All of Lebanon Hills was groomed today with tracks set. The groomer reports great conditions will full coverage even through the pine groves and the oak leaves are behaving themselves. It's been while since it's been this good!

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(Katie Pata, Dakota County Parks)

It doesn't get any better than this, for traditional kick and glide skiing! I skied most of the Lebanon Hills trails (North Traditional and Between the Ponds). All trails groomed this morning - dual tracks (skiing and passing). No bare spots, easy to kick and glide through beautiful forest and ponds. I brought my tourist dollars from North Carolina, for great skiing. I skied Como Park yesterday. Good recent snow, but former set tracks were lost. Good for skaters. Boring loops on a golf course. For a modest day pass at Lebanon Hills ($6) I got good maps and recent track grooming, plus working restrooms. Como had frozen pipes, so they supplied portajohns and the cafe/draft beer were shutdown. What more do you want! Ok, Lebanon Hills had sightings of raptors and a weasel, ski rentals, nature educator spreading infectious enthusiasm to cherubic kids out in the woods. Lebanon Hills beats any X-Country skiing I've done in North Carolina! That isn't saying much. Lebanon Hills rivals the best skiing I've done in the Adirondack Mountains, at Mt. Van Hoevenburg Olympic Cross-country skiing center.

(Greg Nye Smith)

Great day for a ski. Skied from the visitor center East thru the pines then South thru the horse pasture then West to Jensen Lake. Trails were in such great shape I continued on under Pilot Knob road then West to the camp ground and finally returned to the visitor center. New snow, freshly groomed trails and great temps made for a great ski.

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(John Gamlin)

All trails (classic and skate) freshly groomed and tracked this morning. The groomer reported great conditions with full coverage, even in the usually thin pine areas.

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(Katie Pata, Dakota County Parks)

Excellent conditions during and after the snowfall late Sunday afternoon. The fresh snow hadn't been groomed, but the underlying base was firm, and many skiers had already set new tracks. Very soft and quiet skiing. Beautiful in the woods, with snow piled up on the pines and stuck to tree trunks and branches.

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(Craig Wiklund, North Star Ski Touring Club)

Excellent conditions today - trails were close to perfect with fresh snow falling throughout the day.

(Gregory Bluem)

Awesome conditions - firm tracks (some soft spots outside of tracks). No debris other than the usual oak leaves. In my opinion, the best classic skiing in the metro. Very few people out this afternoon.

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(Eric Leugers)

Grooming plans: The groomer plans to heads out early this morning to groom the entire park (starting east, moving west). If all goes well, the park will be completed by noon. Finally great conditions.
The Trails By Candlelight luminary event on Feb 9 is sold out, no tickets will be available at the door. Only those who have pre-purchased and present their tickets at the door will be admitted to the event. The Lebanon Hills Visitor Center parking lots will close at 5 PM and only those with event tickets will be permitted to park there after 5. Not going to the event but still want to ski? Plan to park and use non-event ski trails out of Holland Lake and Jensen Lake trailheads.

(Katie Pata, Dakota County Parks)

Really good tracks. Skied east side and only encountered a few icy spots. Additional snow will help. Get out and enjoy this great park.

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(Paul Kraus)

7 inches of dry powder. The groomer started out in the Pistenbully, packing and setting tracks. Skiing is good, and it looks great, though remember there's an icy base, and the light snow isn't sticking to it very well. Use caution on the downhills.

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(Katie Pata, Dakota County Parks)