Graham Jaehnig/Daily Mining Gazette A front-end loader piled ice and snow onto a snowmobile trail on Lakeshore Drive in Houghton on Wednesday morning.

HOUGHTON — With approximately 40 inches of snow still on the ground, the 2025-2026 snowmobile season has ended.

The Michigan Dept. of Natural Resources (DNR) reports state-designated trails closed on Tuesday, and the Keweenaw Chamber of Commerce reported Wednesday morning that trail grooming has stopped.

Also on Wednesday, the Keweenaw Snowmobile Club reported the gates on the lower deck of the Portage Lift Bridge (Trail 3) were closed for the season, and gates on private land leases also closed. Visit Keweenaw reported Wednesday the gates at the Houghton Campground and Waterfront are also closed.

While snowmobile access on the lift bridge is no longer available, Trail 3 from Toivola to the Houghton City Limits was still open for riding, and the same trail from Hancock to Lake Linden is still usable, as is Trail 17 from Hancock to Calumet.

Further south and west is reported to have far less snow than the Keweenaw.

On March 26, Western UP Trail Reports said on its social media page the trails in Watersmeet were in poor condition, and did not improve until Mass City. South of Toivola, however, there was still ample snow and trails were ggod.

Conditions improve the further up the Keweenaw one rides. On Tuesday, the same group announced the Keweenaw Snowmobile Club gave the trail from Calumet to Copper Harbor a final grooming on the night of March 31.

While snowmobile season is all but finished for the season, skiing is another matter. On March 30, Mount Bohemia announced it will remain open for lift serviced skiing and riding weekends through Mothers Day Weekend (May 10). According to its social media page, Mont Ripley is closed for the season.

For die-hard snowmobile enthusiasts who are excited that Trails 3 and 17 are still open, more new snow is on the way. The National Weather Service issued a winter storm watch for the West and Central Upper Peninsula from late Wed. night through late Thursday night. The storm watch calls for total snow and sleet accumulations between 3 and 5 inches and ice accumulations around two tenths of an inch possible. Winds could gust as high as 40 mph.