overall pretty good since the more interesting stretches of trail tended to not have much ice on them.
  • Woods in the middle of golf course - Excellent, no ice on the hills at all.
  • Fenceline/ridgeline along western edge of golf course - Excellent, almost no ice at all.
  • Trails along river in main part of park - mixed ice and dirt. low areas along the river more likely to have ice.
 
#63 ·
It retains plenty of slush/snow/ice. We just haven't had any snow this year, the storms have all been missing us. We've had great riding in recent weeks, but now it looks like we will need to wait a week or so for the next freeze.
 
#64 ·
:nono::nono: It's almost certainly going to be too muddy tomorrow, soooo???
I'm just mentioning because I got out to Pets on Tuesday for a great winter ride (it was fantastic that day) and couldn't help but notice the deep ruts from people that rode in the mud last weekend.
 
#66 ·
It's going to be a while.
I was out there yesterday on snowshoes. And I don't wear snowshoes unless the snow is too deep to hike without them (it definitely was). We should see a lot of melting over the next week but there is a lot there to melt and we would need a good hard freeze after that to get any riding in. We got lucky the last couple of years and had some good March riding, I'm kind of doubting we'll see much if any this year. Though I'm sure the geniuses that leave those ruts in the mud will be out there in a few weeks.
 
#69 ·
It's gonna be a while.

Unfortunately someone will probably ride out there this weekend and make a real mess of the trails. Probably a pair of riders because stupid likes company.

My guess is there is still some snow and ice on the north-facing slopes, some of the south-facing slopes may be starting to firm up, and everything else is muck.
 
#71 ·
Did a road/paved path ride on my touring bike this morning and passed through Pets.
And look what I saw when the paved trail passed by the access points to the singletrack.
Atmosphere Grey Sand Geological phenomenon Monochrome photography

As Forest Gump says "stupid is as stupid does".

And to get an idea how long it will be before things dry out, here's a pic of a north-facing area of the woods. There's still a lot of melting to go before the drying starts. This is about the worst late-March conditions I remember (not that I expect to be riding in late march, but there's rarely this much snow and ice still on the trails). Even if the weather cooperates, we've got weeks before things dry out. Throw in some April rain and it could be a very long time.
Branch Winter Natural environment Freezing Snow
 
#72 ·
Yeah, I did the paved path and road yesterday. Even then I came home with mud on my bike. The paved trails still had tons of ice/mud/water on them. The place is an absolute mess. I also saw some fresh tire marks on the downhill exit near the NW most playground. Also around the gates near the sledding hill.
 
#74 ·
Just in case the sunny weather this week has someone considering riding this weekend, the trails still need a lot more time to dry out.
And given the rain in the forecast next week, April riding this year may not happen.
 
#76 ·
Except for some small isolated spots, the snow should be pretty much gone (probably completely gone after this morning's rain).

All the rain in the forecast this week ain't exactly going to dry out the trails, but it should at least help to thaw the ground below the surface so once we get a stretch of warm dry weather things should be able to dry out.

For the Kettles, you can just check their hotline (I wouldn't bother checking it now though). They know riders are eager to ride so when things start drying out this time of year they will sometimes give a notice a day or so before they actually open the trails.

In most cases, if the Kettles are closed, you can usually assume Pets is not ready to be ridden. There are sometimes exceptions, but the Kettles dry out quicker than Pets.

Pets conditions are similar to the river trails in Milwaukee so you can use their status (see link Below) to help determine conditions at Pets.
https://twitter.com/Metro_IMBA
 
#77 ·
The Kettles are at least a few weeks away from opening. As of last weekend there was still a good couple of inches of snow and ice on some sections. The other sections were either mud pits or had heavy frost in the ground. Although some jack a$$es have already been trying to ride them. :madmax:
 
#79 ·
Are those pics from yesterday or today?

The water should be dropping quite a bit today. The Pike river drains out quicker than some of the inland rivers like the DesPlaines River and Fox which haven't even crested yet.

Should be a lot of mud tomorrow, and I would bet some fresh tire tracks in it by the end of the weekend.
 
#81 ·
That's what I figured.
Most of that major flooding should be gone now, but there will be a lot trapped in low spots, and with the ground that saturated it's going to take a while to dry out.

I don't want to get anyone too excited, but the extended forecast is finally looking a little more promising.

FYI, Here is a graph of the water levels. You can check waterlevels at
USGS Current Conditions for USGS 04087257 PIKE RIVER NEAR RACINE, WI

Blue Green Colorfulness Text Slope
 
#83 ·
We'll all be able to see signs of their awesomeness when we get out after the trails dry ( soon I think). The high ground was probably getting nice but there's no way the low ground is not muddy.

There's probably going to still be some mud by the weekend, but I'm figuring everyone will be out riding by then so you may as well get out there. Would be better if people waited until the afternoons though. Next week looks really good.

If the forecast holds true, I would think the Kettles will be open this weekend as well.
 
#84 ·
I would guess that things are still pretty soft now, but tomorrow is going to be warm AND sunny AND windy AND low dew points AND since there are no leaves on the trees should result in some nice drying happening.

There will still be isolated muddy spots this weekend and I would encourage riders to opt for hike-a-bike on these sections (assuming you can't hop it). I know you'll see other tracks already there, but the more people that ride through this stuff, the deeper the ruts that hold the water that keep these spots perpetually muddy.

And afternoon rides should be better than morning rides.
 
#86 ·
Went out yesterday, trails are a little rough from the flooding, but definitely rid-able. There were a few muddy spots with deep ruts that have been ridden though quite a bit. The one surprise was how much sand was on the trails, that was a little tough to ride through.

BTW, it looks like someone dragged the "Water Shed" bridge about ½ mile back into place.
 
#88 ·
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