Parked in the Cty 81/Clayton Ave parking lot and skied the Wetland and Pine loops. Trail was hard packed and pretty rough in spots due to walker and animal traffic. Tracks were present throughout, except on the hills, thin and glazed in some spots. Some debris in the pines. As previously stated, Blaine Ave, which is part of two of the three loops, has been plowed for some reason. It did not look inviting or particularly skiable to me (see photo). Think of it as either skiing on a plowed gravel road, or in the snowbank on the side of the road. A solution if you're doing the Wetland loop counterclockwise is to keep taking the trail west beyond Blaine on the north end of the loop. Go around the first bend and down the hill. Take a left into the corn stubble at the second bend (others have done this) and ski the corn stubble back toward the road. Cross it and you're back on the southern loop of the trail. This was better than it sounds (see photo). Since these trails are multi-use, don't expect pristine grooming and conditions. But it was a fun, quiet ski.

Photos:

(Dave Gardner)

If you are looking for a place to avoid crowds, this is the place for you. Covid-cautious skiers will enjoy how remote/quiet these trails are. Trails are in good shape overall. I had never been there before, so it was a bit of a challenge to find, but if you aim to go to Whitetail Woods Park and drive past the turn for that entrance, you’ll see the sign to go up to the trail head for the Lone Rock trail system. [ Or you can just use the Location map on our trail listing to get GPS driving directions -- Ed. ] I skied the farm loop and the lone rock loop, and ended up skiing on a plowed road (Blaine I think?) because I didn’t want to do the wetlands loop. It wasn’t too bad but I haven’t checked my bases to see what the damage was. I think I avoided most debris. The trail overall was in good condition but a fair amount of sticks and leaves to dodge. Really nice course, fun hills and nice prairie/field scenery.

(Amber Glawe)

First time on these trails in the winter and I was pleasantly surprised. As previously reported, these trails do not get a lot of traffic, so they were still in pretty good shape, albeit for some areas with a lot of plant debris, and one place where I think the groomer churned up some gopher mounds. We accessed the trails from Whitetail Woods park, and did the Farm Loop clockwise, but started too late to do the entire ten or so mile loop. We would have cut south at Blaine, but Blaine had not been groomed for skiing. It had been plowed instead. There was enough snow on it we could possibly have skied it, carefully, to avoid a few exposed patches of gravel, but ultimately decided it was safer to retrace our steps. It was because of this area I suggested B skis; otherwise good skis would have been fine. It was fun to try out a new place. I hope to return to try the whole system some day, starting earlier in the day.

(Lois Braun)

Skied a couple kilometers of Lone Rock trail starting from Whitetail Woods east side link. Trail somewhat icy and quite rough. Its a multi-use trail, so some human steps in tracks, but the real roughness is from many, many deer tracks. Good skis versus B is debatable, enough snow, used my good skis just fine.

Photos:

(Ken Kuznia)