The Gunflint Trail is a Winter Wonderland

The Gunflint Trail is a magical, wonderful place to be any time of the year but especially during the winter. I was reminded of this fact this weekend when we stayed at Voyageur. I am also reminded of this fact any time we visit somewhere else in the world. I haven’t found a place that comes close to offering the same recreational opportunities and winter fun as the Gunflint Trail.

The Gunflint Trail has the best groomed cross country ski trails I’ve ever been on. I’ve skied other places with nice scenery but the hilly terrain, towering pines, snow covered lakes and endless route opportunities of the Gunflint Trail can’t easily be found elsewhere. I love skiing the Upper Gunflint Trail system with over 70 kilometers of privately groomed trails. Ham Lake Trail and the West End Trail are two of my favorites but all of the trails offer scenic beauty and impeccable grooming. The Centrail Gunflint Trail system has over 70 kilometers of impressive trails and the Banadad Trail adds another 42 to the mix. For an added layer of magic there are ski trails lit by lanterns so you can ski at night under a star filled sky.

The snowmobile riding accessed from the Gunflint Trail is also amazing. The groomed trail winds through the woods from Grand Marais to Saganaga Lake at the end of the Trail. There are a few spur trails around mid-Trail but the real fun is found traveling across the frozen expanse of lakes both on the Minnesota and Canadian side of the border. It’s so fun to play in the powder, see animal tracks and view wildlife. I recently went snowmobiling in Michigan’s UP where there were nicely groomed trails and good scenery but the large number of other riders on the trails, road crossings and traversing through towns did not appeal to me. I find way more enjoyment snowmobiling on the Gunflint Trail than anywhere else.

There are other fun things to do in the winter on the Gunflint Trail like snowshoeing, ice fishing, kick sledding, dog sledding, sleigh rides, sledding and this year Gunflint Lodge added to the enjoyment by creating a 6 mile ice skating loop on Gunflint Lake. They rent nordic blades that pair with regular cross-country ski boots for a comfortable and pain free ice skating experience. You can glide over any small bumps or cracks and travel swiftly across the ice. It’s so much more fun to skate on a trail than it is to do circles on a frozen rink. I had never used nordic blades but found it super easy to quickly get the hang of it and highly recommend renting a pair and exploring the ice trails of Gunflint Lake.

With all of the activities to experience and enjoy on the Gunflint Trail you never want to see winter end. It would be awesome to have a magical dome we could put over an area to preserve the snow for year round enjoyment. But until someone creates such a thing we’ll just have to take advantage of the incredible winter wonderland while it lasts.