Winter Trail Reports for the Grand Rapids & Itasca County Area
Snowmobiling Trails
Grand Rapids Town Trails, South of Grand Rapids and to Remer Trails – groomed by Itasca Driftskippers Club 1-7-20: The through town trails are groomed and packed.
Avenue of Pines (Deer River, Squaw Lake, Max & Wirt area)– groomed by Squaw Lake Snowmobile Club: 1-20-20: Groomed trails last night and we will groom again on 1-23-20. Trails are in great shape.
Clearwater and Suomi Trails – groomed by 38er’s Snowmobile Club – 1-21-20: Clearwater groomed 1/20, Soumi 1/21 both trails in great shape a lot of riders.
Taconite Trail, Little Bear, Bear Lake Trail, Circle T and Tim Corey Trail – groomed by MN DNR- 1-10-20: The Taconite trail from Grand Rapids to Highway 65 the trail was groomed on 1/9/2020. From Highway 65 to Highway 73 it was groomed on 1/9/2020. Logging is expected to begin just south of the Herb Brandstrom Trail intersection near Scenic 7. Signs will be put up. Please use caution and stay to the right.
Deer River Trails – Bushwackers: 1-16-20: all trails have been groomed. Trails are excellent.
Driftskipper, Smith Creek, Little Pokegama, Shelter, Cook Lake Trails – groomed by Itasca Driftskippers Club: 1-20-20: TRAIL REPORT 1/21/2020: As of 8:00 pm last night the Itasca Driftskipper Trail System is groomed. Ken made it all the way to the end of the Remer trail on the west end so everthing on the west side of HWY 169 is groomed. On the east side of HWY 169 I groomed the lake and under the bridge with the Bearcat GS and our 4×9 ARROWHEAD Drag so everytthing is groomed on that side. As your riding this week we will be out with the groomers cleaning up corners and packing the edges of the trails. 1-19-20: Packed and groomed the trail across the lake and under the bridge with the Bearcat GS today. Should have the trails groomed by 8 or 9 tonight. Will post a updated report tomorrow morning. Ride Safe and Ride to the Right. Doug Lord a.k.a. Groomer Dude.
Alborne-Pengilly, Blackberry, Charter Dam, Goodland, Pekey & Greenway – groomed by Greenway Snowmobile Club: 1-15-20: trails are all groomed and ready for the weekend. We will be grooming again 1-20-20. All greenway trails are groomed and are in excellent condition. No issues along the trail.
Keystone Trail, Hornet Spur, Hollywood Bait Spur, and Dirty Mike’s Trail – groomed by Itasca Snow Rangers: 1-21-20: The Keystone, Diamond Lake Trail, and all spud were groomed today, January 21. Conditions good to excellent.
Lawron, Lud Mandich, Daybrook, Delbert Brandstrom, LLL Spur, Nashwauk Trails – groomed by Lawron Trail Riders: 1-16-20:All Lawron Trails are groomed (Lawron, Nashwauk, Delbert Brandstrom, Lud Mandich, Day Brook) except for a small stretch on the power line on the Lawron Trail before CR 50. Groomer Dan was still able to sink this 6’ ice chisel into the soft spot on the Lawron Trail.
Bigfork Lions, Cameron Lake, East Bowstring, Effie Connection, Marcell, Wilderness Willie, and Circle T Trails – groomed by Marcell Snow Drifters: 1-21-20: The Effie groomer hit the Effie Connection from Hwy 6 to Bigfork and south to the Cameron. Also did the lions trail. Going to attempt to groom the wilderness Willie and circle t on Thursday and Friday.
Scenic State Park, Cameron Lake, Herb Brandstrom and Circle L Trails – groomed by Swampsiders Snowmobile Club: 1-19-20: All trails were groomed tonight good riding.
Blue Ox, Caldwell Brook, Island Lake, West Bowstring Trails – groomed by Northome Ridge Runners: no report as of yet.
Hill Lake, Perry Lake, Rabey, Washburn Lake, Remer Trails – groomed by Haypoint Jackpine Snowmobile Club: 1-9-20: All trails have been groomed with the exception for the last couple of miles south where we meet the Aitkin Trails. This is due to swamps not being frozen. 1-13-20: make it to Savanna today. There are still several bad spots in the trail that are healing. I was able to partially fill a couple of them in but they are not repaired all the way so please ride with caution. Also, thanks to Ron Davis for riding with me today in case I h ad trouble. Thankfully, we had an uneventful day and were able to make it all the way to the park and back with no issues.
