Conditions: Pretty good. Just a few bare spots, some debris.
All in all the trails were in good shape. The only bare spots I saw were about 500m from the warming shack on the rightmost trail (up the hill). Mostly I skied the classic trail which had great coverage. Some leaves in the track which is unavoidable, but really puts the brakes on when using waxable skis.

(Adam Schwartz-Lowe)

Beth and I skied Brule Saturday afternoon. Very lovely. Nice classic track, well groomed skate lane. One or two rare spots a bit thin. A few isolated areas with some debris in track--you can sure tell trees where the red squirrels eat their pine cones! Between 10 and 15 F. Snow was cold but Fast Wax paste for 5-15 F worked well for glide, Swix special green gave plenty of kick. Pictures tell the story, taken where White Pine and classic trail come close together.

Photos:

(Tim Holst)

The Brule area received 1-2 inches of much-needed snow this week, and State Forest staff groomed and tracked all trails today, with no icy spots. Conditions are very good to excellent.

(Matt Miranda, Wisconsin DNR)

Thin firm pack with scattered ice and lots of debris (constantly picking up leaves with classic skis).

(Steve Schder)

Conditions: Fair to good for skate and classic.
Skating generally good with the recent light snow well bonded to the icy base. However, a few areas have rocks, dirt, ice, or tree debris, or are very bumpy. Classic track about the same with some washouts. B skis recommended.

(Brian Milavitz)

Conditions: Classical loop was well tracked, a bit icy at the very beginning.
Did the classical loop. Good day to ski. Very pleased with the trail conditions since we drove over from Duluth.

(Ed Fuhs)

Conditions: Good to very good with 1" of fresh snow.
About an inch of light snow fell on the trails over New Year's Eve. What was hard crust turned into solid trails. The classic tracks are deep and solid with a bit of debris. Skate deck is very skiable although the fresh snow will probably get skied off pretty quickly.

Photos:

(Andrew Slade)

Conditions: Fair to good, some thin and icy spots.
Skate lanes were groomed today and trail is in fair to good condition. Skiers can expect to find scattered icy spots along with a few small bare spots. However, the majority of the trail is very skiable and in good condition.

(Dan Kephart, Wisconsin DNR)

Conditions: Pretty good coverage. Hard pack with an inch of fluff on top.
Did not skate all the trails, but what I skated was amazingly nice. Never hit any rocks. Tracks looked good for the amount of snow. There are icy patches here and there, but overall well worth the 45 min drive from Duluth.

(Carol Koos)

Conditions: Ungroomed, icy spots, some weeds.
We skated today late morning into early afternoon and found the trails to be the best skating in the area. With that said, there was fresh snow on top of much ice in portions of the trail making it less dangerous than it would be without the snow. There were weeds sticking through and it was very thin in some areas under the trees as you get further away from the trailhead. I would suggest bringing "b" skis as there is one section with exposed bare ground that has no option except for taking skis off an walking and there are quite a few pokey weeds sticking up for a few k. The worst ice is at the beginning and end of the trail, however, there are icy patches at the bottom of a few hills, random patches all over the trails and some open spots where water has run through. Keep your eyes open wide!

Photos:

(Eve Graves)