Another great weekend of racing and mountain bike fellowship for Laddies Loppet 2021. This was the 31st year celebrating mountain biking at Maplelag.
With that first race in 1990 we forged relationships that we continue to maintain and treasure the new and old ones made throughout the years. Thanks to everyone who visited us this year making it another memorable weekend amongst amazing weather. Special shout out to our staff, volunteers and sponsors that help make it happen.
Beautiful weekend for Laddies Loppet 2021Always great seeing the kids on the line!
Maplelag Mountain Bike Team Members racing Laddies Loppet 2021
Jake RichardsSteve Wenzel before the start of his race. Steve hasn’t missed a race since 1990, competing in every Laddies Loppet!Jacob Olson. Congrats Jacob on winning the Comp Short Track race!Keith Moors. Thanks Keith for all your awesome work this summer helping prepare the course for race day!Ben OlsonCongrats John Peter on the Sport Short Track win!Wayne Carlson testing the tracks before race day.Smiling Bryan Schoenberger heading out at race start in the Comp race.Pat Crary heading out at the start of the Comp Race.John Muszynkski on the line
Beautiful September weather in place. Recent rainfall has really brought the forest to life and signs of fall are appearing more and more each day.
A great weekend for the Laddies Loppet mountain bike race. Thanks everyone that came!
We are now focused on having the ski trails in tip top shape going into the winter. We will be on the trails daily with final mowing, clearing leaves throughout the fall and removing deadfall.
The mountain bike trails are open for riding. We will continue maintaining the trails, and will be open, weather permitting, until November 1st. The Maplelag trails are closed to horse travel and motorized vehicles.
Early touches of fall color along the Maplelag driveway, September 7th, 2021.More interesting mushrooms popping out yesterday thanks to recent rainfall, September 3rd, 2021.Beautiful afternoon walking on the JibFly ski trail, August 29th, 2021.Recent rain bringing late season blooms to life, August 29th, 2021.More mushrooms popping up on the forest floor thanks to recent rain, August 27th, 2021.A few leaves changing color, August 25th, 2021. Typical this time of year and overall the trees are looking great despite the drier conditions. We anticipate another beautiful fall with our peak usually occurring the third week of September. Ski trail segment on the Laddies Loppet mountain bike course, August 25th, 2021.Recent rain making for great riding conditions and dirt work as we complete final tuning on the mountain bike course for Laddies Loppet mountain bike weekend, August 25th, 2021.Champlain Park CC team at Maplelag this week for running camp, August 24th, 2021.Warming up for the run! August 23rd, 2021.Woodpecker action on dead maple, August 23rd, 2021.Recent rain bringing the colorful moss, lichens and mushrooms to life, August 23rd, 2021. Spider web along the bike singletrack, August 12th, 2021.Another summer grooming on Suicide Hill, August 12th, 2021.
Another gorgeous day on tape beautiful day for the Laddies Loppet mountain bike weekend!
Short track racing starts at 10am and concludes around 1pm. All trail outside of the short track course open. Short track includes a small portion of the start of the course only.
Signs for the Laddies Loppet course.
Trail head is at flagpole near main lodge. Look for signs that have “Beginner/Sport/Comp/Expert” or named singletrack segments. There are also red signs at key intersections and pink signs for the LagChilada loop challenge. For first timers to Maplelag, best trails first to start on would be Sukkerwest at end of driveway and Feeling Lucky near main start area. Also the Citizen loop (6.5 miles) which provides options to try the more advanced singletracks segments. The sport loop (11miles) is more intermediate, cutting out the more expert sections. The expert loop is around 15 miles. Note: this distances are accurately based on wheel sensor readings. GPS will not record the whole track due to the thick canopy forest and twisty nature of the trail.
The two way “North Loup Gnar” trail can be accessed of county road 110 just to the east of Maplelag driveway. Bullhead Bootleg loop accessed from county road 26 via the gravel road 110. Please park in the first parking lot where the recycling bins are located. The main lodge is closed, no services available. Park and ride! Any questions on riding etc., contact Jay at 218-849-7669.
