Skied the East Side fairly close to the visitor center. Did not go to the hills. Tracked and holding. No bear spots or ice, small segments of slush. Not much debris, but some. No doubt as nightfall and temperatures fell the track would glaze and the slush turn to ice; but soften up again tomorrow.

(John Couch)

Great ski today. My wife and I took our grandson on his second cross country ski from 1:30 to 4. Conditions were great. Lots of people our enjoying the new snow and fresh groomed trails.

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(John Gamlin)

Trails groomed with tracks set. Classic and skate trails are in good condition all around. Should be a busy weekend. Intermediate and advanced skiers can enjoy the center section to avoid the beginner skiers that tend to start at the Visitor Center Trailhead. Park at the Jensen Lake Trailhead and ski under Pilot Knob Road via a tunnel to access the center section.

(Katie Pata, Dakota County Parks)

Outstanding conditions at Lebanon. Best ski of the season. Well-groomed. A small number of icy areas but barely noticeable given the overall excellent quality of trails.

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(Kari Thompson)

Excellent trail condition. Get out and enjoy the trails. Groomer did a great job setting tracks. Skied middle section between Pilot Knob and Johnny Cake ridge. Few skiers were out as of 5:00 pm, maybe they were all on the east side.

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(Paul Kraus)

The trails are in tough shape and very icy. There is a thin, 2-3 inch base of ice left, which the groomer is leaving as-is, not wanting to risk damage to the grooming equipment. If we more snow, we'll be in good shape as the icy base will keep rocks and debris in place so the snow can be packed on top.

(Katie Pata, Dakota County Parks)

Snow was very hard pack, there were tracks in some places, even a few good ones! There were a few spots that had a lot of leaves/pine needles/sticks, but still nice to get out!

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(Lynne Nelson)

Skied the section south of Pilot Knob road (under bridge) and although the snow conditions were fine, the trail needs a fresh groom. Otherwise, it was still fun getting out and obviously plenty of coverage. The downhills were a bit scary due to the snow being pushed out so would recommend waiting until re-groomed for this section.

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(Scott Ford)

Trails skier tracked and hard. Oak leaves starting to litter the trail. Some icy spots, especially downhill segments. Overall I was pleasantly surprised at the trail condition. Skied from visitor center down Dodd Rd and from marker 38 to 7. Enjoyed being in the woods. Blue 30 wax worked quite well.

(Paul Kraus)

Skied the trails from the Visitor Center west towards Holland Lake and back, and overall, they remain in fair condition (fairly enjoyable) with several nice long stretches of skied-in tracks (and plenty of places where tracks are sorely needed). There's just enough snow on top of the ice-base to make it fun (especially downhills). Not too many oak leaves. Saturday's Trails By Candlelight event will not feature lit cross-country ski trails or ice skating this year (there's not enough good ski track, especially where we need it most to put 500+ skiers out there in the dark...) But, we are still lighting 3 miles of wooded hiking/snowshoe trail and 1 mile of snow-free accessible walking paths, and lighting the sledding hill for the event. Bring your own sleds and snowshoes. Snowshoe and ski pole rental available. Check our website for more details!

(Katie Pata, Dakota County Parks)