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Northern Minnesota Snowmobiling
Lodging Destinations and Trail Information

March 6, 2012 Winter is still here. We are at about 38 today in the shade. We have had several riders in today and the overall reports of the trails are really good. The groomers have been out yesterday and today. They will also be out later this week as well. We did see a lot of traffic this past weekend and the trails are still holding up pretty good. Chance of snow tomorrow and Thurs. Temps will be below freezing until Saturday then cooling off again. Report by Forrest - Hungry Jack Lodge Gunflint Trail, Minnesota. Send your report to us!

February 27, 2012 Winter storm dropped 8-13" along North Shore. Nice powder and drifts on south shores of lakes. Trails are being groomed. Downward sloping spur trails into towns on the immediate shore of Lake Superior are rideable today. Sun very warm and snow is melting quickly. Looks like another dumping forecasted for later this week. If you were waiting for great conditions... get moving... PLEASE stay with a lodge, resort or hotel that actually supports snowmobiling and this Web site. If you do stay somewhere we don't link to, please tell them about this Web site! Checkout the establishments to the right or click to North Shore Lodging by area here or in the report below.

Amount   Where   County   Time
13.80 Silver Bay Lake 0834 am Silver Bay area Lodging
12.50 Grand Marais Cook 0852 am Grand Marais area Lodging
11.50 Mid Gunflint Trail Cook 0730 am Gunflint Trail area Lodging
11.50 3 N Illgen City Lake 0725 am Illgen City / Silver Bay area Lodging
11.20 5 NW Two Harbors Lake 0821 am Two Harbors area Lodging
10.70 Lutsen Cook 0717 am Lutsen area Lodging
9.80 Little Marais Lake 0746 am Little Marais area Lodging
8.00 Beaver Bay Lake 0832 am Beaver Bay area Lodging

 Report by Chad Jones / Editor snowmobiletrails.com - Grand Marais, Minnesota. Send your report to us!

February 22, 2012 Well things are looking better here along the Gunflint Trail. We received about 2inches of fresh snow here at the lodge. I have heard reports of 4-5inches a little to the south of us between here and Devil Track. All of the trails have been groomed and are in pretty good shape overall. This latest blast of snow will be a great help to our groomers. We are expecting light snow throughout the rest of the week. Report by Forrest - Hungry Jack Lodge Gunflint Trail, Minnesota. Send your report to us!

February 14, 2012  The groomers are out today and will be out Thurs, Fri, and Sat this week. The conditions have not changed much since my last report. We have a chance for a little bit of snow this week but nothing significant. Any little bit will help.  I had a few sledders through yesterday that rode up from Devil Track and another group that rode over from Grand Portage. The Expressway and Gunflint Trail are overall in good shape there are a few rough sections here and there. The Swamper Trail is being groomed this morning. There have been a few reports of a few bare spots in the corners but nothing too bad. Overall conditions are very rideable. The lakes are good going. Report by Forrest - Hungry Jack Lodge Gunflint Trail, Minnesota. Send your report to us!

February 3, 2012  On Monday 1/30/12 I rode the Expressway trail from Devil Track Lodge to Trail Center.  Trail was in GREAT shape, and I ran across the groomer both ways.  The Gunflint trail was rough, so I took the Expressway back down to Devil Track, and then hopped on the North Shore State Trail down to the Trestle Inn.  Conditions were VERY GOOD, and I ran across the groomer on the State trail too.  Logging road #166 over to the Trestle Inn was GREAT........cruised along without a bump to be found.  The Hickory Burger at the Trestle was great as well.  Good conditions are plentiful in the Grand Marais area.........plenty of snow, and plenty of GREAT riding!  Come on up and enjoy plenty of Winter on the North Shore! Report by  Dan T. - Houston, Texas. Send your report to us!

January 31, 2012  Conditions are the best they have been all year. We received about 2inches of new snow yesterday morning and we had another dusting this morning. The groomers have been out. The Gunflint, Expressway, Clearwater Spur, and Hungry Jack Spur have been groomed within the last day. I have a few sledders in right now that said the trails overall are in pretty decent shape. Current snow levels are around 18�+ in the mid Gunflint Trail area. Pic below of groomer going past the Lodge and across Hungry Jack Lake about 11am this morning. Temps are mild right around 30 degrees here right now it looks like it will be around 30 for a high for the next couple of days, lows will be around 20 or the upper teens. Great weather for riding. We still have openings throughout the winter. Our Restaurant and Bar is open Daily.  Remember we have a 24 hour gas pump which takes cash or credit. We only offer  91 Non-Oxygenated Fuel. Report by Forrest - Hungry Jack Lodge Gunflint Trail, Minnesota. Send your report to us!

