Ski Trail

Ski Trail Report

Trails are open. Snowy Saturday! Textbook “prairie effect” snow with close to 4″ of fresh fluff snow so far today as of 12 noon and still coming down. A little bit of wind but not so noticeable in the woods. The trails are busy and lots of happy smiling faces! We have been grooming the double track trails with Sap Run, Mother Hen, Sukkerbusk, Twin Lakes and JibFly groomed. Tracks are filling in fast as snow continues to fall but skiing in a snow globe can’t be beat. We will groom a few more trails before taking a break and resume in the evening and Sunday morning once the snow stops and wind settles down.

Friday we finished a complete regroom of the entire trail system, finishing a reset of the singletrack classic trails Roy’s Run, Bullhead Lake Bootleg loop and a new track on the side of the skate lane on North Loup. The skate lane and a new track was also set on the lake loop “Lumi’s Loop”. Late evening Sap Run, Sukkerbusk and Skaters Waltz groomed.

Has been an awesome week and the warmer temps didn’t altered the snow. Grooming we are able to mix the rime snow that fell from the trees and mix it with the most recent snow and old snow. Now with the light dusting Friday evening, conditions are about as good as they get!

We have also have a loop on Little Sugarbush Lake “Lumi’s Loop” with a skate lane and track on each side. This is a fun 1.2km loop that makes for a fun ski at sunrise, sunset and especially at night with the full moon this past week. The lake has over a foot of ice. 

It’s been awesome seeing so many people out on the trails so far this winter season and we deeply appreciate the support! Want to share your ski experience at Maplelag, file a report on Skinnyski.com

Skating on Skaters Waltz, the extension loops, North Loup, Single Green, Kristin’s Kutoff and Eira Bikwadinaa Hill. All other trails are tracked for classic skiing. (Please no skating on classic trails) Sukkerbusk is a great starter trail for classic which feeds the outer trails and crosses most of the inner trails providing a good “lay of the land”.  

27″ of snow so far this season. We have been grooming daily on the entire trail system since mid November, only missing a few days.  

Thank you to everyone that comes to ski and supports the trails with season pass purchases. Day passes can be purchased here. A MN State trail pass is NOT required to ski at Maplelag. The Maplelag trails are self funded by operations with no grants or state funding.  18 and under day pass is $15, use the summer trail pass option. 

Ski rentals are available at a rate of $25 for adults and $15 for 18 and under. Snowshoe rental is $10 a person. 

The entire 25km FatLagChilada loop is now open. Click here for fat bike trail report. 

Snowfall YTD at 26″ Compacted base on trail 3-6″. Total snowfall in January at 2″. December: 17″. Snowfall in November: 7″. October precipitation (rain) at 2.7″ and around 1″ in September. Total precipitation ytd (rain) at Maplelag is at 25.12″. 

Grooming fresh fluff snow on Twin Lakes, January 10th, 2026.
Prairie effect powder day! Lot of smiling happy faces today with the fresh snow! January 10th, 2026.
Cutting new track on Bullhead Lake trail, January 9th, 2026.
New track on the lake segment of Bullhead Lake trail, January 9th 2026. At the bottom of Eir hill, veer right to pick up the track! 
Evening groom on Sap Run, January 9th, 2026.
Sunny start to the day on Sap Run, January 7th, 2026.
Resetting the double track on JibFly, January 8th, 2026.
Touch of rime frost on the deck making for really nice gliding but loose outside the track for great control, January 8th, 2026.
Resetting double track on Twin Lakes, January 8th, 2026.
Frosty scene in the “Switchyard“, January 7th, 2026. 
Late afternoon groom on Mother Hen trail, January 7th, 2026. There is great snow to work with for future grooming and conditions should be very good to excellent rest of the week and weekend. 
Frosty scene at crossing to Twin Lakes and the western trails, January 7th, 2026.
Wavy Gravy trail, January 7th, 2026.
North end Bullhead lake trail, January 7th, 2026. (M. Sands photo)
Frosty scene between Twin Lakes, January 7th, 2026 (Dani S. photo) 
Frosty day at the races January 6th, 2025
The hills of Mother North Star January 6th, 2026
JV Boys classic race, January 6th, 2026.
Ending the day with a ski….magical conditions! January 6th, 2026.
Always good when the moon pops out during the evening groom, January 6th, 2026.
Trees thick with rime frost, January 5th 2026.
Norwegian Log cabin at night surrounded by frosty trees, January 5th, 2026.
Cutting a new track on the lake loop, “Lumi’s Loop”, January 5th, 2026.
MPLS Washburn skiers in the “skinny field”, January 4th, 2026.
Local skier D. Johnson happy to have the recent fresh snow after navigating the icy conditions the week before! 78 years strong! January 4th, 2026.
MPLS Washburn skiers gliding on Bullhead Lake, January 4th, 2026.
After the fire of October 2022, Joel Woodward unbeknownst to us, started a GoFundMe to bring back the cookies. The cookies are back! Thanks Joel.
Local skier “Dr. Bob” still going strong at 82 on trail today, January 3rd, 2026. 
MPLS Washburn skiers working on skills on Eira Bikwadinaa hill, January 3rd, 2026.