Skied a big loop on the western trails this morning. The track set was decent and there were varying amounts of fluffy new snow where others hadn't skied yet. No litter on trail and, as always, a peaceful tour of these amazing trails in the pines.

Photos:

(Andy Fisher)

Flathorn-Gegoka is one of the most beautiful trails I’ve been on. Classic tracks and fat tire bike tracks available. Beautiful forest with snow hanging in the pines. Plenty of snow on the trails. Worth the drive.

(Kay Libby)

Freshly groomed and additional fluffy dusting overnight. Great conditions. New snow slowed the glide a bit, but beautiful snow covered trees and zero wind. Fat bikers enjoying the trails too.

Photos:

(Lura Wilson)

Several inches of snow this past week allowed for Friday grooming. Additional light fluffy snow this weekend and the trails are in good shape for a quality ski. Fat Bike lane is solid on main drag, but too soft on 11 to 24 segment. Enjoy! Public trails like Flathorn/Gegoka depend on Great Minnesota Ski Pass funding to defray the cost of maintaining them. Buy yours today online at the MN DNR website and keep a variety of public trails available to all.

(Andy Fisher)

Skied 5 miles of the west trails. No new snow, but super fast and decent tracks. no bare spots and very little litter. Much better conditions than the meltdown along Lake Superior.

Photos:

(Andy Fisher)

Given the reports and recent weather, the conditions today were surprisingly good! I used "good skis" and would again, though there were some patches of twigs and debris that were hard to avoid on fast downhills. A bunch of trails have undulating bumps that make for a ride. The tracks were solid and in good condition, washed out understandably on most signifiant uphills and downhills. Everyone I saw out there today commented on the fast tracks and snow! A couple weeks ago there was a big tree down over the trail between posts 5 and 15...thank you to the person or crew who took care of that because it's now gone! For me the most challenging section conditions-wise (washed out track, fast hills with turns, foot prints and body prints, etc.) today was at Flathorn Lake, going from the parking lot and heading towards #8. Beyond there it improved a lot!

(Luciana Ranelli)

No meaningful snowfall or grooming since last report. Warmer temps and light freezing mist on Thursday means less than ideal conditions, but all trails have good coverage.

(Andy Fisher)

The trails to the west of the main corridor were groomed Thursday. The entire system is in decent shape with a few bumps in the narrow sections and pine needles here and there. Fatbike segments are still too soft to ride. These US Forest Service public trails require a Great Minnesota Ski Pass. Conservation officers are enforcing this actively and writing citations for those without passes in their possession. Thanks for supporting the National Forest Lodges grooming team's efforts!

(Andy Fisher)

We finally received enough snow by Xmas Eve to groom for the first time. Additionally, the main trail and trails to the east of it were groomed on Saturday. West half of trails have not been groomed since Dec 30th's 3" snowfall. There are a few maps missing from trail signposts so bring a map. Note: The costs for maintenance and grooming of these trails are defrayed by your purchase of the Great Minnesota Ski Pass. If you want to continue to have a variety of ski options available in the future, buy your Minnesota Ski pass (available online). Happy New Year from the National Forest Lodge volunteer trail crew!

(Andy Fisher)

This morning we skied 17-18-19-20-21-22-23-24-19 and back (total mileage ~5.6 miles). Afternoon skied 17-16-20-21-14-17 and back. All these trails were groomed, which leads me to believe at least 50% of the total routes have been groomed. Yesterday's nice clean tracks were, today, covered in about 2.5" of fluffy powder, which was nice but made for slower going...but now the trails we skied are broken (you're welcome :-) ). Everything we skied is in fine condition; the snow is what I call "creamy". Even the low-lying trails are in great shape, although given the current snow depth some spots are still a bit lumpy and there are still some small alders and such sticking up, especially on the 18-19 route. The woods are a flocked wonderland, and we only saw one other pair of skiers all day. Again, I selected B skis only because we haven't yet skied all of the trails. We noted that the 15-5 trail does not appear to have been groomed yet, but there is a skier made trail broken there. Bottom line, this area would be a fantastic New Year's ski.

Photos:

(Vince King)