ITASCA COUNTY CROSS COUNTRY SKI TRAIL REPORTS

Mount Itasca– Thursday January 15, 2026: 2″ new snow, groomed the whole system and set tracks except on upper biathlon trails and connecting to Grant-in-Aid. Grant-In-Aid trails are packed and tracked. CXC races this Saturday and Sunday. Biathlon side will be closed for races, but Grant-In-Aid side will have mostly open trails. (Bob Conzemius)

Suomi Hills – Sunday January 11, 2026 : Groomed and track set North Suomi trails this morning. Surprisingly turned out quite well with the lack of snow we have had. Track set looked pretty good. The deer have ripped up a pretty good area digging for acorns on the Balloon Lake loop, so watch that area where the steeper hills are. While out there watch across the deep ravines and lakes and you will most likely see deer on the other side. I watched deer in two areas.
(Dale Juntunen)

Minnesota Power – Saturday January 10, 2026: Skate was not groomed. Bummer because it would have been fast. Some sticks/debris. Classic looked fast and was groomed.
(Erika Kuehn)

Alder Pond – Friday January 9, 2026:County groomer reported he had packed twice, so I thought it would be perfect for skate skiing. But last week inch of fresh snow and the melt down left catchy crust for skate skiing. Classic skiers made their own tracks in the one inch of snow over the packed base. No bare spots, just fast snow! Pretty daunting on the downhill behind the outhouse. I did not go up, not wanting to come down! (Catherine McLynn)

Legion Park Trail – Wednesday January 7, 2026:The Legion Trails were recently groomed with consistent coverage and excellent glide today. The snow was not softening yet. Classic trail is mostly intact. (Jeff Pesta)

Stoney Ridge – Wednesday January 7, 2026: County groomer reported that he had packed trails a week ago and there was a skiff of fresh snow over the base. Lots of moose tracks!
(Catherine McLynn)

Robin Baker Blueberry Hills – Wednesday January 7, 2026: The trails look like they were groomed just prior to the recent freezing mist phenomenon. There is a solid base and the glide was excellent, no melting happening today. A machine tracked classic track was not deep, but it is very functional. This trail was the most fun during my tour of local trails today.
(Jeff Pesta)

Sugar Hills – Wednesday January 7, 2026: Fantastic firm fast flat corduroy. Periodic scattered overall easily avoidable small twig debris. Widest have seen trail groomed. Could easily use good skis but if highly particular might not want to use best skis. Huge kudos to groomers – amazing conditions! (Chip Tabor)

Wabana – Wednesday January 7, 2026: The trails have had some fairly recent grooming with a mostly skied in classic track. Lots of stubble poking through the base. Not a quality training site, but a very scenic place to enjoy with old classic skis. (Jeff Pesta)

Cowhorn – Wednesday January 7, 2026: Skied Boomer Blue [multi-use trail] today and considering what they had to work with, the trail is in very good shape. A few sticks and leaves poke through the track, but barely enough to mention. This and the regular Cowhorn ski trails appear to have been tracked yesterday and the tracks set up very well. Hope it doesn’t melt too much in today’s sunshine. I used B skis, but good skis would probably be fine. (Dave Kooda)

Portage Park – Sunday January 4, 2026: Skied the outside loop. The tracks looked to be in good shape. The skate area was not groomed but was good. Lot of loose snow by the ball fields but solid base under. Didn’t find any bare spots or debris. (John Segari)

Trout Lake – Friday January 2, 2026: The grooming looked pretty fresh with only a few other skiers before me on the south end. North of the estate footprints were on the trail and in the tracks at times, but not too bad. Thin snow cover but no issues using B skis. With just a little more snow, good skis would probably be just fine. Two sets of tracks south of the estate and one set of track north of the estate. I did not ski Doan lake, but it looked a little more rustic. Thanks for grooming! (Jonathon Rulseh)

Forest History Center – Friday December 19, 2025: For the 2025/2026 ski season, we will not be grooming our ski trails. This is due to a construction project which is blocking all through-access to our trails. Our hope is that we’ll be grooming again for the 2026/2027 ski season. (Bryan French)

Big Ridge – Wednesday December 17, 2025: Trails haven’t been groomed in a while. There are some areas on the farther trails that have set ski path but mostly has multiple tracks. Since the warm weather on Tuesday the trails are hard packed snow with some open areas. Deer beds and animal tracks on further trails that disrupt the trail entirely. (Kara Clifton)

Golden Anniversary – Thursday December 11, 2025: State groomer reported trails have been packed but not tracked. With recent new snow, should be fun to make your own tracks. (Catherine McLynn)

Amen Lake – Wednesday December 10, 2025: Groomed Amen Lake and Suomi trails. Still some rough spots, but overall quite skiable. The deer are having their way out there, especially under the oaks. (Randy Zupan)