Originally Posted by pakole
Iwant to get this straight. Does riding in the snow hurt the trail? Or should one be careful when it snows and the temperature starts to warm. I apperciate everyone input on this. I have just been hearing conflicting things.
I'll reiterate what others have said. If the trail is frozen your fine. If there is 2-3 inches of snow, it won't hurt the trail (as the snow would melt immediately if the mud was soft enough to rut).
From here on out the water does not drain into the ground. The ground just soaks it up. The biggest problem is in the spring when everything is melting and all that snow and frost melts and butts up againt deeper layers that are still frozen.
At that time, you should not ride at all.
If you can ride your trail ride now without getting mud all over your shoes, you're probably all-right.
Finally, you can do no damage to lakes regardless. But you may want to wait till they freeze before you ride. ;-)