A beautiful afternoon for skiing the Deer Creek Loop. Conditions were mostly very nice. There were widely scattered spots with a little dirt in the track. Saw just a few swans in the Deer Creek backwaters, and one deer on the loop.

Photos:

(Kris Backlund)

Finally back out on the trails. I skied from the Trail Center following the Mitigwaki Trail (bike trail) to the River Access Road. Nice downhill run there. Once down by the river I watched swans flying to the river and up and down the river corridor, probably at least a dozen. I took the Mondale River Trail south, then turned away from the river. On this stretch while I was stopped doing a little trail repair I heard a couple birds flapping in the trees. They were quiet to begin with so my first thought was owls, but then I caught a glimpse of them and realized I had disturbed a flock of roosting wild turkeys. I worked my way back up to the Mitigwaki Loop, and returned via the bike trail portion. There were a couple small sections with a little bit of dirt, especially the dip on the Mondale River Trail where the little creek enters the St. Croix. Otherwise even good skis should work. I was pleasantly surprised by how nice the trails were with not a whole lot of snow lately. Should be a nice weekend for skiing if you pick the right trail.

Photos:

(Kris Backlund)

We skied loops from the camper cabins several times Saturday-Monday. Conditions were great, though a few twigs to avoid. Our favorite section was going down the hill on Nevers Dam Trail after turning off from old logging trail. We skied Walter Mondale River Trail, Mitigwaki Loop, and Old Logging Trail. Most trails had two sets of tracks, one of the trails had three sets.

(Jennifer Strahan)

Great conditions at Wild River this afternoon - good base of snow, no bare spots, classic trails appeared freshly groomed. On some of the wider trails, there were three sets of parallel groomed tracks! This was a novelty for city skiers and made the family skiing more fun. Yes, there were a few leaves and sticks on the trail but nothing that would damage your skis and exactly what you’d expect skiing through an oak savanah. This was our first visit to Wild River to xc ski. I’d recommend it for beginners: there are long, flat, groomed trails, it’s not busy and you can rent gear and get advice at the Trailhead (check hours online).

(Allison Thrash)

I used classic skis. Good coverage everywhere except the Amador prairie loops. On the Amador loop it was a bit thin in spots on the track, easily avoidable. The trillium trail was covered with oak leaves. I unintentional cleaned the leaves from the track with my kick wax. I used swix 35 for kick. The Mondale, Deer Creek, Old Military, and Pioneer were much cleaner of leaves and in great shape, I would recommend those. The Old logging was also relatively clean. In retrospect I should have put on my hairies and not fight the leaves.

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(Craig Schulz)

The skate trails were pretty well covered, a few dirt and grass patches, but easily avoidable. The expert trails had a half inch of new snow over courderoy, fine for skating, but made snowplowing on the steep downhills treacherous. Mine were the first tracks on a Saturday afternoon, so not crowded! The easy loop was blown in and soft, most of it had skier made classic tracks that made skating challenging.

(Mike Keyes)

Bombed the hill down to Amik's Pond from the Interpretive Center, then Mondale/River-Nevers-Old Logging Trail. Generally good conditions, occasional sticks and seeds, but some rocks at the boat launch, a little dirt here and there, and some exposed asphalt on Old Logging. Hopefully new snow will cover the bad spots.

(Bryan Lueth)

Skiable and beautiful but snow is quite thin in most places we went. Impossible to avoid all gravel, rocks, sticks if you want to look at the scenery too. If I had good skis I would not use them. B skis okay if you don't mind some new scrapes. Gravel here and there under tracks on Mitigwaki, a few rocks and skate skier marks on Pioneer, Deer Creek also had some rocks and some washed out sections. One end of River trail seemed better. Didn't do Prairie trails or Logging. Worth the trip but need to watch out!

(Janet Folina)

Skiing in the new year. I skied the Dry Creek Trail and found good conditions for the most part. Since the connecting trail is a horse trail, conditions on that section were more variable. Watch out for the part under the pines after the foot bridge. I stepped off to the side there. Much better conditions on the Dry Creek Trail itself, but there were a few spots with a little dirt or pine needles exposed. Beautiful winter woods, and good protection from the wind on this sheltered trail.

Photos:

(Kris Backlund)

Trails were nicely groomed but had some dirty track segments in some of the open areas. It was easy to step out of the tracks to get past the short, bad spots. All in all, it was well worth the drive up from the Twin Cities.

(Ken Fastner)