It is an exciting time for the Roscommon Area Recreation Authority as they were recently recipients of a $13,000 grant from a Family Donor Advised Fund from the Roscommon County Community Foundation. This funding allowed the Authority to purchase a new 2022 Skidoo Skandic to groom cross country trails for skiing.
The RARA has groomed trails for the past 9 seasons utilizing homemade grooming equipment and donated snowmobiles. Currently they utilize a 25-year-old performance sled that is not built for the workload that it is exposed to. Frequent overheating, inability to pull the snow load and significant volunteer stress makes the job of trail maintenance difficult. The group maintains Tisdale Pathway in a land maintenance agreement with the mDNR. Over the past year the group has clocked over one hundred hours of time grooming, general maintenance, mowing and trimming.
With this week’s snowfall the upcoming season is underway, and the volunteers are buzzing with excitement. Looking forward to grooming with state-of-the-art equipment and ease of use will allow them to groom more efficiently and we are certain the results will be clear. Plans are currently to increase the number of days per week the trails will be groomed and fine tuning a design for a skate skiing trail in conjunction with classic groomed trails. So, get your skis out and ready to go, we maintain 8 miles of trails that will be groomed and ready for this season right out your back door. Come share in the excitement!
Want to get involved? You can support one of our many funds by sending your donation to RCCF at P.O. Box 824, Roscommon, MI 48653 or by visiting our website www.myrccf.org/give/online to donate.