After a beautiful start to April with warm and dry weather, rain moving in on Wednesday with almost 1.5″ of much welcomed precipitation the rest of the week. Dry and seasonal on the weekend. Rain bringing the moss to life on the ski trails. Not much sign of other greening, still early April!
Ice off the area lakes April 3rd. True to form, the loons returned. The lake is busy with waterfowl enjoying the solitude before summer lake activity.
We are starting to work on the trails, clearing deadfall and opening up the mountain bike trails. We have select mountain bike trails now open and will open additional trail, weather permitting. This spring we will be planting trees and clearing on the trails along with regular forest management. The Maplelag trails are closed to horse traffic and motorized vehicles.
Moss covered Skaters Waltz ski trail, April 10th, 2021.Moss on the ski trails coming to life thanks to the recent rain, April 9th, 2021.Maplelag Moss! April 9th, 2021.Bike trail segment on the ski trail, April 7th, 2021.Golden hour over calm water, April 4th, 2021. Ice off the lakes this past weekend.Lakeside singletrack on the mountain bike course, Most trails now open! April 5th, 2021.Loons on Little Sugarbush, April 4th, 2021. Loons returned like always once the ice was off!Enjoying the calm waters, April 4th, 2021.
The trails are open for the weekend. Expect a few damp/greasy spots earlier in the day otherwise deck is mostly firm. Best riding will be in the afternoons. Good seeing a handful of folks out enjoying the early season conditions.
We are working on signage and course marking. Trail head is at flagpole near main lodge. North trail can be accessed of county road 110 just to the east of Maplelag driveway. Bootleg loop accessed from county road 26 via the gravel road 110. Any questions on riding, contact Jay at 218-849-7669.
New season passes will be available in a few weeks. 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.
Twin Lakes singletrack, April 10th, 2021.Twin Lakes singletrack, April 10th, 2021.Moss lined singletrack, April 9th, 2021.Rock garden on “Moorhead” singletrack, April 9th, 2021.Recent rainfall bringing the “Maplelag Moss” alive on the trails, April 7th, 2021.Early spring vibrance along the singletrack, April 7th, 2021.Checking out Twin Lakes singletrack, April 5th, 2021. Trail is rideable but will improve after a few more days of drying and leaf clearing which is on tap this week.Bridge on Bootleg singletrack loop, April 5th, 2021. Bootleg now open for riding.Bootleg singletrack, April 5th, 2021.Rock garden! April 5th, 2021.Bente’s Bump singletrack, April 4th, 2021.
The “inner” trails, the Bootleg Loop and the new two way trail to the north “North Loup Gnar” now open for riding. Good early season conditions. Still a bit soft but will improve after more rider traffic and rain which will compress the dirt. (Trails are closed if raining or wet. Usually 4-6 hours after rain event, trails will be good for riding again. (Can vary with humidity and dew point.)
We are working on clearing the Twin Lakes loop, and plan to have open by the weekend. We are also working on signage and course marking. Trail head is at flagpole near main lodge. North trail can be accessed of county road 110 just to the east of Maplelag driveway. Bootleg loop accessed from county road 26 via the gravel road 110. Any questions on riding, contact Jay at 218-849-7669.
New season passes will be available in a few weeks. 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.
Checking out Twin Lakes singletrack, April 5th, 2021. Trail is rideable but will improve after a few more days of drying and leaf clearing which is on tap this week.Bridge on Bootleg singletrack loop, April 5th, 2021. Bootleg now open for riding. Bootleg singletrack, April 5th, 2021.Rock garden! April 5th, 2021.Bente’s Bump singletrack, April 4th, 2021.
A beautiful start to April. Warm and dry weather has all but pulled the frost out of the trails and the lakes are now ice free. True to form, the loons returned. The lake is busy with waterfowl enjoying the solitude before summer lake activity.
We are starting to work on the trails, clearing deadfall and opening up the mountain bike trails. We have select mountain bike trails now open and will open additional trail, weather permitting. This spring we will be planting trees and clearing on the trails along with regular forest management. The Maplelag trails are closed to horse traffic and motorized vehicles.
Golden hour over calm water, April 4th, 2021. Ice off the lakes this past weekend. Lakeside singletrack on the mountain bike course, Most trails now open! April 5th, 2021.Loons on Little Sugarbush, April 4th, 2021. Loons returned like always once the ice was off!Enjoying the calm waters, April 4th, 2021.
Bike trails are now closed. Trails are drying up nicely but still areas that have frost deep in the ground. Even if the temp is warm, the process of having the frost go out is lengthy. Typically the mountain bike trails will be rideable mid to late April. Riding now when trails are soft can damage the trails and take more time to repair. With the trails mostly free of snow, it is possible the trails will be open earlier if favorable weather but the frost was a bit deeper this year and the groomed trails always take a bit longer as a result of the grooming setting frost deeper into the ground. A good indicator is when the ice is off the lakes. As of April 2nd, most of the lakes were still ice covered.
We are hoping to host a short notice mountain bike race on May 8th, we will have more information and details by early April.
Trail check on lakeside singletrack, April 1st, 2021. Random segments are dry enough to open to ride but still many soft areas that need more time to dry. Trails remained closed. We hope to open select segments within a week.North facing segment of Twin Lakes singletrack still snow/ice covered, March 25th, 2021.Mountain bike singletrack starting to dry out, March 22nd, 2021.
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