The Maplelag trails are classic “old school” trails, first built in 1990, mirrored off the courses used for racing to provide training opportunities for local racers and feature some of the more technical areas of cross country riding in the Midwest. We hosted a race that fall of 1990 and continue to run an event on Labor day weekend call the Laddies Loppet.
Trails listed on TrailForks. (Please note some routes were added by riders not associated with Maplelag, in particular the lakeside areas but all trails and intersections are marked)
Trail fees are appreciated to help offset trail work, signage and hopefully a new map. These are major expenses and we receive no grants outside funding for the privately maintained trails at Maplelag. Click here for most recent map. (Note: There are a few reroutes on the map but everything will be tapped off. No riding allowed on AMA land and please stay on designated trails at all time. Assume all risk and take responsibility for your actions) We are working on a new trail map that will feature many new trails built last summer and fall.
Welcome to the Laddies Loppet mountain bike weekend! September 4th, 2021.
Rainy day Thursday after a beautiful start to the week with brilliant sunshine and mild temps. The rainfall has brought the forest to life with vibrant colors of mushrooms and a few signs of fall colors and everything is green again!
It has been busy summer on the trails mowing, brushing and clearing windfall. We consistently work on the trails to have in best condition possible before the snow flies. Overall the trails are in great shape!
Wildflowers have been popping out nicely this spring and summer and really exploded when we had hot and warm conditions late May and early June. Many sights and sounds of nature. With the dry conditions, the bears have been knocking over dead stumps in search of grubs etc.! Eagles hatching in the eagles nest near the western trails. Bear sign on Twin Lakes and Bullhead area and many deer moving through the woods on the singletrack trails. Blue herons, Trumpeter Swans and pileated woodpeckers providing naturalistic sounds. This spring we also planted 100’s of trees and clearing on the trails as part of our regular forest management.
The mountain bike trails are open for riding. There are no services in the main lodge. Meal service and lodging closed at this time. The Maplelag trails are closed to horse travel and motorized vehicles.
More interesting mushrooms popping out yesterday thanks to recent rainfall, September 3rd, 2021.Beautiful afternoon walking on the JibFly ski trail, August 29th, 2021.Recent rain bringing late season blooms to life, August 29th, 2021.More mushrooms popping up on the forest floor thanks to recent rain, August 27th, 2021.A few leaves changing color, August 25th, 2021. Typical this time of year and overall the trees are looking great despite the drier conditions. We anticipate another beautiful fall with our peak usually occurring the third week of September. Ski trail segment on the Laddies Loppet mountain bike course, August 25th, 2021.Recent rain making for great riding conditions and dirt work as we complete final tuning on the mountain bike course for Laddies Loppet mountain bike weekend, August 25th, 2021.Champlain Park CC team at Maplelag this week for running camp, August 24th, 2021.Warming up for the run! August 23rd, 2021.Woodpecker action on dead maple, August 23rd, 2021.Recent rain bringing the colorful moss, lichens and mushrooms to life, August 23rd, 2021. Spider web along the bike singletrack, August 12th, 2021.Another summer grooming on Suicide Hill, August 12th, 2021.Wild flowers in the woods, August 12th, 2021.Summer grooming on “Eagle View” return on Twin Lakes trail, August 9th, 2021.Summer grooming on North Loup trail, July 29th, 2021.Another beautiful summer sunset over Sugarbush, July 25th, 2021.Moon over Maplelag! July 23rd, 2021.Another fresh cutting/summer grooming on Suicide Hill, July 19th, 2021.Summer grooming on Mother North Star ski trail, July 18th, 2021.Sunset with a extra tinge of orange as a result of hazy skies from wildfire smoke in Canada, July 13th, 2021.Aspen leaf and snow moth! July 12th, 2021.Clearing deadfall on the trails, July 8th, 2021.Interesting finds inside the log! July 8th, 2021.
