Right near I-87, Exit 30, is a trail that leads to a pond named Crowfoot Pond. I hadn't hiked this trail before and I wanted to scout it for cross country skiing. The terrain on the topo map looked relatively flat. It is 2.5 miles from the road to the pond. Once you reach the pond, there is an end of trail sign, and beyond that, the state land ends and private property begins.
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| Trailhead sign |
There is a summer parking lot just off the road (Tracy Road), but it is not plowed in the winter. We parked on the straightaway just west of the trailhead and got as far off the road as we could. There is not much car traffic on this road, but there did seem to be a lot of logging trucks traveling the road.
Immediately after walking past the summer parking lot, we had to cross Crowfoot Brook. There is no bridge there, but when we were there, you could cross on a log or a frozen ice bridge. After this initial crossing all the remaining water crossings were on nice timber bridges, apparently designed for snowmobiles. The trail follow Crowfoot Brook all the way to the pond.
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| This portion of the trail near the beginning suffered through a mini ice storm |
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| Leesa crossing one of the bridges |
The trail follows a steady slight grade gaining 500 feet in the 2.5 miles to the pond. At 1.7 miles, we saw private property signs on both sides of the trail. Also at that point, unfortunately, were ATV tracks on the trail from there all the way to the pond.
This trail would be nice for skiing if it is not used by snowmobiles for ATV's. The grade is easy enough to climb with no effort and it would be a gentle glide down. I suspect that motorized vehicles often spoil the skiing on this trail, but I'm not sure.
In any case, once we got to the pond, we watched Rev prance around on the ice, but we weren't comfortable doing so ourselves.
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| Crowfoot Pond |
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| What are you waiting for, she says... |
We retraced our steps back down the trail. Hopefully there will be a chance for some skiing here. The bridges are nice, and the grade is perfect for an easy glide.
Hike Stats:
Hike Distance: 5.2 miles
Hike Time: 2.5 hours
Total Vertical Gain: ~ 500'
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| Our route (Click image to enlarge) |
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| Our route on the National Geographic map |
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