Enjoy playing outside today! All 15k of cross country ski trails are packed, tracked and in good conditions!

(Sonja Bercich, Three Rivers Park District)

Get your toosh or behind outside! Free cross country ski rentals, free day trail pass, today only, 2-26-22, in all of Three Rivers Park District's parks. Parks included are Cleary, Carver, Murphy, Baker, French, Eagle Golf Course, Glen Lake Golf Course, Hyland, and Elm Creek! Temps are rising quickly. Make reservations online to rent skis!

(Sonja Bercich, Three Rivers Park District)

Excellent grooming on Natural Trails North, Lake, Hill, Frog Town were near perfect with 95% beautifully groomed for classic Nordic skiing. One can park by Richardson Nature Center and ski to rest of trails! Note: SW and West side of Lake trail had a few meters bare. Used my Rossi 65OT 185cm but wished I had brought my race 205cm skis.

Photos:

(Stephen Tannen)

Wow, how much more comfortable it is to ski on natural snow. Granted the man made is faster. There were some windblown areas around the lake trail and the north loop. All easily detoured around. Great grooming job by the Hyland crew.

(Scott Greymont)

Fresh new snow and fresh new grooming throughout the entire trail system - including all of the natural snow trails. Deep classic tracks throughout. Really fun to get back on the natural snow for an easy ski before the Birkie. Good skis are safe. Just be careful on the usual dirty uphill at the end of the Hill trail, before it joins up with the Lake trail, to avoid the debris. I found a container of almost new Swix CH7 Purple glide wax in the middle of the parking lot. If it's yours, just let me know and I'll get it back to you.

Photos:

(Bill Oyler)

Due to the warming yesterday, the deck had a lot of icy, crispy spots. Some areas had some sugar on top, too. But the Boulder Ridge downhill was not bad at all, considering, especially around the outside and middle of the turn. However, on my third time down (at full speed since I had already checked out the hill), some deer were about to run across in front of me at the bottom- luckily the sound of my skis skidding caused them to back off. The flat area where the trails merge in the middle was not great, and the downhill preceding that had some crispier spots close to the tracks. Overall, pretty nice. But could be tougher for people not used to crust and some sugar.

(Dan Boody)

Did all the trails today at Hyland, about 11K. The trail was a little crusty and icy in some spots but it was fast and nice. Saw 3 deer. It does need some fresh snow but still worked well.

(Caleb Anderson)

5K of Manufactured Snow Trails: Star, Willow Creek, Scenic Foothills & Boulder Ridge are packed, tracked and in Good Conditions
Natural Snow Trails: Oak Knob, North, Nature Center Spur, Lake, Hill, Oak Knob are in poor conditions and not tracked. Free Play, Free Snow Day Sat. Feb. 26.

(Sonja Bercich, Three Rivers Park District)

After trying to ski around a mess of debris on my good skis yesterday on some natural trails - admonishing myself the whole time for not using the B skis - I reverted to the safety of the Hyland manmade track at 7am today. Pink and orange sunrise. Impeccable skate deck and classic tracks. By 8:30 traffic was starting to pick up but it was another glorious MN ski day. Thanks to the groomers for working their magic.

(Emil Pedersen)

Immaculate: Star, Willow Creek, Frog Town, Scenic Foothills and Boulder Ridge. Fair: Oak Knob (Icy along Lake just off of Star loop) and North (Icy in open areas and but good in woods; trail mostly uneven with high on one side and low on opposite). Skied with my Rossie 65OT and had fun.

Photos:

(Steve Tannen)