Minnesota is the deepest cross country skiing state in the Midwest, with more than a thousand miles of groomed trail spread across state parks, state forests, grant in aid trails and the Twin Cities park districts, nearly all of it reached through one statewide ski pass.
22 systems in Minnesota say a machine goes on the trail, 232 km of it measured, and one Great Minnesota Ski Pass covers the state land.
Minnesota is the deepest cross country skiing state in the Midwest, with more than a thousand miles of groomed trail spread across state parks, state forests, grant in aid trails and the Twin Cities park districts, nearly all of it reached through one statewide ski pass.
Jay Cooke State Park is the largest of them at 32 miles (51.5 km), run by Minnesota Department of Natural Resources near Carlton. Every system below carries the sentence its manager published, with the page and the date it was read, so you can see the claim rather than take ours for it.
Each of these states in its own words that it grooms, sets classic track or cuts a skate lane. Where the manager publishes a grooming report, the link under the card is the one to read the night before you go, because a grooming schedule is an intention and the weather is the other party to it.
State park near Carlton, run by Minnesota Department of Natural Resources
The park grooms up to 20 miles of ski trails, plus an additional 12 miles as conditions and time allow.Jay Cooke State Park, Minnesota DNR, read September 23, 2026. Read it at the source
State park, run by Minnesota Department of Natural Resources
We have 19 miles of groomed trails for both classic and skate skiing.Wild River State Park, Minnesota DNR, read September 23, 2026. Read it at the source
State park near Grand Marais, run by Minnesota Department of Natural Resources
The park has 17 miles of groomed cross-country skiing trails, including one beginner loop.Cascade River State Park, Minnesota DNR, read September 23, 2026. Read it at the source
State park near Silver Bay, run by Minnesota Department of Natural Resources
Groomed ski trails are moderate to difficult.Tettegouche State Park, Minnesota DNR, read September 23, 2026. Read it at the source
State park near Park Rapids, run by Minnesota Department of Natural Resources
Trails are groomed for both classic and skate skiing.Itasca State Park, Minnesota DNR, read September 23, 2026. Read it at the source
State park, run by Minnesota Department of Natural Resources
The park has groomed and tracked cross-country ski trails.Fort Snelling State Park, Minnesota DNR, read September 23, 2026. Read it at the source
State park near Two Harbors, run by Minnesota Department of Natural Resources
Twelve miles are groomed for classical cross-country skiing.Gooseberry Falls State Park, Minnesota DNR, read September 23, 2026. Read it at the source
State park, run by Minnesota Department of Natural Resources
9.7 miles of groomed classic ski trails are available in the state park and in the nearby Remote Lake Solitude Area.Savanna Portage State Park, Minnesota DNR, read September 23, 2026. Read it at the source
State park near Battle Lake, run by Minnesota Department of Natural Resources
The park offers 8 miles of groomed, easy-to-intermediate cross-country ski trails.Glendalough State Park, Minnesota DNR, read September 23, 2026. Read it at the source
State park near New Ulm, run by Minnesota Department of Natural Resources
The park grooms six miles of classic cross-country ski trails when there is enough snow.Flandrau State Park, Minnesota DNR, read September 23, 2026. Read it at the source
State park, run by Minnesota Department of Natural Resources
The beginner loop is two and one-half miles long. The rest of the trails are intermediate or advanced.Afton State Park, Minnesota DNR, read September 23, 2026. Read it at the source
County park, run by Three Rivers Park District
County park, run by Three Rivers Park District
County park, run by Three Rivers Park District
Elm Creek : 11.4 miles (3.4 miles lighted, 1.8 miles snowmaking)Cross-country Skiing, Three Rivers Park District, read September 23, 2026. Read it at the source
State park near Red Wing, run by Minnesota Department of Natural Resources
Cross-country ski trails vary from flat, wooded, open prairie to steep ravines and range from easy to most difficult.Frontenac State Park, Minnesota DNR, read September 23, 2026. Read it at the source
County park, run by Three Rivers Park District
Hyland : 9.5 (5.3 miles lighted, 3.3 miles snowmaking)Cross-country Skiing, Three Rivers Park District, read September 23, 2026. Read it at the source
State park near Bemidji, run by Minnesota Department of Natural Resources
1.3 miles of skate skiing trails in the park.Lake Bemidji State Park, Minnesota DNR, read September 23, 2026. Read it at the source
County park, run by Three Rivers Park District
Lake Rebecca : 15.6 milesCross-country Skiing, Three Rivers Park District, read September 23, 2026. Read it at the source
State park near Onamia, run by Minnesota Department of Natural Resources
The park has 19.8 miles (32 km) of trails for skiers of all levels: 10.9 km easy; 12.4 km moderate and 8.7 km difficult trails.Mille Lacs Kathio State Park, Minnesota DNR, read September 23, 2026. Read it at the source
County park, run by Three Rivers Park District
Murphy-Hanrehan : 9 milesCross-country Skiing, Three Rivers Park District, read September 23, 2026. Read it at the source
State park near Hinckley, run by Minnesota Department of Natural Resources
The park has 11 miles of easy classic ski trails that wind through the woods along the river.St. Croix State Park, Minnesota DNR, read September 23, 2026. Read it at the source
State park near Marine on St. Croix, run by Minnesota Department of Natural Resources
The park's 12 miles of skiing trails range from easy to difficult.William O'Brien State Park, Minnesota DNR, read September 23, 2026. Read it at the source
Great Minnesota Ski Pass, $10 a day, $25 for the season
one pass good on groomed ski trails in state parks, state forests, state trails and grant in aid trails statewide, with a three year option at $70.00
The Great Minnesota Ski Pass is your ticket to 1,100 miles of groomed ski trails at over 90 destinations across the state.The Great Minnesota Ski Pass, Minnesota DNR, read September 23, 2026. Read it at the source
A state pass and a trail fee are different transactions, and a club-run nordic center inside a state park will often want both. The pass price on each card above is what that system publishes.
A nordic season is set by snow rather than by statute, so what follows is a usual range and a rule, not an opening date anyone is bound to. Grooming starts when there is enough base to run a machine without dragging the ground up through the snow, which in most of this country is somewhere between four and eight inches of settled cover.
grooming waits on snow depth: the state says ski trails generally need about five inches on the ground before they are groomed, and one park district looks for four to six inches to pack a trail
Ski trails generally require five inches or more before grooming occurs.Snow depth and groomed trail conditions, Minnesota DNR, read September 23, 2026. Read it at the source
The kind of outfit that grooms a trail turns out to predict whether anybody posts that they did it. Across the whole country, county and city park systems report nearly every time and national forest districts report least, and the shares below are the national figures for the kinds of manager present in Minnesota.
Minnesota trail systems read September 23, 2026 from the page of each agency, club or parks department that runs them, linked on every card above. Grooming is weather work: check the system’s own conditions report before you drive. Every state is on the cross-country skiing hub.