All the lakes and the Cedar Lake Park Trail in the woods have been groomed and new tracks have been set on most of the lake. The snow on Bde Maka Ska is getting thin and slushy in places. Isles and Cedar have a good skate deck and solid tracks. The bike/walking paths have been groomed as well. Cedar Lake Park Trail in the woods (Hidden Beach to N. Cedar) is groomed and tracked. Caution: There is open water at the tunnel going to Brownie from Cedar.

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(Michael Bono)

Since I’m a “glass half full” kind of guy, especially about Minnesota in the winter, let me put it this way: If you don’t mind a few ruts, and occasional water, and maybe a few more ruts, and you aren’t trying to break any speed records...then this is the course for you. But generally I’d wait a day for it to set up a bit. Cedar was in best shape, especially the east side which I assume was because it got sun later in the day. Isles was really mushy but I was able to get in a nice tour of a run, just enough to assuage my guilt for not training more so I could be at the Birkie.

(R.T. Rybak)

All formerly groomed sections are lightly frozen slush. Some water on top of ice sections, but not many. This is for Lake of the Isles. Can't really recommend as a ski experience, but nice to get out.

(Kevin Sullivan)

Drove by BMS, Isles, Cedar and Brownie deciding if we would Nordic here. Saw 1-3 skiers per lake slugging it out on beaten down trails. Went to Theo Wirth South Beach... meh.

(Stephen Tannen)

The warm weather feels great but has been rough on the snow. Bde Maka Ska has crusty rutted snow that people and pets have walked on. The skate deck in Lake of the Isles is slightly better with packed but sticky snow. I mostly double poled in the tracks. In some places there are triple tracks in good condition and in other places they’re very icy, especially under bridges. While fun to be outside the ski conditions were pretty bad.

(Betsy Hoium)

Portions of the trail are ok but parts have a lot of slush so be careful. The innermost classic track was the best to ski in.

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(Farouk Bruce)

Cedar Lake was very fun to ski, not too soft from the sun. Found skis and poles by South Beach of Cedar Lake around 2:45 pm. I leaned them against the big statue there because they were in the road.

(Linette Maeder)

Skied the entire 16K chain of lakes including the east Cedar leg. Despite only Brownie freshly groomed, the base was even and firm everywhere, and very fast, given the fresh layer of snow. Bridge underpasses are in good condition. Can't wait for tomorrow!

(Duane Jacobson)

Just finished a really nice ski on Isles, the Channel and Cedar and found conditions really good. The latest light snow covered up a few of the bare or slick spots, esp under bridges. Isles more packed than Cedar but both were in good shape.

(R.T. Rybak)

Things looked good everywhere and even with wind snow seems to be staying out of tracks without the drifting problems from the last week. Added a lot of snow to all the slightly icy stretches and dirty snow under bridges and in channel. It may be a little loose and lumpy instead of icy until the next pass. A few hardy souls were all reporting a good time and nice conditions.

(Eric Sumner)