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2007 ARCHIVED
TRAIL REPORTS
[ Please send your report to us! ]
We have the most
current reports on the Internet
for the Minnesota North Shore Snowmobile Trails.
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 April, 2007
" After most of the snow melts off the
lake surface and before the ice becomes unsafe, is a great time to
ride a dirt bike with studded tires. We studded both the front and
rear tires of a Honda CRF450 and CR250R.
Read more and see images...
Report by
Chad Jones/Editor snowmobiletrails.com -
Grand Marais, Minnesota. Send your report
to us!
March 18th, 2007
" I
put on 175 miles today, from the Normanna parking lot onto the North
Shore Trail, went up as far as the Trestle Inn (Crooked Lake) for a
burger and back. The Tomahawk (5 miles) was really bumpy, snow cover
was OK. They need to groom it. St. Urho's parade was Saturday, and the
NST north of Finland (21 miles) was getting pretty worn thru from the
extra traffic, with some brown outs you could not avoid. Nasty RR
track crossing, too. Otherwise, smooth and snow covered for the most
part. One bridge (the real narrow one- easy to see) leads right into a
huge puddle, stay to the side where the pine tree is placed over that
creek!
From Silver Bay to Finland (10 miles) was very nicely covered, smooth,
wide and flat, very little ice in corners. Good spot to boogie.
Although I did not go on the Moosewalk, I think it would be in good
shape, from the conditions I saw in that area around Silver Bay.
From Two Harbors to Silver Bay was better up by Silver Bay (a little
bumpy, soft corners), and by Two Harbors (Highway #3 to #2 was OK,
some brown outs- mostly good cover), but that London/Beaver crossing
area logging road is really terrible, lots of gravel, mud and very
little snow for about half a mile. There is an exposed "marsh" just
north of that road that has little to no snow cover for the better
part of 1/4 mile. Another RR track crossing, exposed dirt. Some long
stretches of fairly solid snow base.
Two Harbors to Normanna (24 miles) is a little less traveled area, in
decent shape yet, occasional areas of very small patches of
brown/grassy, best spot on the whole trail I was on. I was on this
same area of the NST Saturday (17th), and the day before, and the
groomers had done a great job for Saturday morning's ride. The trails
had set up well due to the cold night before, and we had gotten 5 to
6" of snow on Thursday, so my ride on Friday was good then, too. I did
not go much past Two Harbors on either day, however. I avoid that
corridor if possible. "
See "Option
H or
I" for planning this route. Report by
Dick T. Duluth, Minnesota. Send your report
to us!
March 17th, 2007
" NORTH
SHORE STATE TRAIL; Launched
at the Lake County 2 parking lot and went north. Trails were in good
shape for the most part but the further north we went the snow got
leaner. Turned back near the Lutsen trail cutoffs due to lack of snow.
Ran into some nasty stretches of 1/4 mile of grass and mud, etc. 188
miles total trip. I've heard that there is a snow advisory through
Monday AM 3-19-07 for 3-6 inches and that should make the trail nice
again for a couple more days. So those of you who can take some time
off Mon or Tues, go for it. Two Harbors to Tomahawk trail is what I
would recommend. It was getting pretty torn up in areas but 3-6 inches
of new snow would take care of that, but forecast is for rain and
40-50 degrees later this week and that will end it all. This website
is awesome. "
See "Option
I" for planning this route. Report by
Tim M., Duluth, Minnesota. Send your report
to us!
March 13th, 2007
" Launched
from the Mineral Center/Trail Center parking and access. Rode the
Partridge Falls Trail, Cowboy Loop, and
the Teal Lake Trail. Sunny, wet and warm today, about 60 degrees above
zero, rode in a t-shirt and jeans. This is the warmest I've ever
ridden when there's still snow on the trails. Small cold weather moths
were also enjoying the warmth. Conditions on these trails will
probably be best in area. If your coming up this weekend, best to plan
riding on the Grand Portage Trails. "
See "Option D" for planning this route. Report by
Chad Jones/Editor snowmobiletrails.com -
Grand Marais, Minnesota. Send your report
to us!
March 12th, 2007
" Launched
from the old airport northside of Devil Track Lake. Lake was wet with
about 50% snow cover. Rode snowmobile and dirt bike on surface of
lake. The rotten top layer of ice was incredible hook-up with studded
tires of bike. Registered OHMs [ off highway motorcycles ] can be
legally operated on lake surface with registration stickers on fork area of bike.
