We skied in the early afternoon and it was magical once again! Until you get to the main trail there are no tracks set, but once there they are deep, firm, debris free and the pole plants were solid. Huge thank you to Mark for the fresh grooming!

Photos:

(Eve Graves)

We groomed and set a track today on the inner (orange) loop and a small section of the outer loop. About 6K total. Skiing should be good. The blue loop is cleared enough of downed trees and is open for backcountry skiing and snowshoeing.

(Mark Hagen)

We groomed and set a new track this afternoon. The track setter didn't set to the full depth on parts of the trail. I skied it tonight and conditions are still good anyway.

Photos:

(Mark Hagen)

Wow...today was yet another spectacular day at the Cloquet Forestry Center! Firm tracks, intact tracks and firm pole plants throughout. 99.99% debris free and what was in there was easy to glide over. Trees continue to be covered in snow allowing for magnificent nature viewing! The "new" parking areas are easy to find now because they put signage up. If you follow the straight arrow on the sign it takes you right to the trailhead, the right arrow takes you to the main lot and you have to walk over. We were very impressed that they even spray painted lines for us to park! Huge thank you to Mark for getting out there and grooming after the snow stopped!

Photos:

(Eve Graves)

The inner loop is groomed and tracked. We also added the RR Grade triangle section of the outer loop. Enjoy!

Photos:

(Mark Hagen)

We pulled the groomer today as we went out to cut trees that came down on the trail and wiped the trail clean but didn't set a track. I will update when track is set. It's looking like Friday late afternoon.

(Mark Hagen)

We classic skied the Cloquet Forestry Center just as Mark finished grooming. The tracks were amazingly straight, solid, and fast despite the new snowflakes falling. They are 98% debris free with some pine needles in spots. The tracks get kinda shallow in a few spots but overall it was really nice. It is beautiful as usual and well worth the trip! On a side note: Staff there has asked that people no longer park at the old trailhead. They want people to park either at the main building and walk over or by the building pictured, which is at the new trailhead. [ The trail map accessible via the listing indicates the preferred visitor parking area -- Ed. ]

Photos:

(Eve Graves)

We groomed and reset the track this morning. Conditions should be good for classic skiing (no skate deck here). The new trailhead is located on the south side of the maintenance shop with parking on the north side of the same building and additional parking in the large main parking lot.

(Mark Hagen)

Inner loop is groomed and tracked. Classic skiing only here. Outer loop still has downed trees that need to be removed before we can groom that section. I skied it after grooming and am happy that pole plants are not punching through soft snow. Trail is in nice shape.

Photos:

(Mark Hagen)

Huge thank you to Mark Hagen for grooming the Cloquet Forestry Center! They have minimal equipment and the tracks were firm, at least 2 inches deep, and straight! Some of the areas had the soft long pine needles in the tracks, but with waxless and skins we were fine. I put B skis because of all the needles in areas... they were not the ski stopping kind though. They have done a lot of clearing of trees, thank you! If you can get here while the snow is still on the trees it is beauty on an amazingly grand scale due to the height and number of trees!

Photos:

(Eve Graves)