Trail Detail

Minneapolis, MN
10K
Skating/Classic
No
No
[ NWS ]
New Reports Report Requests

Notes

South Wirth Park includes 10 kilometers of groomed trail, with a mix of beginner, intermediate and advanced trails. Trails include JD Rivers Loop, Wirth Lake Loop, Eloise Butler Trail, Quaking Bog/Norm Oakvik Trail and Bridge Trail.
Proximity
Search
Ski Trails Rollerski Trails Stores Lodging
Within    

Trail Reports

2020-2021 season
Reports 43 to 52 of 67    Month: Mar | Feb | Jan | Dec
Monday, January 18, 2021
Morning
Firsthand: Freestyle 
[ Trails Open: All, Good skis ]
Unbelievably great grooming! I skate skied all of the South Wirth trails (Wirth Lake, Eloise Butler, Quaking Bog, 394 Trails, and Brownie Lake) this morning and could not believe how well the grooming transformed the formerly icy conditions. The snow is clean, the trail was expertly roughed up just enough to eliminate icy patches, and downhills were very manageable. Good skis can be used everywhere without risk of damage. Wirth Lake has some fresh new trails groomed alongside the old icy trails. Quaking Bog is in excellent shape throughout. The Anwatin Loop is likewise in great shape. Even the Wedding Hill up and down trails are in remarkably good shape. The only loop that is still a bit icy is the Pavilion Loop, so that one is worthy of skipping, especially if you do not enjoy the sharp right turn near the end that involves a large tree on the left. There is not enough snow depth for classic tracks throughout most of South Wirth, so skating is the best bet right now.
Photos:
(Bill Oyler)
Sunday, January 17, 2021
Night
Grooming 
[ Trails Open: All, Good skis ]
Quaking Bog, Eloise Butler, and Brownie Lake groomed at 8pm. There are still some classic tracks in the bog and Brownie but very little track remains in butler. Unable to set more given the icy snow. Was able to wipe most of the frozen foot prints. Surface currently is smooth but loose granular corduroy. Hopefully will set up firm overnight. Conditions will likely remain extremely fast so avoid these trails for now if you are not confident on downhills.
(Zachary Handler)
Saturday, January 16, 2021
Morning
Firsthand: Freestyle 
[ Good skis ]
Tornado alley, JD rivers, Wirth lake slightly icy. Bog and Butler are semi-frozen corn snow. Very fast. Able to edge everywhere, but not beginner conditions because the surface is so fast and is uneven in places. Full coverage with zero exposed ground. Some tree litter. I used my race skis and had no concerns about damaging them. There are lots of walkers on the trail. Keep an eye out for them and make your presence known long before you reach them to decrease chance of collision.
(Zachary Handler)
Monday, January 11, 2021
Afternoon
Firsthand: Classic 
[ B skis ]
Skied Wirth Lake, JD Rivers, Skyline, Tornado. Generally decent conditions, with the track getting a bit thin in places. The tracks are getting washed out on most corners and a couple of spots on JD that get sun were down to bare dirt in the tracks. Similar on Tornado Alley. Skate deck looked good. One spot each on the Lake trail and JD getting down to bare spots where there is a curve at the bottom of a hill.
(Dan Hutjens)
Sunday, January 10, 2021
Morning
Firsthand: Freestyle 
[ B skis ]
Solid snow cover in the bog. Thanks groomers for making it possible for a family ski on less crowded terrain.
Photos:
(Cari Batdorf)
Sunday, January 10, 2021
Afternoon
Firsthand: Classic 
[ Trails Open: All, Good skis ]
We finally found parking north of Wirth lake parking. Skied all the south trails, flower gardens, bog, and out to Cedar lake. Tracks were intermittently good and wash out. I enjoyed the quaking bog area and lakes best. We are having such great weather and just enough snow. Fun to see so many people out enjoying winter.
Photos:
(Diane Pattridge)
Sunday, January 10, 2021
Afternoon
Firsthand: Both 
[ Trails Open: All, Good skis ]
Skated while wife did classic from Cedar up to trailhead and back. Former Mayor Rybak would have been proud to see all the people outside: Skiing, snow biking, walking, dog enjoying the outside and even ice bathing. All parking lots including Wirth beach were overflowing. Snow was incredible and everyone was wearing a smile.
(Todd White)
Sunday, January 10, 2021
Afternoon
Firsthand: Both 
[ Trails Open: All, B skis ]
My kids were skijoring on skate skis while my wife and I were on classics. Some icy spots in the tracks but I was getting stellar kick with my skin skis. Lots of fun. Skate deck was good, but my kids don't complain. I was super impressed with how well the classic tracks are holding up. Had a great 6 mile ski through Wirth Lake loop, Tornado Alley, Skyline were all solid with very little grass sticking through. There was even snow under Olson Hwy. Not many walking prints on the trails even though it's getting hard to tell the difference between the snowshoe, mtn bike and ski trails. I took the time to have a nice conversation with some walkers who asked if the trails were for walking or just skiing. They were very thankful to learn about grooming and where to walk.
(Andy Martinson)
Saturday, January 9, 2021
Morning
Firsthand: Freestyle 
[ Trails Open: All, B skis ]
All of the Theo Wirth South natural snow trails were in lovely shape this morning after a nice little inch or so of new snow! There are classic tracks in most areas, and the skate deck was in super clean shape. No major risk of ski damage except a few usual spots that are easy to spot and avoid.
Photos:
(Bill Oyler)
Saturday, January 2, 2021
Morning
Firsthand: Freestyle 
[ Rock skis ]
Skied South Wirth today. The snow itself is great, but there are quite a few spots with brush sticking up through the snow. I went down to Brownie and the hill down and back up definitely has a couple problem spots. The bog had a few spots with brush, especially on the newly routed outer loop on the SE side. The new routing in the Bog has some sharper turns including on the N end (where it was gentle before). The Anwatin loop had several dog walkers on the trail, and beware on the hills as some skiers and walkers were going the wrong way on the trail. As others mentioned, the pond in Eloise is unpassable without skiing over a lot of reeds/cat tails. The path off Wirth Lake has the same dirt/reeds spots as the other sections. It was cleaner on the way to N Wirth but double poling under 55 is a must now - several skate pushes down to the pavement were visible. Skyline was pretty great except a few patches on the east ends of the turns. There was a good amount of dirt and some low branches. The uphills and steeper downhills were quite clean. Lots of people using everything from Wirth Lake to N Wirth, nice to see so many new skiers out too.
(Dan Boody)

First Previous Next Last