Unfortunately some "fun governor" living in the vicinity of Devil
Track Resort feels they need to call the Sheriff and complain about
the operation of OHMs. " See
more about dirt bikes with studded tires
for use on ice. Report by
Chad Jones/Editor snowmobiletrails.com -
Grand Marais, Minnesota. Send your report
to us!
March 10th, 2007
" From
downtown Grand Marais, we rode to the Trestle Inn; trail is somewhat
rough out of downtown, we hit the State Trail System
through the Lutsen, Tofte and Schroeder areas over to Finland. Most of
the State Trail System was pretty smooth,
some nice mougul sections, creeks were flowing and the sun was
shining. Had lunch and burned back to Grand Marais. Round trip was 88
miles and 5 hours including lunch. " See "Option
H" below for planning this route.
Report by
Chad Jones/Editor snowmobiletrails.com -
Grand Marais, Minnesota. Send your report
to us!
March 6,
7 and 8th, 2007
" Silver
Bay to Grand Marais and back...We stayed at the
AmericInn Silver Bay
Monday night. Tuesday morning after the best free continental
breakfast we've experienced, we headed out on the trail right out of
the parking area to the State Trail System.
We headed up the shore towards Lutsen. Trails were well groomed and
smooth, scenery overlooking the Big Lake was really great! It was
about 55 miles to Lutsen Resort
where we stayed the night. Wednesday morning we left Lutsen Resort on
the Fox Trail to Clearview Store to fuel up for the ride to Grand
Marais. We rode the Lutsen Access Trail to the
State Trail System and hit the Expressway
to the Mushquash Trail over to the Gunflint Snowmobile Trail and
headed south to Grand Marais for the night at
BestWestern Superior Inn in
downtown Grand Marais. Thursday morning we rode back to the Lutsen
area and stopped at Cascade Lodge
Restaurant via the Muehlberg and Deer Trails. After lunch we took
the Beaver Trail over to the Lutsen Access Trail north back to the
State Trail System and back to Silver
Bay. Last year was our first time using the
North Shore
Snowmobile Trails, and after going to the U.P. for years, we found
a new home to snowmobile. This
is our third trip up this year, we love it! " See "Option
H" below for planning this route. Report by
George, Paul, Leslie, Don, Stacy, and Kim., Superior, Wisconsin. Send your report
to us!
March 2nd
- 5th, 2007
" Seven
of us came up from Thunder Bay, Ontario March 2nd - Friday morning,
wow, talk about perfect timing. It never stopped snowing until
Saturday morning. We stayed at Hungry Jacks until Sunday and put on
380 miles. The conditions were awesome we rode the Expressway, State
Trail, and the Gunflint. Saturday we rode from Gunflint Lodge to
Lutsen and on Sunday we rode from Hungry Jacks to Devil Track for
lunch (was not open until 4:00pm) so we ate sandwiches at the gas bar.
Still well worth the ride. Then we went to back to Hungry Jacks to
pack up. Great hospitality at Hungry Jacks (thanks Forrest) and great
trails. We'll be back soon! " See "Option
A, B, C or
F" below for planning this route. Report by
Steve K., Thunder Bay, Ontario - Canada. Send your report
to us!
March 3rd
and 4th, 2007
" Our
party of ten rode all of the snowmobile trails around Gunflint Lake,
Poplar Lake, and Devil Track Lake this weekend.
Trails were great and groomed. Saturday we went to the Radar Run on
Poplar Lake and Sunday we went to the Trout Derby on Gunflint Lake, we
really had a great time! " See "Option
A, B, C or
F" below for planning this route. Report by
Scott M., Albert Lea, Minnesota. Send your report
to us!
Feb 23rd
and 24th, 2007
" Sag Lake to Kashabowie,
Ontario 126+ miles - See complete report
and information.
Feb 16-20, 2007
" We
rode the expressway to Trail Center, G-Trail to Gunflint Lodge,
Swamper Trail and Clearwater Trail to Hungry Jack Resort. All trails
had a good base of about 8". Good conditions for the amount of snow
they have. There are some rough areas, but all in all trails were very rideable. " See "Option
A, B, C or
F" below for planning this route. Report by
Wayne R., Hanska, Minnesota. Send your report
to us!
