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cross country skiing northwest Wisconsin

The 2012 2013 Never Ending Winter

It looked like March would go out as a lamb, but Mother Nature sure fooled us! It kept snowing and snowing and snowing - topped off by a record setting May 2nd snowstorm that dropped 18 inches in the Hills!‍

Recent comments from the logbook in the warming house

3/25: Great night for a ski. Love how late the sun is out. Thanks for such great trails. The skate lane was fast fast fast. --Bruce, WI
3/28: Wow! Skate trail is amazing. Thank you to BHTA for a wonderful ski season. March 28 & the sky is blue, the sun is shining & the skiing is fast. --Rice Lake, WI
3/29: Snowshoeing - Awesome. --Australia
4/1: Fantastic crust skiing on Westside & over & onto Audie Flowage, & also on Florida Loop. Early morning skiing is fast & almost effortless. Edge control is borderline in some places & the steeper donwhills are exhiliratingly fast. No fooling! --Ladysmith, WI
4/10: The snow cover extends unbroken at least 2 km from the warming house, & undoubtedly beyond. --Ladysmith, WI
4/12: With the new snow one can ski anywhere! --Ladysmith, WI
4/13: Another day's pilgrammage to the Blue Hills. Today I skied the entire Westside with side trips to Audie Lake & from Letter K north. I recommend it to anyone that wants to leave the beaten track. --Ladysmith, WI
4/17: The heavy wet snow that fell 3 days ago provided a new surface which this morning's colder temperatures transformed into a firm crust. Skating over it was fantastic, so much better than what I expected to find. --Ladysmith, WI
4/19: Getting Out There for a classic ski. AMAZING. --Rice Lake, WI
4/24: Eastside crust ski was wonderfully fast on the ski over to the Westside & to Audie Lake. Saw very large paw prints in the snow (wolf?). The return ski was slower in the soft snow in the sun. All in all a wonderful spring ski. --Eau Claire, WI
4/25: It ain't over 'til it's over! Skied much of the Eastside on an unbroken crust covered with a centimeter of new snow, which decorated the twigs & branches of all the hilltop trees - until the sun melted it. --Ladysmith, WI
‍

deep snow 17 March 2013 at the Blue Hills Trail in northwest Wisconsin — March 17, 2013

kids skiing in early March 2013 at the Blue Hills Trail in northwest Wisconsin — early March 2013

Cross Country Skiing

Summarizing Winter 2011 2012

We were able to enjoy a few more hours of fun skiing in the Blue Hills this morning. The weather forecast suggests we are done grooming for the winter of 2011-12.Here's a bit of a recap:

We started grooming on December 4th, & have skied in the Hills regularly since then (a total of 98 days on groomed snow).
We groomed a total of 39 times.
December was dry, allowing only 5 opportunities to groom - but we kept skiing on our rock skis.
January snowfall picked up, groomers worked on 17 days that month.
February was drier again, requiring 11 days of grooming.
March produced our only decent snowstorm - & another 6 days of grooming.

We owe a big thank you to our groomers. Equipment break downs and mechanical problems were handled efficiently & never compromised the grooming. Thank you to Dan Bartels, Steve Gest, & Jesse Wimer for capturing every available snowflake & saving the winter of 2011-12! It certainly was an unusual winter (warm & dry). Fortunately, we were lucky to receive just enough snow to enjoy fun conditions for most of 3 months. Welcoming the many happy skiers that traveled to find snow in the Blue Hills was very rewarding.

‍Recent comments from the logbook in the warming house

3/8: Great ski today all alone! Thanks to the groomers for all the great work this winter. Hate to see it end. --Ladysmith, WI
3/9: Awesome! --author's location unknown
3/10: Got going 7:30 a.m. when "the window" was still closed & locked. Thanks to yesterday's grooming (by Dan the man) we threw the window open 'til it started to get slow ~9:30. What fun! --Ladysmith, WI
3/10: Another fabulous year in the Hills. Thank you to the crew! --Barron, WI
3/10: Great spring skiing. Thanks. --Minneapolis, MN
3/11: Great hike thru woods. Stayed off trails. This is what makes real outdoors men & women. --author's location unknown
3/13: Just checkin' out old playground. --author's location unknown
3/13: I was able to ski out the 'gravel road' about 2.5 km, crossing two short bare sections. to a wide melted out area then returned. --Ladysmith, WI
3/23: Snow completely gone - can you believe it! --Rice Lake, WI

snowshoes — Snowshoe trails were developed this past winter

cross country ski trail at Blue Hills Trail — Blue Hills Trail in northern Wisconsin - East Side trails February 27, 2012

skiers enjoying the classic track February 2012 at the Blue Hills Trail — East Side trails February 25, 2012

