Utah guy needs an education on Ice

[Ceedub]

Hello, And Happy Holidays from Utah,

I am seeking expertise on the building and maintinance of an ice road or groomed trail on a very popular high elevation lake in Utah. I figure this may be the forum to find that knowledge.

Strawberry Res. UT. A real blue ribbon Cutthroat trout fishery. The problem is snow. The lake recieves 200 to 300 inches of snow anualy. Standing acumulations avrage 6 to 7 ft max. Needless to say slush is a huge problem for access. Cold temps arent a problem jan feb lows well below 0 and highs in the single digets or teens.

I am proposing an ice road or trail to circle the lake and provide access to most all of the bays. My estimation would be about a 7 mile loop. Strickly for ATV and Snow machines.

Any info concerning feasability, costs, methods, concerns, regulations, laibilty, ect. would be greatly apreciated.

[ozzie]

7 mile loop? I do not have any knowledge of making the road itself but I can tell you it can be spendy to maintain especialy if you are getting 200-300 inches of snow....that would be alot of plowing!! Good Luck maybe ask this question on the Red Lake forum or the Mille Lacs forum as these are 2 lakes that have plowed roads on them.....

[mamohr686]

I don't think plowing would be the way to go. As soon as you plow, it will flood with all the weight of the snow. I think a better way to go would be to use the same type of machine that grooms snowmobile trails, and restrict it to atv's with tracks or sleds. You could charge a tresspass fee to help with costs if the entrance of the lake would be on your property (with a waiver of use at own risk). Or if your using some type of public access, you could ask a local sportmans club for donations but you couldn't restrict access to your trail or charge on a public area. You can google snow grooming equiment to find out what is available. There are some cheap groomers that attach to a snowmobile/atv or mods for a tractor/skid steer loader that are somewhat reasonable.

[Ceedub]

Thanks. Those are great ideas. Does anybody know of a trail simular to what I'm describing? Or what mamohr686 describes?

[Wanderer]

6-7 foot accumulation? That's a bunch! If you plow down to the ice you'll be standing in waist deep water after you punch your first hole.

Packing it down seems like the better option but still, it sounds like you'll be fishing at least 3 feet above the ice????

Sounds like a serious workout. Good luck!

[Ceedub]

I have thought of that delima myself. I have read posts of ice bridging. Drilling holes to flood a pathway and refreeze at night. Think its possible to do this after each plow building a raised base that wont flood?

[Sandmannd]

You're still gonna have to drill through all that thickness to get to water. Man, that's some extensions you are going to need.

[BuckKiller]

WOW I couldn't even imagine 7 ft of snow

[Ceedub]

How much snow does say Mille Lacs get in a average year?

Merry Christmas!

[vikingmeatwad]

Garrison, MN, gets 27 inches of rain per year. The US average is 37. Snowfall is 42 inches. The average US city gets 25 inches of snow per year. The number of days with any measurable precipitation is 82.

[Eric Wettschreck]

Wow, that's a lot of snow!!! Here in Minnesota we're just not accustomed to that much. I'd have to agree with the trail groomer idea. Try asking this in the Michigan or NY forums. The UP of Michigan deals with big dumpings of snow as does some areas of NY.