Polk County Snowmobile & ATV Council is an alliance of all clubs in Polk County, Wisconsin.

This web site last update was on 9/9/2019

We want to hear your opinions on outdoor recreation in Polk County by clicking on the following link to complete the survey.  The survey has 5 questions and will take 5-10 minutes to complete.  https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/RGNH8N8.  Please complete the survey prior to Oct 1.

As we turn our attention to the Atv/Utv season we say farewell to the 2018/19 winter. It was a short season as our trails opened on 2/7/19 and closed on 3/14/19.

We received 58.5 inches in a short time that kept our groomers very busy to the point that we added a 3rd tracked unit for 2020! Those 4 1/2 weeks reminded me of the winters in the 70's? could this be a sign of change? We will have to wait 9 months to find out.   AWSC membership dues & Trail passes will be available 7/1/19 get them early so there no delays! 

March 23rd many of us  attended the 50th Anniversary Spring Convention of the AWSC.

700 snowmobilers were registered to join in the celebration.

The guest speaker at Saturday’s annual meeting was Christine Jourdain from the American Council of Snowmobile Associations (ACSA). She spoke about the importance of Wisconsin’s leadership to our national organization and the leadership role the AWSC continues to play in our snowmobile community.

Drew Nussbaum from the Wisconsin Department of Tourism also talked about the importance of snowmobiling to Wisconsin’s winter tourism.

Cathy Burrows and April Dombrowski from the Department of Natural Resources gave us an update on the current status of snowmobile grants, how the snowmobile trail pass has impacted our ability to fund trail maintenance projects in a positive way, the possibility of funding some new miles of trail for the first time in years, and the status of an updated trail signing handbook. We should see it this year.

The general election resulted in in the re-election of all current officers (there were no challengers). A change to the AWSC by-laws resulted in AWSC yearly membership running from the 1st of July to the end of June.

The Snowmobile Friendly Communities program just started this year resulted in the awarding of that status to 9 communities.

There are currently 606 active snowmobile clubs with a total of 39,474 AWSC members.

A total of 157,084 trail passes were sold this season. 63,735 to AWSC members.

A silent auction was held to raise funds for KAOS  (Kids & Adults On Snow) (the AWSC Youth program). $7,224 was raised- a new record.

9 scholarships were awarded by the AWSC ranging from $500 to $1500 dollars.

The World Snowmobile Headquarters in Eagle River is currently looking for club patches, pins and decals to display and preserve snowmobile club history. If anyone has any of that stuff they would like to see at the World Headquarters bring it to our County Council meeting anytime and I will see that it gets to the Headquarters.

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READ letter 

EVERYONE

    .... This is the unified message we need to promote... IT IS Imperative that we are all on the same page. 

1. We proceeded with our snowmobile use via approval from Polk county officials. We understand this is an issue between Polk Co and the DNR and we trust they will come to an agreement quickly.

2. We feel our use on the Stower 7 Lakes trail in not only reasonable, it is fair. We will work diligently with all involved to re-instate snowmobile use.

3. We trust that the DNR and Polk County both make re-instatement of snowmobile use a priority. Re-instatement impacts clubs, small businesses and Wisconsin’s tourism industry:

·         This time of the season is really important for the snowmobile clubs – lots of snow, families, riders are wanting to get out and enjoy the sport – this is their key time to enjoy the outdoors.

·         Tourism industry – hotels, motels, B&Bs, restaurants – all depend on this time of year. They depend on the riders that come through and spend money at their small businesses.

·         The snowmobile clubs have immense economic impacts on Wisconsin’s tourism industry - upwards of hundreds of thousands of dollars - during these key times of the riding season.

If you hear anything back from Polk County, let us all know... If we hear anything down here, we will do so as well. 

Thanks!

New Trail Cameras added

Polk county Trail Update

GANDY DANCER:
Starting this Saturday, December 1st, 2018 the Polk County segment of the Gandy Dancer will be open to frozen ground ATV/UTV's use.  
We ask that all users stay off any side trails and respect other trail users.

To ride on the county trails your ATV/UTV/Off-Road Motorcycle must be registered and licensed. An additional pass is required for out of state riders and is available at any DNR licensing station or online. Passes are $35 and are good from July 1 through June 30 of each year. For more information on passes click here to view the dnr website:http://dnr.wi.gov/permits/trailpass.html.STOWER SEVEN LAKES TRAIL:
The Stower Seven Lakes Trail remains CLOSED for ATV/UTV use. 
 

  Note The Clear Lake to Turtle Lake Rail Trail has been renamed To be called: 

                 (The Saw Mill Trail) 

                     will be OPEN to 

                              winter ATV & UTV usage

              Keep checking back for updates

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Trail Cam 1 click here

The purpose of the Council is to stimulate and advance the general welfare and safety of ATV and snowmobile riding. The Council is a means to inform and educate ATV and snowmobile owners of legislation, regulations and to direct and manage available funds for construction and maintenance of trails. Polk County currently maintains 350 miles of winter snowmobile trails. clear, sign and groom snowmobile and ATV trails organize safety classes.

Trails could open  in Polk county in

Summer is here and the atv utv season is here