CALUMET — With more than 60 inches of snow, all the ski trails at Swedetown are open and in good to excellent condition. Snow bike trails are being packed for riding. For all trails a daily or seasonal membership is required. Memberships help to offset expense of trail grooming and plowing.

Outdoor recreation to stay active and healthy is more important than ever. Swedetown Trails Club president Craig Hughes stated, “With all the COVID-19 related restrictions for indoor gatherings, people are flocking to the trails for skiing, snowshoeing, snow biking and sledding. It’s great to see so many people out here.” Swedetown Chalet is open daily with restrooms, a changing room and a wax area. Due to limits on indoor gatherings, for this season Swedetown will not be opening the upper Chalet level with snack bar and lounge area.

New Trails!

Some rerouting gives Swedetown a new trail, Pine Ridge Loop. This is an intermediate trail lighted for evening skiing. Pine Ridge Loop starts with a hilly section climbing up to a nice stretch along a ridge and finishes with a long easy downhill. Also new is Tiger Loop – this very short loop starts at Swedetown Chalet and finishes with a fun downhill.

Powderhouse Loop is the most advanced trail at Swedetown. This 4km trail has some changes and now starts with the roller coaster section of the former Pine Loop. It continues with challenging hills and passes the remains of a historic powderhouse for which the trail is named.

Up to date trail maps are posted throughout the trails. Maps and current trail conditions can be found on the Swedetown Trails web site: www.swedetowntrails.org

Swedetown has Multi-Use Trails (MUT) on Woodland Road where dogs are welcome to come along for a winter outing. Walking, snowshoeing, snow biking and skiing are all allowed on the MUT trails. Muggun Creek Snowshoe Loop starting at the M203 trailhead also allows dogs to hike along. Other Swedetown trails do NOT allow dogs so leave your dog pals home when you come to Swedetown’s main trailhead on Osceola Road in Calumet for activities such as sledding and skiing.

Trail Courtesy

Walking on the trails punches holes in the snow which the trail grooming can’t smooth out, therefore once December begins walkers are not allowed on any of the trails which start from the Swedetown Chalet main trailhead. Head over to Woodland Road for the Multi-Use Trails if you want to try trail walking in winter, just know that some days snowshoes will be needed.