Fantastic race prep conditions this week. The courses are in great shape and ready for the weekend! All day rain event on Thursday has the trails damp and soft in spots this morning. Looks like noon on Friday riding be good to go. Please let the trails dry out proper so we can have magic dirt on the weekend!
Excellent riding conditions this week and god seeing everyone out pre-riding. This week we are blew out the courses for the Laddies Loppet races. We are also blew out the trails not used for the race, Bullhead Bootleg, SukkerWest and North Loup Gnar. Be sure to check out these trails outside of racing! Touch up blowing on Friday on select segments.
Sport women race the Citizen course marked green or pink Sport women signs. and Comp women race the Sport course marked blue or orange Comp women signs.
Signs for the Laddies Loppet course.
Trail head is at flagpole near main lodge. Look for signs that have “Beginner/Sport/Comp/Expert” or named singletrack segments. There are also red signs at key intersections and pink signs for the LagChilada loop challenge. For first timers to Maplelag, best trails first to start on would be Sukkerwest at end of driveway and Feeling Lucky near main start area. Also the Citizen loop (6.5 miles) which provides options to try the more advanced singletracks segments. The sport loop (11miles) is more intermediate, cutting out the more expert sections. The expert loop is around 15 miles. Note: this distances are accurately based on wheel sensor readings. GPS will not record the whole track due to the thick canopy forest and twisty nature of the trail.
The two way “North Loup Gnar” trail can be accessed of county road 110 just to the east of Maplelag driveway. Bullhead Bootleg loop accessed from county road 26 via the gravel road 110. Please park in the first parking lot where the recycling bins are located. The main lodge is closed, no services available. Park and ride! Any questions on riding etc., contact Jay at 218-849-7669.
The Maplelag trails are classic “old school” trails, first built in 1990, mirrored off the courses used for racing to provide training opportunities for local racers and feature some of the more technical areas of cross country riding in the Midwest. We hosted a race that fall of 1990 and continue to run an event on Labor day weekend call the Laddies Loppet.
Trails listed on TrailForks. (Please note some routes were added by riders not associated with Maplelag, in particular the lakeside areas but all trails and intersections are marked)
Trail fees are appreciated to help offset trail work, signage and hopefully a new map. These are major expenses and we receive no grants outside funding for the privately maintained trails at Maplelag. Click here for most recent map. (Note: There are a few reroutes on the map but everything will be tapped off. No riding allowed on AMA land and please stay on designated trails at all time. Assume all risk and take responsibility for your actions) We are working on a new trail map that will feature many new trails built last summer and fall.
Bootleg singletrack, September 3rd, 2021. Singletrack absorbing the Thursday rain nicely.Berm action on Bullhead Bootleg singletrack loop, August 30th, 2021.Sneaking in a afternoon ride in between rain events, August 27th, 2021. Track in great shape and Maplelag moss coming alive along the singletrack after recent rains.Recent rain making for great riding conditions and dirt work as we complete final tuning on the mountain bike course for Laddies Loppet mountain bike weekend, August 25th, 2021.
Ski trail segment on the Laddies Loppet mountain bike course, August 25th, 2021.Beautiful sunset riding, August 23rd, 2021.Ramp action, August 23rd, 2021.Rolling through “Bjorp’s” singletrack, August 21st, 2021.“Bridge” singletrack segment leading to Twin Lakes loop, August 19th, 2021. Areas of scattered organic matter from dry and windy conditions otherwise great riding! Rolling through a wooden feature on “Bjorp’s” singletrack, August 16th, 2021.End of “Feeling Lucky” singletrack, August 16th, 2021. Ride around option on first singletrack segment, August 16th, 2021.Bridge crossing on Bullhead Bootleg singletrack, August 13th, 2021.Rolling through the rock garden on Moorhead singeletrack, August 13th, 2021.Twin Lakes singletrack, August 13th, 2021.Summer grooming on Suicide Hill, August 12th, 2021. Each course will only go up Suicide once.
A Family Owned and Operated Destination Cross-Country Ski Center
