The Winona Forest Recreation Association (WFRA) maintains approximately 70 miles of trails in the Winona Forest and Jefferson County Forest Preserve. Both are located in the Tug Hill region of New York State. WFRA, which began as the Tug Hill Ski Club, has reorganized as the Winona Forest Recreation Association in order to include all user groups of the forest. WFRA membership consists of skiers, snowmobilers, atv riders, equestrians, mushers,snowshoers, bikers, hikers and many other outdoor sports enthusiasts. We're not just an ordinary club!

Winona Forest is one of the snowiest places east of the Rockies with an average snow fall of 250 inches per year! In winter, the prevailing westerly winds move cold winter air over the warm water of Lake Ontario producing massive lake effect snow falls on the Winona Forest in the Tug Hill area.

The Tug Hill is a 2,000 square mile plateau just east of the end of Lake Ontario, rising to an elevation of 2,000 feet, which extends from Watertown at its north end to the Mohawk Valley on the south, and from Lake Ontario to the Black River Valley on the east. Access is easiest via Interstate 81 to Sandy Creek/Lacona and Mannsville in N. Oswego Co. and S. Jefferson Co. The Hill has the highest average annual snowfall of any area in the U.S. east of the Rockies - between 200 and 300+ inches. For years, local people have been enjoying their sport on the miles and miles of logging roads, jeep trails, foot trails, abandoned highways and frozen streambeds. With development of multi-use trails in recent years, the bountiful snow, excellent uncrowded terrain and the long winter season have been attracting skiers, snowmobilers and mushers from greater distances.

It all started with Alice Arneson who opened the Smart House Nature Center Youth Hostel in Lacona. She had ski trails, but wanted to do something to utilize all the beautiful state lands, and help tourism in the area in the wintertime. To plan the cross-country ski races, she "Alice's Alley", Forest Ranger Dave Larrabee "Larrabee Trail" , and Jerry Schulz, a USSA racer and Central Square HS Track and X-C Coach, organized a group of local people who eventually included George Hunt, Rose Driscoll (our "financial advisor"), Ken and Virginia Smith, Lenora Smith, Frank Phelps (Frank's Fancy), Dick Hughes, Ted Prescott (Ted's Turn), the CJ Fergusons, Bill Thayer (Bill's Belly), Sarah Davis (Sally's Ride), Ruth Taber, Satch Yerdon, Sylvia Curry, Glen Backus (Backus Bend), Pauline Tanner, and Gladys Porter. Clara Bingham joined the group a year later and is one of three original board members along with Rose Driscoll and Dave Larrabee who are still involved. The first races were skied mainly on local roads and existing logging trails, with the first trail cut between Tucker and Hessel Rd. and named "Alice's Alley". Little by little, more woods trails were designed with the expertise of David Larrabee, Forest Ranger, and cut by many volunteers, 4-H Clubs, and boy and Girl Scout troops. The Operations Branch of the DEC has expended many hours of labor with heavy equipment toward the fruition of this muli-trail complex.

The original volunteer Tug Hill Tourathon club organized about 30 years ago to conduct an annual marathon race and promote recreational cross-country skiing in Tug Hill. The 50/25/15K Tug Hill Tourathon and the Try-It 12/25K races are conducted with the joint cooperation of the Towns of Boylston, Lorraine, Sandy Creek and Ellisburg; Oswego and Jefferson Counties; Sandy Creek Central School District, the NYS Department of Environmental Conservation, and a number of other area organizations and businesses and hundreds of volunteers. WERA (Western Edge Recreational Area) and Tug Hill Commission helped immensely in getting our multi-use trail system developed with the snowmobilers and the dog-sledders.

We are now known as the Winona Forest Recreation Association. This collaborative effort of several groups to add value to the 70-mile trail system as a forest-based tourism destination is being used as a model for all areas across the country.We have received many accolades for promoting winter tourism and helping the economy of the Tug Hill region. We hope you all enjoy the fruits of our work and the wonderful nuances of nature during our long beautiful winter seasons.