Conditions: Excellent grooming, exceptional glide.
I did the northwest trail to junction 20-19-18-23 to 27-26-28 then west of FR 257 to junction 22 and back to 8. A little freezing rain made the glide exceptional so I went down to junction 7-13 and up to the Adirondack shelter overlooking the Rice River Valley. The second shelter has been sadly removed because of graffiti and ATV damage to the adjoining swamp.

(George Bekkala)

Conditions: Very good! At least an 8" base with excellent mid-season snow conditions.
The Forest Service, packed double wide with the groomers and set a track on the entire system today.

(Mark Toot)

Conditions: Exceptional hard packed classic tracks.
Some debris on the trail in the pine covered areas. We skied the southeast easy to intermediate trails and this trail system is truly a hidden gem in NE MN.

Photos:

(Julie Holien)

Conditions: Very good conditions, track should set up nicely in the cold conditions.
The Forest Service set a track on all the trails except the most northern swampy loop.

(Mark Toot)

Conditions: East side trails have pine needles and some glazing. An ATV tore up the trail parallel to the road from the lot for about a KM. Very good coverage and decent tracks from recent grooming. West trail from 7 to 8 and back to lot had plenty of icing and mixed snow conditions.
With no wax skis, it was the way to go today. Temps were around 36 and sunny late afternoon. Plenty of skiers out.

Photos:

(Ron Kutsi)

Conditions: Good snow cover on entire trail system.
The Forest Service set a track on all the trails on Friday.

(Mark Toot)

Conditions: Good to great conditions on east trails(1 to 8). I don't think that my poles hit the bottom at all and with seven inches of new snow since then all the better.
Was good to see lots of people out there. Been going there twice a season for 15 years and I used to have to break trail more than a few time out there -- but has been perfectly groomed for 3 years now. Made a donation to the box.

(Mark Peil)

Conditions: 3-5" of new snow on Thursday.
The Forest Service groomed and set a track on the loops from east to west up to junctions 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, and 22 on Jan. 15th. Some western segments still need more snow before a track can be set. Freshly groomed segments are in good shape.

(Tim Engrav)

Conditions: very good to excellent.
freshly groomed and tracked for classic skiing.

Photos:

(Matt Zak)

Conditions: Very good to excellent.
Skied here for 3 days. The east side to the east shelter and back to the parking lot was nicely tracked and it was all I could do to ski all of those trails over a 2 hour ski. A half inch of light dusting both Thursday night and Sunday day left the trails as marvelous and in mid season shape. I met a couple who had done the whole west rolled outer loop and reported that it had a nice back country feel. They seemed a credible report as they were smiling and had the glow, and clearly had skied at big aspen many times before. They described a few exposed rocks on the descent into the old west shelter as the only cautionary advice. My ascent to the east shelter was well covered with only a couple of small rocks under the pines which were easily avoidable.

(Michael Wilke)