Three Rivers conditions rating of fair is an accurate average. It was more the good, the bad and ugly depending on the section of trail (see photos). Classic tracks were even more variable. Lots of debris on the trail today from the wind, especially the Poplar Creek loop. Bring a pair of skis you don't mind damaging.

Photos:

(Ben Ruhme)

The trail was in very good condition at my 6:20 pm start. It was probably 34 degrees. I skied the entire perimeter except Lower Ironwood where the uphill return reconnecting to Ironwood was pretty bare. The rest of the trail was hard packed with a little light rutting at the edges that was of no consequence. There was no ice and no bare spots. Somebody was coming off the trail just as I prepared to go on otherwise I met nobody on the trail except 4 walkers.

(Keith Carlson)

The light snow on Sunday really helped conditions. The re-groomed tracks were in mostly good shape with very little leaf litter. Some tracks in low lying areas or near water tended to be more washed out. The skate deck looked good as well. The pictures show average conditions.

Photos:

(Tom Pitchford)

The tracks were fair to good. There were some leaves, and some icy areas. Some areas were good. Although I didn't skate, the grooming there looked good most of the time. The lower loop of the advanced trail has not been groomed or tracked, but I tried it, and that was a mistake. It's in poor condition.

(Ruth Robinson)

Cleary was very good Sunday evening. The bonfire was lit, the fresh snow had been groomed in and trails for classic and skate were in very good condition. So nice to be on natural snow in those beautiful woods. Lower Ironwood remains closed.

(Julie Anderson)

All things considered, amazing conditions at Cleary, was shocked at how good it was. Solid classic track, great skate deck. Tree debris much less than expected, very manageable. Great edging for skating, only a few thin spots. Spectacular job by the groomers, keep up the great work, and thank you!

(James McCarthy)

Trail conditions were fair-good. The tracks were mostly OK with some icy sections (and some of these may have had tree debris mixed in with the ice). The main issue was sections of heavy leaf litter in the tracks. Not much of the leaves stuck to my skis, and I never felt I was scraping bottom, but I did have to knock off tree bark pieces 2 times. While avoiding heavier track debris, I skied on the skate deck. I thought it was in good condition overall with adequate snow coverage and just a few avoidable thin or icy spots. Nearing the trailhead at the end, there was a section of thinner snow with hard ice underneath where it was hard to plant my poles.

(Tom Pitchford)

I skate skied the big loop at Cleary at 7am and was happily surprised to see that the last couple dustings of snow have been enough to make a nice, skiable layer on top of the ice. The trail was being groomed while I was there, and a track being set. I'd say 85% of the skate surface is nice and 15% shows ice. Photos show the best case and worst case conditions. Minimal debris on the trail.

Photos:

(Dan Steger)

I'd say Cleary is unskiable at this point. The skate deck is frozen, rutted slush and the track is completely ice. I was hoping maybe they'd miraculously till up the ice into something pulverized and skiable but not so. TRPD's report says it was groomed but I don't think it was this morning. Regardless, it's an ice rink.

(Dan Steger)

I skied classical with my skin skis this morning because of the warm temperatures. I was pleasantly surprised even with all of the leaf debris how good the trails were. I would not recommend using skis with wax because of the leaves in the track. Temperature was around 34 when I started.

(Conrad Sanders)