Tire selection for winter trike riding? I'm thinking of trying out some winter riding on a recumbent tadpole trike. (ie the single drive wheel is in the rear).

With regular tires it slips all over the place; of course you can't really wipe out but still its not practical and is perhaps unsafe to ride that way.

I was contemplating rugged snow tires or even studded tires, but I'm not sure what configuration for this type of trike would be ideal. I think studs on the rear may be necessary for max traction but I'm not sure if that would be the best choice for the front? Could it even have any downsides? It is possible to roll this trike by cornering too hard, not sure if studs would even make that more likely.

Temperatures in the teens/20s (F, or -12 to -4 C) are typical, and snow is on the ground a lot of the time. I'm planning to ride on packed down roads or trails, not in deep or loose snow. Secondary roads are generally gritted, not salted.

The existing tires are all 20x1.50 and there is ample clearance for fatter tires. On the front there is literally nothing near the wheels at all, and in the rear the frame is spaced out a lot. I think we can assume tire width is not a limitation.

The current tires are pretty smooth - they slide easily in gravel for instance. Totally unsuitable for ice or snow.

Thanks
For bicycles the so called "snow tires" are essentially mountain bike tires with large gaps between the lugs so snow will come out.

Studded tires are intended for ice and do little good in loose snow. I have a snow bike (aka fat bike) with knobby tires designed for snow - but no studs.

I have another bike with Schwalbe Marathon 26"x2.2" studded tires and these are great on ice but are pretty much useless in snow more than 3" as they don't have a deep lugged design and they'll float on top of the snow where the studs cannot grip anything.

To recommend a tire I would need more information on wheel size, tire clearance and the riding conditions. For deep snow a knobby tire likely will work best. If you're encountering hard pack and ice then definitely consider studs.  

Also note that narrow tires will knife through loose snow better than wide tires which tend to float more.  So in some conditions a narrow (1.375") studded tire will perform better than a much wider 2.25" tire as the narrow tire will knife through the snow better for the studs to bite in.  Again, this is very dependent on the conditions.