North Meadow Loop was skateable. Made no attempt to verify conditions on the rest of the trail but it was certain to be boilerplate and ice like the trail from the parking pull-out to the loop. Leaf litter at north end of North Meadow Loop took me down once and nearly again. Driving a half hour to skate in 1.5 km circles for 20 minutes before I had to turn around and drive back to grab dinner and take my daughter to the airport is indicative of my desperation to ski and aversion to skiing artificial snow loops. Sure hope there is snow north of Cities for my next outing.

(Keith Carlson)

I skated the upper North Meadow loop this afternoon. Fast, hard track... pretty smooth with good edging but some leaf debris on about half the loop. A few icy spots but easily avoided. The lower North Meadow is also groomed. More hills and more ice. Skiable but be cautious. North Meadow is off to the left as you drive in. Trail to the North Meadow is not groomed.

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(Carl Nordgren)

With some shoveling and several passes with the groomer, we were able to make a skiable skate loop (approx. 1 or 1.5K) in the North Meadow. There are no bare spots, but a couple icy places so ski with caution. It's not perfect, but it will work for those who need to get some training in. We will continue to run the groomer around the rest of the trail system and try to scratch up what snow we can.

(Andy Powell)

The rain turned some sections to a skating rink. Other spots may have enough snow to work with. We're going to work on a couple of small loops and try to make them skiable. For everybody's safety, I'd stay away for now. We'll update later on whether we have any luck.

(Andy Powell)

Groomed skating trails this morning. Good coverage in most places but a little more debris on the trails...mostly leaves. Skating is good. Not enough snow to reset classic tracks. The tracks are still in place but icy and a little melted off in some sections.

(Carl Nordgren)

My first stop in The Tour of Marine was here, looking for classic tracks. Classic tracks were set and mostly good, just some vegetation poking through in places. Skating deck looked nice, little used. This area is maintained by two volunteers who live here. The grooming has been consistently good. It is a little strange skiing here because it looks like you are skiing in someones yard, well you sort of are. Make the first right as you pull in and park along the road. You will see the ski trail right before the turn. Follow the signs to where you park. The trails have new signs this year, but if you feel lost just look around for the buildings and you will find your car. The trails are narrower, and hillier than Obrien so skiing can be a little more technical. Grooming was much better here than at O'Brien.

Photos:

(Jim Smith)

Tracks are thin under the thick trees but all the trails are very skiable. Fun to be out with some solid classic tracks.

Photos:

(Carl Nordgren)

Classic tracks are thin in some places, with some grass popping through. Skate deck has full coverage and looks good.

(Andy Powell)

We had approximately 6" of new snow on Friday. Trails are groomed and classic tracks are set. Conditions look very good. Tracks may be thin in heavy forest areas.

(Andy Powell)

Everything looked open and rolled. Looks like they are packing the trails, pretty fluffy snow. Coverage looks good.

(Jim Smith)