Cross Country Skiing

Winter 2010 2011 Was a Good One

The winter of 2010-11 was a roller coaster ride from a weather standpoint. Temps fluctuated widely, precipitation was variable, and periodic warmups and meltdowns added to the mix. But along the way, there was abundant snowfall, great grooming, and loads of happy faces from cross country skiers on the Blue Hills Trail in northwest Wisconsin. To top it off, winter hung on and provided great crust skiing in mid/late March.

This was a great winter for snow enthusiasts, the following pictures tell the story.

good skate skiing early December 2010 at the Blue Hills Trail — December 8, 2010 - Blue Hills Trail in northwest Wisconsin

good skate skiing early December 2010 at the Blue Hills Trail — December 14, 2010

good skate skiing early December 2010 at the Blue Hills Trail — December 16, 2010

animal tracks January 2011 — January 2, 2011

classic skiers early January 2011 at the Blue Hills Trail — January 2, 2011

classic skier early January 2011 at the Blue Hills Trail — January 5, 2011

classic skier January 2011 at the Blue Hills Trail — January 22, 2011

classic skiers January 2011 at the Blue Hills Trail — January 22, 2011

classic skier January 2011 at the Blue Hills Trail — January 22, 2011

fun skate skiing January 2011 Blue Hills Trail — January 29, 2011

grooming the Blue Hills Trail January 2011 — January 29, 2011 - our two workhorse snowmobiles pulling Tidd Tech implements

classic skiers enjoying the East Side of the Blue Hills Trail — February 3, 2011

skate skier showing off her technique — 5 February 2011

two classic skiers at the Blue Hills Trail in February 2011 — 5 February 2011

classic skier in the tracks — 9 February 2011

kids skiing at the Blue Hills Trail — 12 February 2011

skiing with dogs is fun on the West Side of the Blue Hills Trail — 12 February 2011 Blue Hills Trail in northern Wisconsin where dogs are welcome on the West Side trails

impressive snow depth in late February 2011 on the Blue Hills Trail — 23 February 2011 demonstrating the impressive snow depth toward the end of the winter of 2010-11

ski trail connecting East Side and West Side of the Blue Hills Trail — 24 February 2011 This is the trail heading from the East Side to the West Side of the Blue Hills Trail

classic skiers in early March at the Blue Hills Trail — 5 March 2011 Classic skiers on the east end of the 'Gravel Road'

child in the classic track at the Blue Hills Trail — March 12, 2011 - a future Olympian?

enjoying a snack inside the warming house of the Blue Hills Trail — March 13, 2011 - celebrating a truly amazing winter of cross country skiing on the Blue Hills Trail

Cross Country Skiing

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@bluehillstrailwisconsin

Great skate skiing today! Everybody enjoyed the fresh layer of powder! Guess who made the tracks in these photos? #ruskcountywi #wisconsinwinter #xcski

January 12th was a lovely day to ski the Blue Hills in NW Wisconsin. Photos show the West Side trails. Rocket fast conditions with enough edge control to cautiously handle the downhills. Fresh snow would be welcome. #xcski #ruskwis #wisconsinwinter

Compared to the past couple winters, the Winter Solstice finds us with some decent skiing. A current temp warmup will limit our grooming until we have colder temps and more snow. Happy Holidays! #crosscountryskiwisconsin

Annual Fall Work Day is this Saturday, September 27th. Meet at the warming house at the trailhead at 8:30 a.m. Join us for a morning of fresh air, teamwork, and trail care! Anyone and everyone is welcome. Wear blaze orange, come on out and enjoy a beautiful hike, help maintain clear and smooth passages for the upcoming ski season. We’ll divide up into small groups, then head out to brush the trail margins. Bring gloves, branch clippers, hand saws, loppers, shovels, and chainsaws if available. Hope to see you Saturday morning!

