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This guide to cross-country skiing introduces 35 groomed trail systems in northeastern Minnesota and northwestern Wisconsin.
List of contents
Introduction
Duluth-Superior Area: Urban Skiing Paradise
- Jay Cooke State Park
- Superior Municipal Forest
- Pattison State Park
- Afterhours Ski Trail
- Pine Valley Ski Area
- Grand Avenue Nordic Center
- Upper Spirit Mountain
- Magney-Snively Trail
- Piedmont Trail
- Chester Park Trail
- Hartley Park Trail
- Lester Park Trail
- Bagley Nature Area
- Snowflake Nordic Center
- Boulder Lake
- Biskey Ponds Ski Trail
- Korkki Nordic Ski Center
- Mother Bear Ski Trail
Lake County: Snow Country
- Erkki Harju Ski Trail
- Gooseberry Falls State Park
- Northwoods Ski Trail
- Tettegouche State Park
- Flathorn-Gegoka Ski Trail
North Shore Mountains: Everything Is Connected
- Sugarbush Trail System
- Norpine/Lutsen Area
- Norpine/Hall-Massie Loop
- Norpine/Cascade Lodge
- Norpine/Deer Yard
- Cascade River State Park
- Bally Creek
Gunflint Trail: Ski-In Hospitality
- Pincushion Mountain
- George Washington Pines
- Central Gunflint
- Banadad Trail
- Upper Gunflint
About the author
Andrew Slade’s parents first set eyes on each other on the North Shore of Minnesota, and his life has centered there since birth—despite growing up in the Twin Cities. As a kid, he caught nets full of smelt at the Cross River, jumped cliffs into the deep pools of an unnamed North Shore river, helped to band woodcock in the open fields of North Shore homesteads, and shut his eyes tight each time the family wagon drove around Silver Cliff (readers, don’t worry— today there’s a tunnel through the cliff and Andrew’s eyes stay wide open). With his intrepid father, he had to abandon a mid-1970s assault on Carlton Peak due to a lack of recognizable trails.
As a canoe guide and outdoor educator in Ely, he learned that “sauna” is a three-syllable word (sow-ooh-nah). In his twenties, he bushwhacked by snowshoe much of what is now the Manitou-Caribou section of the Superior Hiking Trail. At age 28, in his “before kids” era, he was the editor and lead author of the first Guide to the Superior Hiking Trail.
Andrew graduated from the University of Minnesota with a BA in environmental education and from the University of Montana with a MS in environmental studies. His favorite wildflower is Mertensia paniculata, the native North Shore bluebell.
Andrew has worked for environmental education, parks, and conservation organizations on the North Shore since 1992.
Summary
This guide to cross-country skiing introduces 35 groomed trail systems in northeastern Minnesota and northwestern Wisconsin.
