Get it now: Skiing and tubing at county parks while it lasts
St. Patrick's County Park in South Bend opened for cross-country skiing, tubing and snowshoeing this week. And Love Creek County Park in Berrien Center opened its ski and fat bike trails. Both have groomed their trails. St. Pat’s packed the trails, though it wasn’t deep enough to set a track. Both are also offering rentals while conditions permit.
But you’ll need to get there soon, before this week's warmup in temperatures. Temperatures are forecast to get near 40 degrees on Dec. 28, then hit 50 on Thursday, followed by rain on the weekend. Tuesday, Dec. 27 has perfect (freezing) temperatures for winter sports.
Swiss Valley Ski & Snowboard Area in Jones, which is now open, expects to weather the warmup with the base of snow it has built.
Stay tuned to all of their social media pages for updates.
St. Patrick’s tubing hill is open from noon to 5 p.m. Tuesday at a cost of $5 per person, plus the gate fee. New this year, there are canvas-covered snow tubes with plastic bottoms and handles.
St. Patrick’s cross-country ski rentals run from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Tuesday. All rentals must be back by 5 p.m. The trail fee costs $5 per adult, $4 per youth ages 15 and younger, plus the gate fee. That’s in addition to rental fees for skiing gear and snowshoes.
For details, call 574-277-4828 or visit sjcparks.org.
Love Creek’s nature center opens from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Tuesday. The last rentals will be at 3 p.m.. All equipment is due back at 4:45 p.m. For details, call 269-471-2617 or visit its website.
Find columnist Joseph Dits on Facebook at SBTOutdoorAdventures or 574-235-6158 or jdits@sbtinfo.com.
This article originally appeared on South Bend Tribune: Cross country skiing and tubing open at St. Patrick's, Love Creek parks