Escape the rain. Join the fun in Rice Lake at ‘Out There Nordic’ Wednesday evening (June 25th from 5:30-7:30) to learn more about local non-motorized trail systems. More details at out there shop.com #outtherenordic

Winter. I think I remember you. Come back soon - but next time don’t be late. #winterfun #ruskcountywisconsin #xcountryskiing

Fabulous conditions on the West Side of the trail system today! Try this route: start skiing at the east end of Excelsior Road, then ski A-B-C-D-E-Z-Y and finish by skiing down Excelsior Road back to your starting point. Good way to finish your Birkie weekend. #ruskcountywi #birkie #aintwintergreat

Fabulous conditions on the West Side of the trail system today! Try this route: start skiing at the east end of Excelsior Road, then ski A-B-C-D-E-Z-Y and finish by skiing down Excelsior Road back to your starting point. Good way to finish your Birkie weekend. #ruskcountywi #birkie #aintwintergreat

We’ve got snow. Ski The Hills! Check out today’s blog post for photos and comments: https://www.bluehillstrail.com/blog #ruskcountywi

Winter is on its way❄️ The frost is in the ground, and the trails have about one inch of accumulated snow. Come enjoy hiking & biking until there is enough snow for grooming, and warm up in the warming house after — we’ve got the heat on! Think more snow🎿 #bluehillstrail #bluehillstrailwisconsin #bluehills #explorewisconsin #ruskcounty

Nice leaf shuffling weather. Enjoy your hike! #ruskcountywi

Since the wet weather cleared out in late June, we’ve been busy mowing the East Side of the Blue Hills Trail when time allows. Success! Most of the East Side has been mowed — creating very nice hiking conditions. Bugs aren’t too bad right now, and if you’re lucky, you might find some blackberry bushes ripe for the picking.

Another rare taste of winter. Bare ground is covered by a 4.5” dry snowfall that was groomed February 15. Skied (toured) the Core Loop on waxless classic skis February 16. Mostly enjoyable skiing despite the thin base and soft conditions. EXTRA CAUTION needed on the steeper downhills with bare spots. Find more info by visiting website (link in bio ⬆️) and looking at Trail Conditions. #lostwinter #xcskiing #ruskcountywi #birkiefever

After an incredibly warm, dry start to the winter, we finally have just enough snow for some grooming and skiing. For more information, visit the website and look at ‘Trail Conditions’ top center of each page. #ruskcountywi

Congrats to Birkie participants - skiers, family members & friends, and volunteers. You did it! The first photo shows young Logan (Wenatchee, WA) enjoying the Blue Hills Trail — after racing in the Barnebirkie 2 days earlier. Before you know it, Logan will be going the distance. #barnebirkie #ruskcountywi #winterinwisconsin

Welcome to our new snowshoe trail! The past couple weeks, our ‘snowshoe trail Superman’ (John Kann from Rice Lake, WI) has added a fantastic loop to our ‘Ridges Snowshoe Trail’. It’s challenging, but meant for anyone out to explore our trails. Follow the yellow signs and yellow tree blazes. The first photo shows a couple from Milwaukee that had the opportunity to christen the ‘Highland Loop’ of the Ridges Trail today. With cold weather arriving tonight, now’s a good time to stomp these trails. #bluehillstrailwisconsin #snowshoewisconsin #ruskcountywi

All our visitors enjoyed this weekend’s great conditions following the mid-December destructive ice storm. Lots of happy faces yesterday. #bluehillstrailwisconsin #wisconsinwinter

Beautiful day to ‘Ski the Hills’. Excelsior Road was cleared of ice storm debris two days ago, then groomed REPEATEDLY to get it in shape. #bluehillstrailwisconsin #ruskcountywi #wisconsinwinter

Saturday evening's grooming set up beautifully, conditions Sunday (January 8) were fantastic! A week ago, dealing with the extensive damage from the mid December ice storm, I never would have dreamed we'd enjoy near perfect skiing at this point in time. Hats off to our groomers! #wisconsinwinter #ruskcountywi #xcountryskiing #bluehillstrailwisconsin

