Skied here for the first time in 5 years and it was great. Many of the trees have been removed around the chalet area. Some debris (tree branches, acorns and rabbit fur) on the trails. Look for the large gray fox around the 2.5K mark (where most difficult and more difficult trails separate). He kept walking back and forth on the trail. Lots of fun and not as challenging as Murphy. Deck is solid with a few footprints (saw a woman walking a dog on the trail). Trail is tracked for classic.

(Eric Spieler)

Skate deck is excellent today. Groomed this morning and the snow from late last week has fully set up. Very little oak debris and the trail issues caused by tree clean-up earlier in the year are completely fixed with fresh snow and grooming. I didn't use the track much, but it did look a bit soft. Praying for another month of skiing on natural snow!

(David Bain)

Great conditions, with some foot-traffic from hikers, which I kindly educated about where the Winter Walking Trails are located. Great ski!

Photos:

(Charlie Puttonen)

Soft but good conditions overall. Freshly groomed on Friday. Buckthorn removal impacted the trails on the north end of the loop.

(Rick Vatsaas)

Tracks and skate lane in good shape. They are doing heavy duty buckthorn removal, but just close to the trailhead so impact is minimal. The short hill loop and the connector for the shortest loop are closed. There is one, possibly two short crossings near the end where you will need to take off your skis and cross the equipment access path. But I did not think the conditions were as bad as an earlier reviewer. Rest of the system is just fine. The usual scattering of oak leaves (they do call the place "Terrace Oaks" after all). No walker damage in the skate lane yet. Saw what may have been coyote tracks, scat and squirrel parts/fur where the loops split about halfway through.

(Dave Gardner)

Don't waste your time skiing at Terrace, unless you are ready to walk some sections. Heavy logging by the City of Burnsville. Unless we get huge snow, continuous skiing of the full loops will be impossible this season.

(Dale Vaillancourt)

I skated a quick outer lap before dark. The groomer had rolled / packed today's newly fallen snow. Skier set tracks were apparent here and there. Still very soft until they can accomplish the next grooming step, and let it set up. There is significant tree debris in a spot along the first downhill from the trailhead, and again just before the final climb. Lots and lots of snow! Should be excellent once the grooming is complete. Note - the final uphill loop was closed today due to tree work. The cutoff trail is groomed to bring you back up to the trailhead. The short easy loop is still closed.

(Mike Maiers)

The 4.7km and 5.2km loops were groomed but the skate deck was very soft given the latest round of snow on Sunday morning/afternoon. The groomer left a ridge in the middle of the trail for most of the outer 5.7km loop, adding an unanticipated challenge. The short 1.1km loop is still closed due to tree removal. Gorgeous ski through the woods with all of the new snow but prepare for a slow ski until the groomers can pack down the snow a bit more.

(Kelsey Swagger)

Excellent for skate and classic. The chalet was open. Skied the outer and inner loops. Tracks were really fast. Skate deck a bit soft on one side but overall fantastic. Coaches who huddle with their squads between intervals, off the trail, are to be admired.

(Dale Vaillancourt)

Classic tracks are well set, with minimal debris. Skate deck decent with just a little bit of the uneven-ness problem experienced last week. The extra snow seems to have really helped. A few animal droppings along the trail but I didn't notice any annoying boot prints. The 1.1 km easy loop remains closed due to the tree removal work they are doing, but the two 5 km trails are open and the fun hills as good as ever. Overall fantastic to be at Terrace Oaks. Note: The trail house (at the west entrance) is open weekends 10-4. There are no rentals available but it is nice place to get a little warmth, refuel and use the indoor facilities.

(Julie Anderson)