Fresh corduroy and bluebird sky at Golden Eagle Lodge today! I skied all the trails north of Flour Lake and conditions were sublime. The folks at Golden Eagle have put their new PistenBully to good use, and the trails are in very good condition. It's true that they could use more snow as there are occasional brown spots, hence the B ski rating, but these are easily avoided. The deck is firm and fast and the tracks are deep and crisp. Great scenery and great skiing up here.

(Bob Amis)

Skied the trails that leave from Bearskin lodge (beaver dam, oxcart, summer home road, campground loop and poplar). They were out grooming in the morning and had groomed summer home road, poplar, campground loop, some parts of north/south link and beaver dam up to the loop segment. Be careful on the hills on beaver dam loop segment as they are down to thin coverage/ice. Everything was tracked. There is occasional dirt and leaf/stick debris in the tracks and deck on the trails. There's a big patch of dirt on Oxcart about a third of the way in but otherwise that trail is in great shape. I used my race skis on all the trails and they seemed to have faired well.

(Caitlin Anderson)

First time skier on the Central Gunflint trails and they are quite impressive! Beautiful scenery, well-designed trails, well marked, well groomed - wow. Personal favorites: Deer Mouse (for sunset views), Red Pine, Moose Ridge, Beaver Dam, Poplar, Bear Cub (but do heed the sign - that last hill is the craziest I’ve ever seen!). Overall deep snow, one spot at the top of a hill on Bear Cub a little bear ;) and a little icy crossing the lakes on North/South Link, but overall great snow coverage, and a nice variety of trails. Thank you groomers!

(Robert Sullivan)

Took the wooden skis out on old logging camp trail. It was in really great shape. Tracked all the way. The part through the bwca is a skied-in single track. I'm glad we went clockwise around the trail otherwise there were some downhill sections in the bwca part that seemed like they would be a little challenging do to the narrow single track (or maybe it is my lack of control on wooden skis). It was a gorgeous day to be out and the Eggens skied great, especially on those big uphills.

(Caitlin Anderson)

Ski trails were groomed fresh again this morning with the PB100. Conditions are awesome right now (the weather too)! Some slush appeared on the lakes so lake crossings and the North-South Link trail will continue to be groomed via snowmobile and with a skate lane only until things solid back up. The West End Logging Camp is a notoriously rocky trail and there are still a few rocks poking through on that section. Everything else is in fantastic shape! Best skiing of the season yet!

(Zach Baumann, Golden Eagle Lodge)

Beautiful skiing near Golden Eagle Lodge with excellent grooming for both skate and classic. A magical winter wonderland. We skied all trails over 3 days. Worth the drive!

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(Patty Carlen)

All Golden Eagle side trails groomed this morning with about 4” of new snow. Track in excellent shape through. Deck look a little soft with the new snow but not bad. Excellent coverage. Saw a moose run down logging camp trail - so that didn’t help the skate deck! But overall GE trails are excellent. Sons skied around west end trail to Bearskin area and reported that trail also in good shape and groomed.

(Jim Carlen)

We received 9.25” of snow in the last 24 hours. All our ski trails are now open. Conditions are cold today which should set up a very nice skate deck for Christmas day and the days following. Everything is groomed with a classic track and skate lane – all the trails groomed up wonderfully today. The lakes will continue to be groomed via snowmobile until we get a bit more ice to cross with the Pisten Bully. There are still a few rocks poking through on the west end logging camp and along the north-south link trail where the trail meets the lakeshore. Other than that, you should safely be able to ski on your good skis from this point forward.

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(Zach Baumann, Golden Eagle Lodge)

Logging Camp, Deer Mouse, Cross Fox, Red Pines, and the Skijoring Trail all are groomed with a classic track as well as several trails on the Bearskin side. There is still some dirt present on some sections of the groomed trails so B-skis are still our go-to right now. That being said, new snow is in the forecast so expect another update to follow after the snowstorm.

(Zach Baumann, Golden Eagle Lodge)

By far the best snow conditions I saw from Saturday to Monday, Dec.19 - 21 in the Gunflint was on Poplar Creek trail. The trail is not groomed and perhaps only 1/3 of the 8.4 K loop is packed. But compared to Lacy Lake or Banadad Trails, lots of snow there. One general observation, the farther west I skied on Gunflint trails, the less snow I saw.

(Jacek Witkos)