After the December 15th destructive ice storm shut down our trails, we hired heavy equipment to remove extensive tree damage from our ski trails December 26-28. That allowed us to start grooming about 45% of the East Side trails. Now we’re gradually opening more trails using hand labor. During the 3-day New Years holiday, eleven individuals teamed up on a trail measuring 300 meters in length, and removed dozens & dozens of small saplings, then about 8 sizable trees. Many thanks to ALL the volunteers this past week that have helped clear tree damage. #ruskcountywi #crosscountryskiing

Rain/ice/heavy snow December 14/15 — shocking amount of tree damage in the surrounding area, with power outages lasting several days. These photos show the impassable road (Fire Lane Road) that provides access to the trailhead of the Blue Hills Trail. Once equipment repairs are successful, the township may be able to start opening this road in several days. #icestorm #ruskcountywi

Nice, crisp fall day. Good day to finish this year’s trail mowing. Thank you Bob W for sharing your chainsaw know how! #skitrailwork #gettingreadyforwinter #xcskiing #ruskcountywi

Thanks to everybody that helped during our annual Work Day yesterday. We totaled about 50 human-hours of labor. The light (somewhat unexpected) rain showers kept us cool as we picked rocks, threw branches, removed logs – getting the trails ready for our favorite time of year – winter x-country skiing! #ruskcountywi #crosscountryskiing

Summer mowing operations have begun at the Blue Hills Trail. We mow with our Honda Pioneer (with Mattracks) pulling our AcrEase trail mower cutting a 57” swath. Visit our website (link above in bio ⬆️) where you’ll find a link to ‘Trail Conditions’ at the top of the page. #skitrailwork #crosscountryskiing

Moving forward with development of a new trail on the West Side of the Blue Hills Trail. The new route was blazed during logging this past winter. On May 16th we installed a new gate that will greatly discourage illicit motorized traffic. Later this summer, we plan bulldozing and grass seeding. Should be ready for skiing this coming winter! #ruskcountywi #skitrailwork #crosscountryskiingwisconsin #xcskiing

Thank You to a Great Group of Volunteers that helped move our grooming equipment into storage today. And guess what? It’s only 269 days until winter! #skitrailgrooming #wisconsinwinter #ruskcountywi #snowisgreat

Mild temps, sunshine, & lots of skiers from distant locales. Great way to celebrate the tail end of winter. We enjoyed sharing our trails with so many Birkie participants. #ruskcountywi #wisconsinwinter #birkiefever

Lots of smiling faces yesterday. Here are just a few. #funonskis #ruskcountywi

Feb. 6 seemed like Lady’s Day at the Blue Hills Trail. Lots of gals flying around the trails. #womenskiers #ruskcountywi

Happy Groundhog Day from the Blue Hills Trail! Grab winter while you can. #kidsonskis #ruskcountywi #xcountryski

1.5" fluffy powder snowfall overnight Friday. Saturday this fluffy powder made for pleasurable skating to start the day, and nicely covered the oak leaves in the classic track. On the skate deck of the heavier trafficked trails, the early bird caught the worm - later in the day, the traffic on the skate deck in the powder snow created a slower snow structure that meant more work for skaters - very interesting phenomenon. Side trails with less traffic kept that wonderful sensation of floating on feathers. As the new snow in the classic track was skied in, it was faster than the skate deck and provided good kick. #skateskiing #powdersnow

It’s been pretty dusty here the past week. Several light snowfalls (dustings) have left a dreamy creamy coating on the ski trails. On top of the firm underlying base and classic track, this has made for wonderful x-country skiing. #ruskcountywi #wisconsinwinter #dustingofsnow

Yesterday: bluebird sky, shadows, and smiles! Kudos to our groomers. #ruskcountywi

Really nice skate skiing yesterday. Look at these guys flying around the Core Loop on the East Side trails. #skateskiing #wisconsinwinter #ruskcountywi

Saturday's one day moderation of frigid temps brought out loads of smiles at Wisconsin's Blue Hills Trail yesterday. A huge thank you to our groomers for braving nasty wind chills to turn Wednesday's snowfall into such nice skiing for the weekend. #crosscountryskiingwisconsin #ruskcountywi #wisconsinwinter

After a roller coaster weather ride in December, it looks like winter has arrived at Wisconsin’s Blue Hills Trail. Happy New Year! #ruskcountywi #bluehillstrailwisconsin