Feb 17-18, 2007
" My party
went snowmobiling on the Swamper Trail, Blueberry Trail, G-Trail, and
the Expressway on 2-17-07 and 2-18-2007. All of the trails were well
groomed - we hit very few rocks while putting on about 100 miles of
trail riding. I also talked to several other riders who had ridden
trails around the Gunflint Trail and Devil Track Lake area, that noted
they were in good condition. Of course, none of the trails have any
fresh powder, but there is a good 8 inches or better base to play on.
" See "Option
A, B, C or
F" below for planning this route. Report by Aron L. St. Paul, Minnesota. Send your report
to us!
Feb 10, 2007
" We rode
up the Expressway on Saturday all the way to Gunflint Lodge with a
stop at Trail Center in the morning. Trails were wonderful hard packed
and in great shape came back the same way so did not try the "G"
Trail,116 miles and very good conditions. Sunday 60 miles of fire roads
on the way to Grand Portage trails, conditions were also excellent. If
you are looking for snow they have it and they are not talking about
it. Stayed at Devil Track Lodge, wow, what a great place... will stay
there again.
" See "Option
A, B, C" below for
planning this route.
Report by Mark P. Centerville, Minnesota. Send your report
to us!
Feb 10, 2007
" Though it
was a cold bugger we had an excellent time, starting from a private
trail to the Brule River north of Colvill, we
snowmobiled the Brule River, Swamper Trail, Blueberry and Firebox
trails east of the Gunflint Trail/County Road 12 to the Expressway and
Mid and Upper Gunflint Trails, to Gunflint Lake. All trails were in
good condition. Some rough spots and ice under the powder. We also hit
Poplar Lake, Little Iron, Iron, Magnetic and Gunflint Lake, some drifting caused by highwinds in some places and pressure ridges on lake surfaces use
caution. Watched some folks skip the open water in the narrows
between Gunflint and Magnetic Lakes. Stopped at Windigo and Trail Center Lodge for a beer on
the way up and had dinner at Trail Center Lodge on the way down.
" See "Option
F"
below for planning this route.
Report by
Chad Jones/Editor snowmobiletrails.com -
Grand Marais, Minnesota. Send your report
to us!
Feb 9 and
10th, 2007
" We rode
from Devil Track Lake to the Expressway to Mid Gunflint
Trail area and all the way up to the Sag Lake
area. Trails are good and icey in places. The lakes were really nice
with about 3 inches of powder and deeper snow near shorelines.
Yesterday we rode to the Grand Portage Trails and the unplowed Grand
Portage State Forest Roads, and Greenwood Lake, stopped at a friends
fishhouse to warm-up, well worth the drive from the cities. The
information we were getting from other sources [ DNR and other Web
sites ] was totally wrong, plenty of good trails and conditions. " See "Option
A, B, C" below for
planning this route. Report by Dan and Jo T. Lakeville, Minnesota. Send your report
to us!
Jan 31, 2007
" We
trailered to Devil Track Lake and unloaded. We went the length of
Devil Track Lake to the expressway north to Trail Center for a great
lunch. We returned via Hungry Jack Lake and then down the Gunflint
back to the trailer. Trails were fair to good with about 50% recently
groomed. It was great to be on the white stuff even if it was a bit
rough in several places. The groomer was headed north from Trail
Center, but we were short on time and were not able to go to Gunflint
Lodge to try the trail further north.
" See "Option
C" below for planning this route. Trail report by Steve &
Pauline E.
Spring Park, MN. Send your report
to us!
Jan 29, 2007
"
Stayed at Hungry Jack Lodge and
took the Gunflint "G" Trail north heading for the trail end. Trail is
slow around the many lodges, but as you get away from them, the trail
improves greatly ! Also made a loop to the south of Hungry Jack Lodge
on the Expressway, which is also in fair/good condition. The lakes in
the area are again, perfectly smooth. Amazing is the difference from
downtown Grand Marais, which has nothing, to just over the hills. If ya gotta ride, here is the place in Minnesota to do it !
" See "Option
F" below for planning this route. Trail report by Mark B.
Alexandria, MN. Send your report
to us!
Jan 27, 2007
" From Devil Track Lake we took the Expressway Trail North to
Gunflint Lake. Stopped at Trail Center for lunch and went on to Gunflint
Lake, trail was in good shape. Picked up a trail [unplowed logging
road] north out of Gunflint Lake into Canada, trails were wide and
smooth all the way up to Sag. Lots of moose sign on these trails. " Trail report
by Todd R. Blaine, MN. Send your report
to us!
