Checked out The grooming progress in the park. I did not go over to Jackson Meadows. The start area has been re-groomed. The skating lane and classic track have been groomed heading out into the park. Stopped by the cabins by the campground and both classic and skate looked great. My next stop was at the high point of the trail where the crossing to highway 4 exits right. A new connection has been cut to the hwy 4 lot and this has been rolled. This makes it possible to ski to the road before crossing and heading south. Its skiable but a sharp turn is still present. Meanwhile, for those doing the shorter routes condition looked great as far as I could see.

Photos:

(James Smith)

The trails were well groomed from a day or so ago and gave both skate and classic skiers exactly what they need. There was fresh corduroy still in place on most of the course and leaves in classic tracks could be navigated with simple timing. Come out and try this gem of a trail.

Photos:

(Kory Lasker)

Another few inches of snow last night. No grooming today. A skied in track only. A few people skating in soft fluffy conditions.

(Jim Smith)

The classic track skied pretty well, for a skied in track. The skating lane has been groomed in a regular basis but the classic track has not been touched for two weeks. Quite a few wash outs and lacking a track on hills. Really could use a new groom.

(Jim Smith)

Skated majority of trails. Just recently snowed so a bit slow and needs to be compressed more but well groomed (groomers out this morning) with no bare areas and only one small dirty area on a turn of the downhill back to the trailhead. Track looks like it needs a bit of work, but I wasn't using it.

(Ben Fuller)

Wetland and Woodland Edge varied from fair to very good. It was hard packed with the usual bare spots on the outbound leg of Wetland. Conditions improved after the RR bridge with a softer surface. Thereafter branch and twig debris (and tiny cone debris from the pine trees alongside the trail for a while after you passed the cutoff for Rolling Hills Savanna) were the only issue. It was ugly cold at 11 degrees according to Google with a gusty wind. After just briefly baring my hand to get my car keys out to return a pair of skis to it, I had to go back in and warm them under a hand dryer in the bathroom before I put my liners and mitts back on. It worked; only my toes were starting to go after an hour and 15 minutes on the trail. I tried out both skis waxed with CH3 powder and FastWax Teal LF at the trailhead. Both seemed to perform the same - ok, I thought. I went with the CH3 waxed ones and as soon as I hit the uphill grade after the RR bridge, the cold weather slow-down hit. I'd skate a 100 to 200 yards and then stop and walk before I repeated the same routine all the way to the top with a stop at the shelter to clear my fogged glasses. Once I hit the downhill return I moved better (except being slowed by the tiny pine cone debris). I was able to continue to sustain my momentum once I hit the flats between skating and double poling. Only met one classic skier at the beginning of the trail and a couple high school boys on their second circuit while out on the trail.

(Keith Carlson)

I was amazed how good the conditions were. The skate deck was nice smooth corduroy the entire course. Fantastic job by the groomers. I did not get in the tracks but heard they were pretty icy. There are a number of rocks in the skate deck, especially on the visitor center side of the railroad tracks, so you need to keep your eyes on the trail.

(Peter Aggen)

Conditions were excellent for both classic and skating. Classic tracks were generally well-defined and deep enough. They were generally glazed because of the melting yesterday and refreezing today, so I didn't have very good kick with waxed skis. Might have been better with klister but I didn't try. There were quite a few leaves in some places in the tracks, though, which would be bad for klister. I got better kick on the freshly-groomed skate deck with Swix Polar White wax on my wood skis. Most if not all of the skate decks were groomed while we were there, and the condition was then great/fast for skating, with the melted/refrozen/groomed surface. There were several very small (~18" across) areas of exposed dirt, but these were easily avoided if you watch where you are going. Despite the cool temps, the bright sun made it feel warmer than I expected. Beautiful blue sky day for skiing! The visitor center/warming house/bathrooms were open, even though the ranger station at the entrance was closed.

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(Craig Wiklund)

Classic tracks are set in most places, not optimally deep, but adequate. They did not get much snow in the recent snowfall so tracks offer limited grip. Skiing was better with skins than with the waxed skis. There are a few gray spots on the skate deck, but nothing serious.

(Wanda Davies)

Trails are in decent shape. However trails probably have not been groomed since early Saturday as looks like there has been a lot of traffic in the last few days. A few oak leaves on trail in usually places.

(Mark Zelenak)