Skied here both Saturday and Sunday and would ski there today if I could. Put in 6 hours over the two days to mostly good enough conditions. Sunday conditions required a bit more trail creativity, but no encountered conditions left me regretting my decision to ski. The west side has the best consistent snow and rated good to very good, even on the steeper downhills. The exception is the south facing descent into the old west shelter area. Some very short sections under the tall pines and sun exposed areas were getting bare. Avoid section 22 to just past 16. An errant 4 wheeler got a little crazy on that part. A nice alternative is to take intersection 22 up to 25. This section was perfect and will survive the meltdown until cooler temperatures arrive early this week. The east side is covered with snow, but variable because of the concentration of pine needles for short sections of the trail. Skiing from 8-7-6-4 and then back tracking will avoid most problems with the needles. Waxless skis are recommended. Oh, section 7 up to 13-14 and back to 7 got groomed by a snowmobile or two. It was annoying but not impossible to ski. Much better trail conditions exist elsewhere on the system. Last caveat. Coming out of the parking lot and skiing towards 8 you will encounter the worst conditions under the power line. After that the good stuff starts. Not quite ready to give up the skis.

(Michael Wilke)

Groomed and single track on the trail SE of Forest Road 256 and from intersection 6 to 7 to 8 and back to parking lot. Got rid of most of the debris from the high winds Tuesday and set a decent track.

(Mark Toot)

Great, fast conditions out there with temps in the high 20s. Looks like trails have been groomed recently within the last day or so, as the tracks are in great condition! Awesome day for a 20 K!

Photos:

(Jason Miller)

The Forest Service groomed and set a single track on all the trails this morning. There was 4 to 5 inches of new snow over the base. Tracks will be a little soft but hopefully they will set up some overnight.

(Mark Toot)

Skied here both Saturday and Sunday. East side trails had a nicely defined skied in track. They probably received about 5 inches of light powder over the last week since the most recent grooming. West side trails and the northern loops (13-14) were solitary experiences, a backcountry wannabe's delight, sufficiently firm and powdery, reassuring me I hadn't overshot capacity, and I might make the parking lot before dark. This place and Sturgeon River remain destination gems in the Forest Service's trail system.

(Michael Wilke)

Tracks are good from the parking lot to loop 1-2-3. However the tracks from the parking lot towards 8 were erased by a snowmobile. If you can make it to the powerline, the ski tracks resume. I didn't attempt to ski it. It was a bit cold this morning.

(Ashley May-Klick)

Tracks were deep and great. Trail was freshly groomed with 20+ inches of snow on the ground. It was 28 above and sunny. Great day to be out on the trails.

Photos:

(David Kettula)

We groomed and set a single track on the entire trail system Thursday. There may be some drifting in the open areas as the wind stayed up into the evening. Generally the tracks should be in good condition for the weekend. We must have at least an 8" base by now.

(Mark Toot)

Skied a sizeable loop in the old back yard. Really nice tracks everywhere we went except the swamp loop which was an adventure. But it was clear of trees. A single set of large, fresh wolf tracks preceeded our tracks. Fresh snow in the track and falling now as I type.

Photos:

(Mick Dodds, Ski Hut)

Skied a good portion of the trails late morning/early afternoon. All trails had tracks set and the snow was in good condition.

(David King)