Jan 16, 2007
" We rode
80 plus miles from Devil Track Lake on the Expressway to Mid Gunflint
Trail area and then over to the Greenwood Lake/Brule River Valley
area. Trail is fair to good and rough in places. Some rocks and bare
spots are showing. Hard base with a few inches of crunchy powder snow
on top of icy ground. " See "Option C"
below for planning this route.
Report by
Chad Jones/Editor snowmobiletrails.com -
Grand Marais, Minnesota. Send your report
to us!
Jan 12, 2007 "
Launched from the Otter
Lake
Parking lot off of the Arrowhead Trail/County Road 16, headed west on
the Esther Lake Rd. Rode most of the unplowed Grand Portage
State Forest Roads, Greenwood Lake area, Brule River Valley, and back
to the access area. Total of 78 miles, one bull moose and two wolves,
saw only three other sleds.
"
See "Option E" below for planning this route. Report by
Chad Jones/Editor snowmobiletrails.com -
Grand Marais, Minnesota. Send your report
to us!
Jan 9, 2007 "
Launched at the Sag Lake
Trail/County Road 11 public access on Sag Lake and crossed Sag up into
Canada, into Curran Bay, picked up a trail and rode the Canadian
logging roads around the Northern Light Lake area and back to Sag
Lake. See photo above. Lake surface was covered with a few inches of snow and trails
were 3-5 inches of powder snow, see photo above. Very cold 70 plus
miles with temps in the single digits. Went to
the Red Paddle Bistro at
Gunflint Lodge on Gunflint Lake to warm up with food and drinks,
the beer was good and the walleye chowder was excellent. All persons
crossing into Canada remotely must be in possession of a Remote Area
Border Crossing Permit. [
RABC - more info ] " Report by
Chad Jones/Editor snowmobiletrails.com -
Grand Marais, Minnesota. Send your report
to us!
Jan 7, 2007 "
We stayed in Grand Marais
Saturday night and unloaded Sunday morning from the South Brule
parking area. From there we headed East towards Tom Lake. When
we started to hit icy logging roads, we took a northern loop
back toward the parking area. We then caught the Swamper trail North
to Trail Center, got lunch there and then and headed South on the
Expressway. We caught the Mushquash cross trail back to the parking
area. We logged about 90 miles and had a great time. There were some
rough areas (logs were covered, but not enough snow to level them
out), but the trails were in better shape than I thought they would
be. The Swamper, Gunflint, and Expressway were all groomed; however
they could all use some more snow. It was well worth the 4 hour drive
from the cities, thanks snowmobiletrails.com! " See "Option
A" below for planning this route. Trail report
by Joel N. Twin Cities Send your report
to us!
Jan 6, 2007 "
We rode from the old airport runway parking, across Devil Track Lake
to the Expressway Junction, headed north on the Expressway to Windigo
Lodge and Poplar Lake. Trails were better than we thought they'd be. "
See "Option C" below for planning this route. Trail report by
John V. and Tim R. Savage, MN.
Send your report
to us!
Jan 5, 2007 "
We rode 60 plus miles from Devil Track Lake on the Expressway to Mid Gunflint Trail area
and back. Trail is fair to good and rough in places. Some rocks and
bare spots are showing. I found a hard base with a few inches of crunchy powder
snow on top of icy ground. Stop at Trail Center for lunch or dinner! "
See "Option C" below for planning this route. Report by
Chad Jones/Editor snowmobiletrails.com -
Grand Marais, Minnesota. Send your report
to us!
Jan 3, 2007 "
Rode 40some miles of the
Grand Portage Snowmobile Trails from the Mineral Center/Trail Center
parking and access. Rode Chevan's Road, Rengo Road, Cowboy Loop, and
went to Partridge Falls. While on the Rengo Road I stopped at the
Pigeon River Overlook/Helispot as the full moon was rising,
see photo. Rengo Road is plowed due to a logging Op, it is ice and
snow topped, no gravel showing. I found 4-5 inches of crunchy powder
snow on top of icy ground on all trails today. "
See "Option D" for planning this route. Report by
Chad Jones/Editor snowmobiletrails.com -
Grand Marais, Minnesota. Send your report
to us!
