Red Hot Snow
Snow like that doesn't go unnoticed in a season when it wasn't so (red) hot in other places. That meant more sledders than normal found their way to southwest Colorado, especially South Fork, because of its easy access to the trails and great services. Fortunately there were enough storms that snowmobile tracks were quickly and easily covered up.
The riding around South Fork isn't so different than what you'll find in many of Colorado's other snowmobiling locales. There are numerous-probably countless-parks (wide open meadows) to track up, outstanding boondocking through stands of pines and quakies that make for some fun but technical riding, an impressive variety of terrain (there's very little flat country around South Fork) and miles and miles of groomed trails. The South Fork Powder Busters club is responsible for grooming 165 miles of trails, while the Silverthread Outdoor Recreation Club grooms another 75 miles of trails, mostly north of South Fork. The trails the Silverthread club grooms tie into the Creede trail system. Powder Busters trails are all south of South Fork.
There are a couple of differences, though, that set South Fork apart from many other riding areas in the state. First, there are ample hillclimbing opportunities in this section of the San Juan Mountains. That comes courtesy of the fact that you begin riding at around 8,500 feet and can get to elevations of at least 12,000 feet. If you decide to ride from town, which you can on a groomed trail, you're starting at 8,180 feet. And there were times during our two days of riding that we were sitting at elevations of 12,000 feet plus, including one spot where we were at 12,290 feet. The hillclimbing includes some wide-open faces as well as tree-littered hillsides.
Second, while the locals were talking about how many extra sledders they had seen last winter, there still aren't many sledding crowds in South Fork. The town and its riding areas are just far enough away that if the snow is decent closer to the population centers of the state (read: Denver), the crowds stay closer to home. In fact, you're just as likely to see snowmobilers from Oklahoma, Texas and New Mexico as you are from other spots in Colorado.