Officials at Michigan’s national lakeshore parks are reminding winter sports enthusiasts who enjoy hiking to avoid trampling on groomed cross country trails.
“Winter trail etiquette reminder… Hike or snowshoe NEXT to cross country ski tracks, not in or on top of them. This is especially key on groomed sections of the Sleeping Bear Heritage Trail,” Sleeping Bear National Lakeshore posted on Facebook this week.
The park’s website includes a list of available trails, as well as safety tips for both skiers and hikers.
“Please exercise caution,” the park service asks on its website. “The Lakeshore offers fascinating winter activities, but freezing temperatures, as well as slippery and unstable surfaces, create hazards. Ice formations along the Lake Michigan shoreline may be tempting to explore, but are dangerous. Avalanche is a possibility on steep, snow-covered dunes.
The Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore shared a photo showing hikers walking beside a groomed cross country ski trail at the park.
The Facebook post also includes a reminder for fat tire bicyclists: “If you’re leaving ruts deeper than an inch or struggling to ride straight, the snow is too soft.”
At Sleeping Bear, the park service notes you may hike any snow-covered dune area, forests and beaches, but officials suggest staying near marked paths.
“If you are snowshoeing along a cross-country ski trail, please stay off to the side of the skiers’ tracks,” the website adds.
Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore includes on its website a number of locations that snowshoers and hikers can use, as well as pointed reminders about which trails they should not walk.
“Within the park boundary the only places you cannot snowshoe are on the park’s 20 miles of groomed cross-country ski trails. The remainder of the park is available for you to enjoy via snowshoeing or off-trail skiing,” the park’s website says.
“Looking for a scenic winter hike? Please don’t do it on the ski trails!,” the park service said in a Jan. 2 post on Facebook. “Hiking or snowshoeing on our groomed ski trails creates deep postholes in the snow, which are very difficult for our trail crews to repair.”
The Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore shared a photo showing damage to a cross country ski trail just prior to New Year’s Day.
The park service shared photos on Jan. 2 and 3 showing damage hikers and others did to trails before temperatures dropped over the weekend.
“Although we are forecast to get a few inches of snow over the next couple of days, the warmup around the holiday and major postholes from folks walking on the ski trails has really damaged the base of the trails,” the park service said of the trails in the Grand Marais area.
“Our trail crew had to deeply drag the trails to repair the postholes, but hopefully with enough snow, the trails will be able to be tracked again soon,” the post added. “Munising Ski Trails are unfortunately much of the same. Postholes from hikers have damaged the base, but are in the beginning stages of being repaired.”
In its Jan. 2 post, the park service suggested hikers “check out our newly re-routed and signed snowshoe trail near the Munising Ski trails instead! The snowshoe trail begins at the very end of E. City Limits Road and is over 2.5 miles round trip!”
The Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore shared a photo showing damage to a cross country ski trail just prior to New Year’s Day.
Park officials also asked people to be courteous of other visitors using the ski trails and to please keep the trails clear of snowballs, rocks and other items.
“We found (a) large snowball — turned ice ball — at the base of a hill on one of the Munising Ski Trails. Obstacles like this are not only difficult for our trail crew to remove but could also injure a fellow skier,” the post said.
This article originally appeared on Lansing State Journal: Michigan parks ask hikers to avoid cross country trails this winter