[ Snowmobile trail groomer going past Hungry Jack Lodge and across Hungry Jack Lake. ]

January 29, 2012 Our group rode from the Devil Track Lake / Old Cook County Airport Trailhead on 01-27-2012 to the Grand Portage Hotel & Casino.  The Gunflint Trail was well groomed and had good snow coverage. The Forest Road that connects the Gunflint Snowmobile Trail System to the Grand Portage Snowmobile Trail System is very hard packed for about the first 10 miles, but continues to improve as you get deeper inland. Once on the Grand Portage Snowmobile Trail System the trails were very well groomed. We saw the groomers out in the mid morning of the 27th. The trails that go to the Pigeon River overlook and the falls are in very good condition as are the trails that go up to the old fire tower. When you get about a mile from Highway 61 the snow coverage is fair, changing to poor when you get near the Hotel & Casino. The good conditions inland make the trip well worth it though! The Cook County Snowmobile Club and Grand Portage groomers have really made the trails great with the limited snow this year. Report by  Aron L. - St.Paul, Minnesota. Send your report to us!

January 29, 2012 We trailered to Devil Track Lake and rode the expressway to trail Center and Hungry Jack Lodge. The whole trail system has plenty of snow and was groomed but still needs more snow to cover some of the brush in the trail. We rode about 150 miles on Jan 26-27 and never saw one sled and I would rate the trails around the area about a 7 out of 10. The new Hungry Jack Lodge really turned out nice. I would recommend staying at Hungry Jack Lodge or Devils Track Lodge and you can ride a lot right from those areas without having to trailer to a lot as of Jan 29. Report by  Barry B. - Elk River, Minnesota. Send your report to us!

January 27, 2012 We have had sledders in all day today saying the trails are looking really good, everyone seems very happy after getting the 4-6 inches of new snow over the last few days. We have had many people going from Devil Track Lake up to Trail Center and Hungry Jack Lodge as well as folks heading up to Grand Portage. More light snowfall tonight so things are looking and sounding really good. Report by Michelle Kizzek - Devil Track General Store, Devil Track Lake.  Send your report to us!

January 27, 2012 The snow fall over the past weekend has really improved the snowmobiling conditions along the Gunflint Trail. Just about the entire trail system has been groomed. The groomers have been out the last 4 days grooming the trails. Overall reports from snowmobilers that have been stopping by, have been positive. There are still a few sections that are bumpy but overall things are really shaping up. We have some light snow forecasted for the next couple of days but it does not sound like anything significant.  Snow levels vary a little bit along the Gunflint Trail from about 14� to 18� depending upon where you are at. The trails have about a 8�-10�+ packed base. Temps yesterday were around 30 and overcast, it was 14 here this morning at about 6 am. Todays high is supposed to be in the high 20s. Our first riders of the day just pulled in for some lunch. Report by Forrest - Hungry Jack Lodge Gunflint Trail, Minnesota. Send your report to us!

January 24, 2012 Good Morning!! Well things are finally starting to pile up. We received about 4½+ yesterday of new snow. We also had some accumulation over the weekend as well. We have about 14½to 18½ on the ground. We finally have enough cover for the groomers to work with. All 3 of the Cook County Snowmobile Club Groomers are out today. Report by Forrest - Hungry Jack Lodge Gunflint Trail, Minnesota. Send your report to us!

January 14, 2012 We are receiving some light snow currently.  We did have about 2� of fresh snow two days ago.  It has been around zero the last two nights.  Snowmobile trail conditions are still rideable but more snow is definitely needed to get the groomers out.  Current snow levels are right around 12� here at the mid-trail area. Lake Trout Season opened up outside the BWCA today.  So far the reports I have been hearing, it sounds like it has been pretty successful so far. Report by Forrest - Hungry Jack Lodge Gunflint Trail, Minnesota. Send your report to us!

January 4, 2012 Trails are being prepared for this season. Snow is starting to add up. Eager snowmobilers are using trails and lakes along North Shore. Counted over 45 sleds in operation today in Grand Marais, Gunflint Trail and Lutsen areas. Marginal conditions on many trails, but lakes are so incredible. Make sure the lake you use is safe before going on ice. Plenty of people up for New Years and icefishing... Check out our suggested trailheads and routes below. Report by Chad Jones / Editor snowmobiletrails.com - Grand Marais, Minnesota. Send your report to us!

January 3, 2012 We had snowmobilers through over the weekend and some yesterday.  We did receive a little bit more snow since my last report maybe 1�-2� kind of hard to tell since it was so windy.  Some of the trails have been groomed, we could definitely use more snow to help our groomers do a better job on the trails.  There have  been reports that the Expressway is in 'ok' shape as well as the GTrail up to the Mid-Gunflint Trail area.  Overall conditions are rideable but more snow would definitely make a great improvement. Report by Forrest - Hungry Jack Lodge Gunflint Trail, Minnesota. Send your report to us!

December 15, 2011 Well winter is trying to get going. We have currently about 4�-6� of snow on the ground here at the lodge.  It is still lightly snowing.  I did also go out and check the thickness of the ice.  I drilled 6 holes and did not find anything less than about 8� or so.  Let�s hope that old man winter can send some our way. Report by Forrest - Hungry Jack Lodge Gunflint Trail, Minnesota. Send your report to us!