Trail Detail

Balsam Branch Trails
Amery, WI
12k
Skating/Classic
Yes
No
1 Main Lot 1 Kennedy Park
[ NWS ]
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Notes

The Balsam Branch trails are open to the public for no charge. When there is snow, tracks are set by Polk County Park and volunteers. The trailhead parking area is always well plowed. Toilet facilities are available at the nearby Kennedy Environmental center but no coffee shop or warming facility. Roughly 4K of lighted trails added in 2010.
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Trail Reports

2021-2022 season
Reports 6 to 15 of 34    Month: Mar | Feb | Jan | Dec
Saturday, February 26, 2022
Afternoon
Firsthand: Classic 
[ Trails Open: All, Good skis ]
Trails groomed since last snow. In good shape, but skate deck a little chewed up from all the skiers. Classic track on some hills wiped out by herringboning.. A few notes to those who have skied here in the past: The parking lot has been tripled in size since last year, so parking is easy. There is now a new trail for beginners. Flat, and a few K in length.
(Ralph Schwartz)
Friday, February 25, 2022
Afternoon
Firsthand: Classic 
[ Good skis ]
Tracks are in pretty decent shape for classic. Looking forward to the next time its groomed. Really enjoyed this system of trails.
Photos:
(Virginia Ballantine)
Thursday, February 24, 2022
Afternoon
Firsthand: Classic 
[ Trails Open: All, Good skis ]
Ended 1 PM. Perfectly formed tracks and beautiful corduroy, hardly used since most recent grooming. Skate deck feels a bit soft despite cold weather, so perhaps it was regroomed this morning. However my pole plants on the outer side of the track lane often found impenetrable ice just below the corduroy surface, and in places there was ice starting to poke through the bottom of the track. Hopefully more snow and grooming will further improve the classic experience!
(Wayne Federer)
Wednesday, February 23, 2022
Morning
Grooming 
[ Trails Open: All, Good skis ]
All trails tracked and groomed this morning after our fresh snow from yesterday. They should be set up by later in the afternoon. All the debris from earlier in the week is covered over.
(Barry Tulkki)
Sunday, February 20, 2022
Morning
Firsthand: Classic 
[ Trails Open: All, Good skis ]
Classic tracks were in great shape this morning. There is some debris on the tracks but not a significant amount. No bare spots. When I left at about 11am the warm weather started affecting the tracks. The areas in the sun were getting soft and sticky due to the warm weather.
(Michelle McArdle)
Saturday, February 19, 2022
Afternoon
Firsthand: Freestyle 
[ Trails Open: All, Good skis ]
The inner trails were in excellent conditions - firm, recently groomed and minimal twig and bark litter. The outer trail on the south end had not been groomed since the last snowfall; so it had an inch of powder on top of a firm, previously groomed base. Snow was unfortunately cold and slow. Air temp was between 13 degrees and 15 degrees according to my smartphone. Really cold wind where I was exposed to it. I used FastWax Blue LF on my 1st ski of the perimeter. After a breather and a warmup, I used other skis waxed with SWIX CH3 Powder to do a run on the new beginner loop to see if it performed any better. Felt better on the flats; no better on the uphills. Between my loss of conditioning over a cold-induced, 18 day layoff from skate skiing and still not having shaken all that cold's symptoms, it was slow going on the cold, slow snow. Just averaged 5.0 mph. Still a nice, albeit cold day on a beautiful trail with great conditions. Kudos to the groomers.
Photos:
(Keith Carlson)
Thursday, February 17, 2022
Afternoon
Grooming 
[ Trails Open: All, Good skis ]
All trails touched up today. Skate deck is in good shape, hard and fast. Track was reset where washed out and is shallow in places, but mostly track is hard, fast. and has little debris. It should be a great weekend for skiing with warmer weather. We are hoping for fresh snow next week.
(Barry Tulkki)
Wednesday, February 16, 2022
Afternoon
Firsthand: Classic 
[ Trails Open: All, Good skis ]
With the snow earlier this week the tracks were practically debris free and in good condition, and the skate deck looked in excellent shape as well.
Photos:
(David Wilford)
Monday, February 14, 2022
Afternoon
Firsthand: Freestyle 
[ Trails Open: All, Good skis ]
Skied Sunday and Monday. Dreamlike conditions with excellent grooming and weather on the Sunday. Monday offered perfect weather again with a fresh 1.5 inch of dry powder which made conditions fast yet soft. Thank you groomers!
(Daniel Raether)
Friday, February 11, 2022
Afternoon
Firsthand: Classic 
[ Trails Open: All, Good skis ]
Beautifully groomed trails. Tracks were just a bit shallow and soft in places. I stuck to the greens and blues due to poor kick wax selection on my part, so I can't comment on the blacks. Thanks Balsam Branch for the best trails of the season.
(Bob McKlveen)

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