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Cross-Country Trekking in Minnesota
Skiers traveling Minnesota's Gunflint Trail pause atop a ridge lined with towering firs and pines. The snow-covered lakes and surrounding bluffs resemble pen-and-ink sketches drying under the winter sun.
Amid remote countryside near Grand Marais (114 miles northeast of Duluth), cross-country enthusiasts travel some 200 miles of groomed trails. More than half of them loop around a dozen frozen lakes with north-woods names such as Bearskin, Birch and Caribou. But you're never far from comfortable accommodations at nine inns and lodges just minutes from trails.
Hosts often join guests for outdoor activities. Dan Baumann of the Golden Eagle Lodge guides first-timers over the beginner's trail, which skirts the icy shore of Flour Lake. Ronnie Smith of Gunflint Pines gives refresher lessons along cross-country routes that overlook the north shore of Gunflint Lake, with icy shallows along the Canada border. Includes cross-country ski rentals, warm up loop and complimentary hot chocolate.
Lodge owners light some trails for night skiing. For a pampered ride, hop aboard Mark and Nancy Patten's huge wooden sled in the community of Okontoe. Cap and Chief, 1-ton Belgian draft horses, snort steam as they trot deep into the forest, where the northern lights sparkle overhead.
"You'll probably find more foxes and deer along the trails here than skiers," says Gunflint Lodge proprietor Bruce Kerfoot. "And that thrills our visitors."