Washed out culvert presented a big challenge when discovered in late September - located on the trail that connects our East Side trails with our West Side trails. Repair work was completed mid October. Photos show before & after. #bluehillstrailwisconsin #ruskcountywi

We just completed some bulldozing that will really make our skiers happy this winter. Visit our blog for more photos, video, and the full story: link above in bio⬆️ #bluehillstrailwisconsin #ruskcountywi #skitrailwork

Taming the tall grasses on the Blue Hills Trail. Hiking & biking conditions are good. Visit our website to see where we’ve been mowing (look at ‘Trail Conditions’ top center of the page). #ruskcountywi #bluehillstrailwisconsin #skitrailwork

Nice day for a walk in the woods. Pause to appreciate the hidden gems. #bluehillstrailwisconsin #naturegems #springawakening #ruskcountywi

Crazy is as Crazy does. Had to cross multiple stretches of bare ground to find skiable snow on the East Side Ridgeline yesterday. A laughing fun adventure - shared with the snow fleas. #bluehillstrailwisconsin #snowfleas #snowinthewoods #skiingondirtisbetterthannoskiing #skiingondirt

Sap’s running. So are my skis. #bluehillstrailwisconsin #springskiing

What a fantastic week of skiing it was! Celebrate our week long ‘Virtual Birkie Races’ by visiting our blog. Link in bio ⬆️ #bluehillstrailwisconsin #birkiefever #winterwisconsin #wisconsinwinter

Fresh snow Wednesday morning, fresh grooming Wednesday evening, then Thursday sunshine and temps in the mid thirties. A perfect Bluebird day in the Blue Hills - another memorable day for Virtual Birkie skiers. Congrats to all! #bluehillstrailwisconsin #bluebirdday

2” fresh snow Sunday evening, then groomed about 3/4 of the trail system Sunday night. Found untouched fresh corduroy this morning. #bluehillstrailwisconsin #freshcorduroy #skitrails #skitrailgrooming #winterwisconsin

Mighty fine skiing today. Look at all these smiley faces! #bluehillstrailwisconsin #nordicskiing #kidsonskis #winterfun #ruskcountywi #birkiefever2021 #birkiefever

Classic classic track. Shady Way trail on the East Side. #bluehillstrailwisconsin #birkebeiner #waxmyskis #snowisfun

Monday sunrise -25 F was coldest day of this otherwise mild winter. Reached zero by mid afternoon when classic skiing was a kick! #bluehillstrailwisconsin #bluehillstrail #colderthanapolarbearstoenails #winterfun #belowzero

Cold, sunny days. A good time to explore our snowshoe trails. Human rope tows are a FUNctional assist on the steeper hills. Swipe to see a video example. #bluehillstrailwisconsin #wisconsinsnowshoeing #northwoodswisconsin #ruskcounty #subzerofun

Come ski the Hills! Virtually! The Blue Hills Trail is excited to be a BIRKIE VIRTUAL VENUE PARTNER. We've outlined three separate race routes for our trail system. A snapshot of one of those routes is shown with this post. VISIT OUR BLOG to see the rest of the routes and get the details. Link in Bio ⬆️ #bluehillstrailwisconsin #birkiefever #americanbirkebeiner

Single digits Fahrenheit. Toko mint grip wax. A classic day on Excelsior Road. #bluehillstrailwisconsin #skiclassic #tokowax #kickwax #wisconsinwinter

This is the steep straight down/up portion of our trail that connects our East and West Side trails (located between J and K on the West Side). Swipe to see what’s hiding under the snow. Last fall Scott Gudis Sand & Gravel (Bruce, WI) did a great job of replacing a damaged culvert. Thanks to Scott, we can safely ski this hill. #bluehillstrailwisconsin #culvertreplacement #heavyequipmentoperators #brucewisconsin #skiingisfun

Excelsior Road and West Side trails: THE place to ski yesterday. Fantastic conditions! #bluehillstrailwisconsin #groundhogsday #classicskiing #skateski

Another day full of smiles at the Blue Hills Trail. Ain’t winter great! #bluehillstrailwisconsin #aintwintergrand #wisconsinwinter #xcskiinglife

The equipment that grooms our ski trails takes a beating. We recently were again amazed by the capabilities of a nearby machine shop that fabricated a special washer for improving the durability of our Camoplast tracks. Visit our latest blog post to be amazed: link in bio⬆️ #bluehillstrailwisconsin #cphenterprises #waterjetcutting #ruskcountywi

