• What to do: Much of the state trail system that is open to hikers becomes a freeway for snowmobilers in the winter. The Department of Conservation and Natural Resources maintains "thousands of miles and hundreds of acres of designated snowmobile areas for exploration" in state parks, state gamelands and Allegheny National Forest. Some are on scenic woodland trails, others are straightaway runs on closed roadways or large, open fields with no designated paths. Most of the snowmobile areas are open to snowmobilers from the day after Pennsylvania's rifle deer season to April 1. In the Laurel Highlands, snowmobiling is open in the northern and southern tracts of Forbes State Forest, with two notable closures in Somerset County: 1.25 miles of Hickory Flats Road and 0.5 miles of Beam Road are temporarily closed due to logging operations, and the Laurel Highlands Hiking Trail Bridge crossing the Pennsylvania Turnpike is closed indefinitely due to structural deficiencies.

• Contact: 1-888-PA-PARKS, 1-877-SNOMBLE and www.dcnr.state.pa.us/stateparks/recreation/snowmobile.aspx

Looking for more from the Post-Gazette? Join PG+, our members-only web site. You'll get exclusive sports content, opinion, financial information, discounts from retailers and restaurants, and more. Our introduction to PG+ gives you all the details.