Jan 1, 2007 " We rode
over 100 miles of the
snowmobile trails from the Otter Lake Road Parking lot off of the
Arrowhead Trail/County Road 16. Rode most of the Grand Portage Trails,
back to the access area and then all of the unplowed State Forest
Roads going west and north. New snow 3-4 inches last night, icy base, moose on
trail... "
See "Option E" for planning this route. Report by
Chad Jones/Editor snowmobiletrails.com -
Grand Marais, Minnesota. Send your report
to us!
Dec
17th, 2007 "
From the South Brule River
Trailhead [ Option A below ] east towards Grand Portage. Rode the
trail on December 15th, 2007. The trails have TONS of snow and are
pretty well groomed from Grand Marais to the Arrowhead trail. As you
leave the Arrowhead trail and get closer and closer to Grand Portage,
the trails become less groomed (if groomed at all). In fact, my party
ran into lots of logging on the Grand Portage Indian Reservation
lands. We also hit a lot of gravel and rocks. Had to puddle skip a few
creeks too. Most of the small ponds are frozen but the lakes are
slushy - we stayed off of those.
The Cook County trails area
are in great shape = good base. The Cook County Ridge Runners
snowmobile club has done a great job grooming the Gunflint trails and
Saganaga trails. Devil Track Lake and most of the smaller connecting
lakes are slushy and not safe yet. Stay off of them until 2008.
The North Shore (State)
trail running from Grand Marais to Lutsen is in excellent condition!
TONS of powder for which the State groomers have done a great job
carving for everybody to use. The North Shore trail is also mapped and
marked exceptionally well for any beginner riders. "
See "Option
A" below for planning this route. Report by Aron L., St. Paul, Minnesota. Send your report
to us!
Dec
5th, 2007
" From
downtown Grand Marais, we rode to the Devil Track Lake area; trail was
packed out of town and smooth.
We hit the State Trail System
near Devil Track Lake and many unplowed forest roads full of powder! Great
early season riding. " See "Option
J" below for planning this route. Report by Andy J., Todd R., Barb
T. -
Minnetonka, Minnesota. Send your report
to us!
Dec 5th, 2007 " We snowmobiled
70+ miles of the
snowmobile trails east of the Gunflint Trail/County Road 12 and into
the
Grand Portage State Forest area trails and there was lot's of powder snow, and we had an excellent time! "
See "Option A" for planning this route. Report by
Sam J. Duluth, Minnesota. Send your report
to us!
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TRAIL REPORTS ]
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TRAIL REPORTS ]
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TRAIL REPORTS ]
[ Go to 2008 ARCHIVED
TRAIL REPORTS ]
SNOWMOBILE
TRAIL SYSTEMS
North Shore State Snowmobile Trail
From Duluth to Grand Marais, Minnesota the 153
mile long North Shore State Snowmobile Trail system traverses St.
Louis, Lake and Cook Counties of Northeastern Minnesota, along the
vistas overlooking Lake Superior. The trail system winds its way
through forests and nearby Lake Superior scenic overlooks.
(Requires MN "State Trail" Snowmobile Permit Sticker, this is an
addition to the regular registration.)
More Local North Shore Snowmobile Trails
Grand
Portage Trail System northeast corner of Minnesota
Duluth Cross Town Trail - West Section 33
miles West area of Duluth, Minnesota
Duluth Cross Town Trail - East Section 12
miles East area of Duluth, Minnesota
Taft Trail North out of Duluth, Minnesota
Pequaywan Lake Trail 10 miles North out of
Duluth, Minnesota
Two Harbors Corridor Trail 9.6 miles East end
of Two Harbors, Minnesota
Gooseberry State Park Trail 3-9 miles
Located at Hwy 61 and Gooseberry River/State Park
Red Dot Trail 15 miles East end of Beaver Bay,
Minnesota
Tettegouche Trail 10 miles and Sawtooth Trail 15
miles East of Silver Bay, Minnesota
Moose Walk Trail 15 miles North of Silver
Bay, Minnesota
Tomahawk Trail 86 miles North of Little
Marais, Minnesota
Lutsen Trail System 67 miles Between Tofte,
Minnesota and
Cascade River State Park
The X Trail North of Cascade River State
Park and leads to the Gunflint Trail System
Grand Marais Trail 5.5 miles
Gunflint Trail System 125 miles
Grand Portage Trail System Over 100
miles of loops, great scenery and well groomed trails.
Ontario Snowmobile Trails from the Gunflint
Trail/Gunflint Lake/Sag Lake area.
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