Gator rescue! Our John Deere Gator suddenly stalled out on a steep hillside a couple days ago. Yesterday we got it running, and were able to move it back to our trailhead before it quit again. Swipe to see the 5 videos showing the rescue. Now it’s time for Dr. Gator. #bluehillstrailwisconsin #gatorrescue #winterchallenges #skitrailgrooming

Dynamite grooming. Dynamite skiing. Come Ski the Hills! #bluehillstrailwisconsin #bluehillstrail #covidescape #skiforfun #ruskcountywi

Video shows our groomer looking ahead while setting classic track behind. Swipe for photo of finished results on ‘Excelsior Road’ trail. Nice to see the sun again. #bluehillstrailwisconsin #skitrailgrooming #powdersnow❄️ #foresttherapy #freshcorduroy #fluffypowder

Rollercoaster Trail at Blue Hills Trail. Built a dozen years ago, anyone can ski it in the uphill direction. Downhill, it’s a bit of a thrill. #bluehillstrailwisconsin #rollercoasters #rollercoasterride #skicrosscountry #funonsnow

At the Blue Hills Trail, “what goes down, must come up”. Plenty of hills to satisfy your training needs. #bluehillstrailwisconsin #getoutside #cardioworkout #crosscountryskiing #skateskiing

January 20, 2021. A very good day. #bluehillstrailwisconsin #bluehillstrail #otterslide #fastskis #skinnyskis #ruskcountywi

Busy Sunday in the Blue Hills. Skate skiing on the ‘Gravel Road’. Classic skiing on the East Side Ridgeline. #bluehillstrailwisconsin #snowislife #skiforfun #wisconsinlife

Photo shows our trails midday today. Surprisingly firm and skiable despite warm temps and some rain. We’re gonna try grooming this evening. Please be patient, it might take a few days to get yesterday’s new snow up to snuff. #bluehillstrailwisconsin #bluehillstrail #skitrailgrooming #aintwintergrand #heavywetsnow #wegotsnow #winterwisconsin

A quick lesson in ski trail grooming: With snow headed our way, this was a good day to use our trail compactor to level the high spots and washboard on a few select trails. Should result in a smoother skate deck. #bluehillstrailwisconsin #skitrailgrooming #snowgrooming #skateskiing #skateski #ruskcountywi #bluehillstrail

Hoar frost / Rime frost topping on the trails today January 12th. Wonderful skiing - do yourself a favor and SKI THE HILLS January 13th - you’ll be happy you did. #bluehillstrailwisconsin #bluehillstrail #foresttherapy #ruskcountywi #getyourvitamind #iloveskiing #escapetothehills #winterinwisconsin

As Good As It Gets! Two January 10 videos show great skiing on Excelsior Road - Blue Hills Trail in northwest Wisconsin. #bluehillstrailwisconsin #xcclassicski #skiclassic #skateski #asgoodasitgets #januaryinwisconsin #wisconsinwinter

Another fun day getting my kicks in the Hills. #bluehillstrailwisconsin #xcclassic #xcskier #chasingyourdream

Not much snow, but our groomers have made the most of it. Two videos showing good skiing on the East Side trails - January 6, 2021. #bluehillstrailwisconsin #januaryinwisconsin #wisconsinlife #wisconsinoutdoors #wisconsinwinter #skateski #ruskcounty

A ‘Rime Frost’ blue skies sunny day - fun day for skiing the Blue Hills Trail. Pictures are from the West Side of the trail system. Swipe for video taken on the ‘Lollipop’. Trail conditions updated daily at website, link in Bio ⬆️ #bluehillstrailwisconsin #fundayonskis #wisconsinwinter #sunnyski #mansbestfriend🐶 #justenoughsnowforme #justenoughsnowtoski

Sun burnt off the fog, visitors enjoyed a hoarfrost snowfall on the trails. Great place to socially distance with family & friends! #bluehillstrailwisconsin #sociallydistanceoutdoors #hoarfrost #wevegotsnow #fasterskier #skiwithfriends

Packed powder skiing on New Year’s Day. Loads of visitors welcomed 2021! Video shows the East/West crossover trail. #bluehillstrailwisconsin #packedpowder #skateski #classicski #welcome2021