Cross Country Skiing Trails brought to you by Northern Lights Nordic Ski Club
Trout Lake: 1-16-20: Groomed and tracked Doan Lake Trail. Excellent conditions. 3 inches light fluffy snow. Beautiful in the woods.
Minnesota Power: 1-15-20: Groomer did both MN Power and Portage Park this morning, but it has been snowing all morning with over 2 inches already. Go ski in the fun powder before it gets too deep!
Suomi Hills: 1-14-20: Groomed south Suomi up to the north Soumi parking lot, and south around the Amen Lake trails. A couple of 2 inch snow falls since last time.
Alder Pond: 12-31-19: County groomer reported parking lot plowed and trail down the powerline is packed and tracked. He did not indicate whether he did the uphill, one past the outhouse, was too.
Legion Park Trail: 1-14-20: Groomed and tracked all loops. The skate lane is still excellent. The track set much better today. More snow forecast plan to groom after.
Robin Baker Blueberry Hills: 1-9-20: We got a couple of inches of new snow today, just before I groomed. Groomed and set track on inner and outer Prelude loops, groom and track should set up well with cold weather. Please help by picking up sticks / branches off the trail as you ski. Remember to get your ski pass if you haven’t already done so.
Forest History Center: 1-11-20: Packed and groomed. Forest of Today Trail and Swamp Trail were pretty nice. River trails had some debris and rough spots courtesy of a rogue snowmobiler from the river.
Stoney Ridge: Thursday December 12, 2019 Trails closed due to logging. Not expected to be groomed at all this year by the county. (Catherine McLynn)
Cowhorn: 1-15-20: Trails are still posted closed at both entrances. County forester and DNR groomer are working to resolve hazardous conditions on loops 1 and 3. Caution signs have been put up on only two of the four newly plowed logging roads crossing the ski trail on Loop 3. More snow, grooming and setting track is planned for Friday which should result in re-opening the trail for the weekend.
Golden Anniversary: 1-3-20: Use caution as the trail is icy due to weather conditions. The trail was last groomed on 1/2/2020.
Sugar Hills: 1-8-20: Finally fully reestablished the snowshoe trail east of East loop, after finding a corner pin tree that I’ve looked for since the 8″ snowfall from two weekends ago. Ton did most of the work yesterday, found evidence of the old trail and then broke trail. Took us three hours. Glad that is done! Ton is out classic skiing, cold but should be nice.
Thistledew: Tuesday December 10, 2019 Called the DNR today, this trail is not being groomed anymore. (Jan Lasar)
Wabana: 1-8-20: Groomed but now a little rough with deer tracks and nature litter. After yesterday’s wind, there is a lot of tree debris in the tracks (sticks, needles, pine cones, etc).
Big Ridge: 1-9-20: Big Ridge has been groomed and trackset. Great condition.
Amen Lake: 1-14-20: Groomed Amen Lake trails up to the north Soumi parking lot. A couple of 2 inch snow falls since last time.
Mount Itasca: 1-16-20: Freshly groomed this morning, trails are in great shape and ready for the weekend races.
Scenic State Park:1-3-20: Volunteer groomer packed and set tracks in preparation for EOWSKi! Will groom again if needed.
University of Minnesota Trails behind Itasca Community College: No grooming being done this season on this nice trail system close town.
Simpson Creek: 1-15-20: Trail not groomed at all for skiing. Open for snow shoeing. Not sure which roads are plowed during the winter.
Tioga Recreation Area – brought to you by City of Cohasset and GRIMBA
Tioga Recreation Area: 1-14-20: Greenway, Gurly Flinn, and Tioga Party lap are groomed! Ruby Slipper is snowshoed!
Minnesota DNR Trail Reports
Snowmobile Registration
RIDERX App for snowmobiles, ATV and Motorcycle
Northern Lights Nordic Ski Club for Cross-Country Ski Trail Updates
Great Minnesota Ski Pass
Ardent Bicycles offers Cross-Country Ski, Snowshoe and Fat Tire Rental
GRIMBA Trail Information
NE Minnesota ATV Trails