Skied Mitigwaki to Amik's Pond to River Trail to Never's Dam trail to Amador Prairie. Fair classic track but fun, worthwhile skiing. Couple spots with debris or dirt but much better snow coverage than expected. Skied early afternoon and only saw 4 to 5 other skiers.

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(Wayne Nelson)

I skied almost all the trails. Excellent conditions, hardly any leaf litter and the tracks were set nicely. Great conditions. I did not ski the skating trails so no report on that.

(David King)

The dusting of snow from Thursday night was worked into the otherwise fresh tracks in most places. I skied the Mitigwaki to the River Access Road. A pleasant descent was not as fast as it can be thanks to the dusting of snow. From the landing, I skied south on the Mondale River Trail. I found a pair of swans gleaming in the afternoon sun on the Wisconsin side of the river. I went up the hill below the Visitor Center, finishing on the bike trail. Trails were quite nice. Also a few deer, and a handful of other skiers. Catch the skiing while you can!

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(Kris Backlund)

A beautiful afternoon, with blue sky and virtually no wind. The tracks had been reset prior to the light dusting yesterday. They were a bit shallow and occasionally windblown in areas that hadn't seen any skiers today. So, the snow was lovely but a little slow. A pair of swans on the open creek water.

(Peter Schlesinger)

A beautiful afternoon for skiing the Deer Creek Loop. Conditions were mostly very nice. There were widely scattered spots with a little dirt in the track. Saw just a few swans in the Deer Creek backwaters, and one deer on the loop.

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(Kris Backlund)

Finally back out on the trails. I skied from the Trail Center following the Mitigwaki Trail (bike trail) to the River Access Road. Nice downhill run there. Once down by the river I watched swans flying to the river and up and down the river corridor, probably at least a dozen. I took the Mondale River Trail south, then turned away from the river. On this stretch while I was stopped doing a little trail repair I heard a couple birds flapping in the trees. They were quiet to begin with so my first thought was owls, but then I caught a glimpse of them and realized I had disturbed a flock of roosting wild turkeys. I worked my way back up to the Mitigwaki Loop, and returned via the bike trail portion. There were a couple small sections with a little bit of dirt, especially the dip on the Mondale River Trail where the little creek enters the St. Croix. Otherwise even good skis should work. I was pleasantly surprised by how nice the trails were with not a whole lot of snow lately. Should be a nice weekend for skiing if you pick the right trail.

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(Kris Backlund)

We skied loops from the camper cabins several times Saturday-Monday. Conditions were great, though a few twigs to avoid. Our favorite section was going down the hill on Nevers Dam Trail after turning off from old logging trail. We skied Walter Mondale River Trail, Mitigwaki Loop, and Old Logging Trail. Most trails had two sets of tracks, one of the trails had three sets.

(Jennifer Strahan)

Great conditions at Wild River this afternoon - good base of snow, no bare spots, classic trails appeared freshly groomed. On some of the wider trails, there were three sets of parallel groomed tracks! This was a novelty for city skiers and made the family skiing more fun. Yes, there were a few leaves and sticks on the trail but nothing that would damage your skis and exactly what you’d expect skiing through an oak savanah. This was our first visit to Wild River to xc ski. I’d recommend it for beginners: there are long, flat, groomed trails, it’s not busy and you can rent gear and get advice at the Trailhead (check hours online).

(Allison Thrash)

I used classic skis. Good coverage everywhere except the Amador prairie loops. On the Amador loop it was a bit thin in spots on the track, easily avoidable. The trillium trail was covered with oak leaves. I unintentional cleaned the leaves from the track with my kick wax. I used swix 35 for kick. The Mondale, Deer Creek, Old Military, and Pioneer were much cleaner of leaves and in great shape, I would recommend those. The Old logging was also relatively clean. In retrospect I should have put on my hairies and not fight the leaves.

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(Craig Schulz)

The skate trails were pretty well covered, a few dirt and grass patches, but easily avoidable. The expert trails had a half inch of new snow over courderoy, fine for skating, but made snowplowing on the steep downhills treacherous. Mine were the first tracks on a Saturday afternoon, so not crowded! The easy loop was blown in and soft, most of it had skier made classic tracks that made skating challenging.

(Mike Keyes)