SNOW NORTHWEST - THE LATEST VERSION OF WASHINGTON HOMETOWNS SNOWMOBILE TRAIL APP - AVAILABLE FOR ANDROID & IPHONE! (Jan '22) - Washington Hometown has just released Snow NorthWest, a huge expansion of our winter recreation web maps and apps for Apple and Android. Snow NorthWest covers a larger geographic area (the whole Pacific Northwest) and has more types of activities including snowmobiling, Nordic skiing, snowshoeing, sledding, and snow-play areas, and businesses.
More areas can be downloaded for offline navigation. There are now 19 downloadable regions covering all types of snow recreation. Download one or more regions before you hit the trail and enjoy peace of mind. No more worries about cell towers or smartphone connections on the trail.
New colors and styles make it easier to find the right trail for you. Winter trails now have a black halo so they stand out better. Snowmobile trails are orange so they cannot be confused with closed areas and trails. Ungroomed trails use the same colors with hash marks. Recreation land is coded to help you understand the rules; green (snowmobiles allowed off-trail or use unknown), light yellow (snowmobiles must stay on roads or trails), dark yellow (snowmobiles must stay on groomed trails), light red (non-motorized area), and deep red (the area is closed to all uses including fire closures.
Be sure to check out the other recreation map and app offerings from Washington Hometown
by clicking here.
HELP SPREAD THE WORD TO THE TRACKED ATV/UTV COMMUNITY (Nov '21) - Step one was creating a path for the tracked ATV/UTV community to legally use our groomed trails. Step two is helping educate them on what they need to do to be legal and how to better interact with their fellow snowmobilers. WSSA has created a one-page sheet with pertinent information. We'd like to see these posted in sno-parks, warming huts, at dealers, and anywhere else you think they might be useful. In time we hope to have laminated copies available, but for now, we encourage you to download the PDF and print as many as you need.
Click here for the 'Got Tracks' info sheet.
IS YOUR SNOWMOBILE CLUB THRIVING? (Dec '17) - At the November WSSA Leadership Meeting, Jon
Ferrian, WSSA's Safety Chair/
NWAC Board member/member of multiple clubs, presented a
PowerPoint presentation on building and maintaining a thriving club. Check it out and see if there are ideas in it for you. (Do you have something to add? If so, let us know!)
Click here for the presentation.
OSV DESIGNATIONS ON NATIONAL FORESTS (Dec '17) - It's coming! The Forest Service has been directed to complete travel plans for over-snow vehicles (
OSV). This process will require diligence on the part of snowmobilers to ensure we don't lose any important trails or riding areas. While it hasn't started in ernest here in WA, it has in CA. Check out this letter sent to the
Lassen National Forest by the
BlueRibbon Coalition. Issues pertaining to the Pacific Crest Trail are relevant here.
Read the letter here.
LOOKING FOR SNOWMOBILE SAFETY AND ACCESS INFORMATION? (Jun '14) - The Snowmobile Safety and Access Information Center is provided by the American Council of Snowmobile Associations in fulfillment of a cooperative agreement with the U.S. Federal Highway Administration (
FHWA) to support snowmobile safety and access training and product development. Your one stop shop;
click here to visit
www.snowmobileinfo.org!
WSSA IS ON FACEBOOK, INSTAGRAM & TWITTER (Jan '10) - Search "Washington State Snowmobile Association" on Facebook and become a fan! We are "
wssa.us" on Instagram. Check us on
Twiter too at "
wssaus".