Here's a few pictures from this past Wednesday. Three of us left my from my hotel (shameless plug!) Country Inn of Two Harbors and rode up to Lutsen for 2 nights.
We rode the CJ Ramstad / North Shore State Trail to Lutsen with a stop in Finland for lunch and another stop at the Trestle Inn. Perfect day with low traffic, I think we counted maybe 12 sleds on the trail during our 110 mile ride. Saw 3 groomers between Two Harbors and Trestle Inn and 1 more on the Lutsen spur trails. I've never been to the Trestle Inn when there's only a handful of sleds in the parking lot! The bartender did say that business had been steady with people coming and going but the weekend of course will be busy.
Thursday we did a 125 mile loop up the Gunflint to Hungry Jack Lodge. Gunflint trail had some real nice sections and some were rough but very scenic if you haven't rode that area. We took the Expressway back down. Another day of low traffic on the trails.
Friday morning we left at 8am for the 105 mile ride back to Two Harbors. By 11am traffic was really picking up with most sleds riding north towards Grand Marais, still the State trail was very nice although I'm sure it got rough later in the day. The DNR is supposed to be grooming both Friday & Saturday nights. The Yukon trail which runs from the State trail just north of Two Harbors up to Isabella looked in great shape on Friday - nice option to get away from some of the heavier traffic areas.
As you come into Two Harbors, the last 3 miles on the spur trail is a little thin - there is a lot more snow once you get a few miles inland from Lake Superior. Fortunately the local club had groomed the trail on Thursday night.
The warm weather & heavy traffic will take a toll on the trails this weekend, as it did last weekend which was in the low-40's - but the groomers got the trails back to awesome conditions right away.
So if you're thinking that the season is over in MN - think again! There's a lot of snow up in the arrowhead region and if you can ride mid-week you'll be amazed at how few sleds you see on the trail.
Here's a few pictures from the ride, I should have taken more... But we were having to much fun!
We rode the CJ Ramstad / North Shore State Trail to Lutsen with a stop in Finland for lunch and another stop at the Trestle Inn. Perfect day with low traffic, I think we counted maybe 12 sleds on the trail during our 110 mile ride. Saw 3 groomers between Two Harbors and Trestle Inn and 1 more on the Lutsen spur trails. I've never been to the Trestle Inn when there's only a handful of sleds in the parking lot! The bartender did say that business had been steady with people coming and going but the weekend of course will be busy.
Thursday we did a 125 mile loop up the Gunflint to Hungry Jack Lodge. Gunflint trail had some real nice sections and some were rough but very scenic if you haven't rode that area. We took the Expressway back down. Another day of low traffic on the trails.
Friday morning we left at 8am for the 105 mile ride back to Two Harbors. By 11am traffic was really picking up with most sleds riding north towards Grand Marais, still the State trail was very nice although I'm sure it got rough later in the day. The DNR is supposed to be grooming both Friday & Saturday nights. The Yukon trail which runs from the State trail just north of Two Harbors up to Isabella looked in great shape on Friday - nice option to get away from some of the heavier traffic areas.
As you come into Two Harbors, the last 3 miles on the spur trail is a little thin - there is a lot more snow once you get a few miles inland from Lake Superior. Fortunately the local club had groomed the trail on Thursday night.
The warm weather & heavy traffic will take a toll on the trails this weekend, as it did last weekend which was in the low-40's - but the groomers got the trails back to awesome conditions right away.
So if you're thinking that the season is over in MN - think again! There's a lot of snow up in the arrowhead region and if you can ride mid-week you'll be amazed at how few sleds you see on the trail.
Here's a few pictures from the ride, I should have taken more... But we were having to much fun!
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