Good skiing through the hoarfrost on New Years Eve day. Get the daily scoop by visiting ‘Trail Conditions’ on our website - link in bio⬆️. Wishing you a happy healthy 2021! #bluehillstrailwisconsin #skinnyski #skinnyskis #crosscountryskiwithkids #xcski

Excelsior Road (West Side) and The Gravel Road (East Side) were groomed last evening. Skiing this afternoon I was treated to 1” of feathers on top of the fresh grooming! Gonna groom these same trail segments again this evening. #bluehillstrailwisconsin #silentsports #silenceofnature🌳⛅️🗻 #skiingonfeathers #beautyofwinter

Many of our 20+ miles of ski trails have received initial grooming in the past several days. The best skiing is shown as green highlights on the attached maps. And did you know our West Side trails are dog friendly? Be sure to visit our website where you’ll find ‘TRAIL CONDITIONS’ updated daily: link in Bio ⬆️ #bluehillstrailwisconsin #skijoring #foresttherapy #classicskiing #dogsonsnow

Christmas in the Blue Hills. Very good skating on Excelsior Road this afternoon; pretty good striding as well. Groomers will be out working again tomorrow. #bluehillstrailwisconsin #christmasski #ruskcounty #skateskiing #skiwithdogs

After yesterday’s rain, Santa brought snow - enough to start grooming the ski trails! This afternoon we rolled the ‘Gravel Road’ on the East Side trails, and ‘Excelsior Road’ on the West Side. Thanks Santa. #bluehillstrailwisconsin #earlywinterskiing #xcs #xcskiing #skinnyski

A little more snow and we may be able to do some grooming. Today we moved our workhorse snowmobile to its winter home. #bluehillstrailwisconsin #wisconsinoutdoors #ruskcountywi #weneedsnow #crosscountryskiing

Lunch time. Even busy beavers need a break now & then. #bluehillstrailwisconsin #busybeaver #busyasabeaver #timber

Not enough snow to ski the trails. BUT very good skiing on Audie Lake - 2.5 miles northwest of the warming house. Audie is always an enjoyable getaway. #bluehillstrailwisconsin #wisconsinwinter #xcskiingonlakes #xcski #frozenlakes #silenceofnature

Pictures from our ‘Rabbit Trail’ where bunnies made a fresh appearance on the Blue Hills Trail today. It felt like October today - 48 degrees F - way too warm for December! It’s time to cool down, then Santa needs to bring us some snow. #bluehillstrailwisconsin #whereiswinter #xcskiingwithoutsnow

Every other year our volunteers replace all the intersection maps. That’s 60 maps, but who’s counting? Combined with excellent signage, it makes it easy to get your bearings on the Blue Hills Trail. #bluehillstrailwisconsin #trailvolunteers #xcskitrails #foresttherapy #findyourselfoutside

Good hiking in early December. Frost is entering the ground, the ski trails are ready for snow. Photos show the biggest oak tree in the County Forest; hiking on the ‘Far East’ trail; and our Gator doing some trail work on the West Side trails. #bluehillstrailwisconsin #trailwork #hikingwisconsin #weneedsnow

Big News! Wisconsin's Blue Hills Trail has revised its website, its maps, its blog - and added an Instagram account. Spread the word. VISIT THE BLOG for details – link in bio ⬆️ #bluehillstrailwisconsin #crosscountryskiing #skinnyski #ruskcountywi #ricelakewi #travelwisconsin #tomterrifik

1.5” big fluffy parachute snowflakes today. Might actually be able to ski on some of our trails — even though the underlying ground isn’t yet frozen. #bluehillstrailwisconsin #winterinwisconsin #crosscountryskiing #xcskiing

Tight corner. Placed orange driveway markers at the edge. Gotta keep our groomers on track. #bluehillstrailwisconsin

After unseasonably warm weather in the first week of November, more wintry weather will start to freeze the trails. Hopefully x-country skiing is just around the corner. This photo was taken on the East Side trails - it shows one of our most important bridges. #bluehillstrailwisconsin

Bridge building in October successfully spanned a small creek that was always a challenge to summertime mowing & wintertime grooming of our ski trails. #bluehillstrailwisconsin