Understanding Trail Status Reporting in Ontario.

Trail Status Reporting in the province of Ontario is a challenging task. 240 clubs are responsible for about 41,000 km of OFSC trails and for providing regular trail status information to this web site no less than twice weekly. They do this as a FREE service for your convenience and information.
The province is divided into 17 OFSC districts and each member club/association has been assigned to a district. Each district elects a volunteer Operations Director who coordinates and oversees the trails in the district. One of this person’s responsibilities is to arrange for the regular updating of the trail status for their district.
 
The OFSC web page provides each district the ability to update their trail status directly on the OFSC web page as often as they wish. To do so, the person delegated to update the OFSC web page for their district must first get the information from each club volunteer who has taken on the responsibility to call/mail/email the local trail status for their area.
Thus, Trail Status Reporting on the OFSC web site is a cooperative undertaking by club and district volunteers. Most of these volunteers work at their real jobs and careers during the day or on shift, and do their volunteer Trail Status Reporting during evenings and weekends. Just like you, they have many other priorities in their lives that mean they aren’t at the beck and call of snowmobiling every time the rest of us want the latest info.
Another key factor that impacts Trail Status Reporting is that snowmobiling is an off-road activity that occurs in an unpredictable and uncontrollable natural setting. The status of each trail is dependent on a number of variables including accumulated snow base; type, amount and moisture content of new snowfall; temperature; wind; terrain; and recent traffic. A change in any one of these can occur after a Trail Status Report has been filed, making the actual, real time condition of any trail different from its posted status report.
Despite these challenges, this volunteer reporting system works well, and is being enhanced with the assistance of staff at many district offices. However, if the exact info isn’t always available the second you need it, or isn’t 100% accurate when you actually go snowmobiling, please exercise a little patience and understanding. After all, even the best professional weather reporters don’t always get it right — and they are being paid for it!
 
Closed – Trails are not open and unsafe for snowmobiling.
Limited – Some trails are passable for marginal snowmobiling so extra caution is advised.
Open – Trails are open to snowmobiles to enter at their own risk.
Closed Temporarily – Trails are closed on a short-term basis until further notice.
Club has not supplied data – Status of trail is unavailable. Clubs have not supplied data.
 
We hope this explains the process of Trail Status Reporting and indicates the difficulties and challenges involved.
Please read the "Assumptions for OFSC Trail Use" before you ride.
 
A valid Snowmobile Trail Permit is required to access or ride all OFSC Prescribed Trails.

We hope this explains the process of trail status reporting in Ontario and shows that it is not an easy process.

Please read the "Assumptions for OFSC Trail Use" before you ride.

All OFSC prescribed trails require a valid snowmobile permit to ride.

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