The North Star State
Minnesota, The North Star State, is a mecca for nordic skiing. There are more miles of trails than the length between St. Paul and Los Angeles. It is home to Jessie Diggins, who along with teammate Kikkan Randall became the first American to win an Olympic gold medal in nordic skiing. The Gunflint Trail System near the North Shore boasts 211 km of groomed trails. To top it off, there is not one, but five biathlon venues for those skilled on skis and in marksmanship.
I skied nearly all the trails in the Twin Cities area while training for the Birkiebeiner in 2013-2014, https://jollyroutes.com/the-birkie/. In addition, I’ve skied trails groomed by St. Mary’s College monks in Winona, near my home in La Crosse. I have not yet ventured to the “up up north” areas near Duluth and Bemidji, but I’m sure the trails there would be the icing on the Minnesota Nordic flavored cake. As Minneapolis is the most popular place in Minnesota, I’ll spotlight Theodore Wirth since they are the most popular Minnesota Nordic Trails.
Theodore Wirth Park
To be completely honest, I never participated in any of the popular activities at the Theodore Wirth Trails. I never raced in or attended the City of Lakes Loppet Winter Festival nor the 24 hours of Wirth. Neither did I partake in any sprints or loppets, the Kubb tournament, nor the Snow Sculpture Contest. I never even spent a day sliding down the tubing hill. Despite this, as they say, I hear great things. I was more or less a solitary skier in my college days, and mostly just trained for the upcoming American Birkiebeiner. The one thing I did at Theodore Wirth was ski, and on several occasions.
Out on the northwest side of Minneapolis, Theodore Wirth is the best “after work” city trails I have been to. There are 23 km of mixed difficulty trails, including a 6 km lighted loop with snow making machines. They pass through woods, near lakes, over hills and meadows. Better yet, it’s only an eight minute drive from downtown. Creative name making was at play during the forming of trails such as “Quaking Bog”, “Tornado Alley”, and “La Squadra”. I can attest that the bogs in the area quake as much as can be reasonably expected.
Winter Wonderland
My memories of Theodore Wirth are ones of gliding through snow covered forests on weekend afternoons and down steep, slippery hills on weekday evenings beneath the lights. There I completed a “half marathon”, or ~24 km, by skiing every single trail in the park. It was just the preparation I needed to survive the Birkie which was two weeks down the road at the time. I also remember occasionally driving there only to be turned away due to a high school race or other event happening. Minnesota is one of the few states where high school nordic is as big a deal as track and field or cross country. I also recall seeing the occasional skijorer fly by with their dog, usually a husky type. Husky of course refers to both the person and the dog.
Theodore Wirth trails connect up with the Chain of Lakes trails for another 8 km. All told there are seven (hopefully frozen) lakes in and around this extended trail system, giving credence to the “Land of 10,000 Lakes” and “City of Lakes” monikers for Minnesota and Minneapolis respectively. Be a true Minneapolis “Laker”. Take your skis, your dog, and your smokes if you got ‘em, and silently skate or shuffle around Theodore Wirth.
