Bandadad Trail Receives Grant for Trail Improvements

The Minnesota DNR recently announce that the Gunflint's Banadad Trail Association will receive a $4500 grant to upgrade the 3.5 Kilometer Tall Pines Ski Trail located south of the Lace Lake Trail and near the Banadad Trail's eastern end. The project will inable the Association to hire a contractor with a bulldozer to level and clear rocks and stumbs from the surface of the previously hand-cut trail.

The trail was first marked in the fall of 2005. Later the North Stars Ski Touring Club and the Minnehaha Acadamy's Ski Team help to hand clear the trail. However the trail has been to rough to be very usefull as a ski trail. It is expected the latest trail work should be completed by this fall and the improved trail ready by this winter season.

The trail was built to extend the Lace Lake Ski Trail and to connect the Trail with lodging facilities at the Tall Pines Yurt camp with

Gunflint Nordic Ski Trails Carbon Off-Set to Gunflint Green Up

Nordic Skiing is normally considered an eco-friendly sport, northeast Minnesota’s Gunflint Nordic ski trail managers have taken this one step further. The Central and Upper Gunflint Ski Areas connected by the Banadad Ski Trail known collectively as the 210 Kilometer Gunflint Nordic Ski System this year went carbon neutral.

The trail managers calculation the cost of sequestering the carbon emissions produced from the maintenance and grooming of the trails based on information from the Chicago Climate Exchange, “Regional Estimates of TreeAnnual Carbon Accumulation,” and the Gunflint Ranger District, USFS tree plant cost estimates.

Then, yesterday, May 5, at the Gunflint Trail Association’s Spring Meeting ski trail representatives presented a $896 “carbon off-set” check to Nancy Seaton, Gunflint Green Up chairman, The money will be used as seed money for next year’s tree planting. Since the Gunflint Trail’s 2007 Ham Lake Fire, the Gunflint Green Up has annually purchased young trees and organized volunteers to plant the trees. To date the Green Up has planted over 100,000 new trees in the area burned over by the Fire.

According to Ted Young, Banadad Trail manager, “It was a great snow year for the Gunflint’s ski trails. That translated into lots of grooming hours. And as a result we put lots of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere- by our calculation the maintenance and grooming of the Gunflint’s three ski systems created some fifteen metric tons of CO2. We feel that offsetting this carbon by planting trees in our neighborhood, to us, is the right thing to do for the Gunflint and our environment.”

Resorts participating in Gunflint Nordic Ski Trail’s Carbon Off-set project are Gunflint Pines, Hestons and Gunflint from the Upper Gunflint Trails: Boundary Country Trekking from the Banadad and Bearskin from the Central Gunflint Trails. Golden Eagle Lodge, that maintains half of the Central Gunflint Trail offset the carbon their maintenance and grooming created by planting trees on their own property.

Note- Attached image- Left to Right Ted Young, Boundary Country Trekking, Nancy Seaton, Gunflint Green Up Chairperson, Dennis Neitzke, Gunflint Ranger USFS, Shari Baker Gunflint Pines Resort, and Sue McCloughan, Bearskin Lodge.

Snow Continues on the Gunflint Trail

In the mid-Gunflint Area from the “Pines” to about Gunflint Lake winter still lingers on in the shady spot and in the woods where continues snow from one to two feet remain. Along the Banadad Ski Trail the ski conditions are still great with bare spots only in sunny open areas. Once you get much past the South Gunflint Lake Road where the Ham Lake Fire took place conditions change drastically. Here must of the snow is gone- must likely due to the lack of shad in this area’s burned over forest. Also, as it usually happens, the upper Gunflint area again this winter received a bit less snow then the mid Gunflint, which may have helped it to melt faster.

Temperature are hovering in the 30s to 40s.

Spring Skiing on the Gunflint Banadad

April 17- Starting at Poplar Creek Guesthouse B&B, two skiers from Tofte skied 9-10 kilometers out and back from on the Banadad. Upon their return they stated the skiing was great and had a excellent time. The temperature was about 40 degrees. Today it is down below thirty and snowing.

Spring Skiing - It ain't over till it's over

April 16, 2009. Six Kilometers of the east end of the Banadad Tracked. Great Spring Skiing! 12-16" of snow; no bare spots.

You can expect snow on the Banadad to remain at least another two weeks. Right now the trail is in great shape. Also go "crust skiing" and travel anywhere in the area.

April Fools Spring Snow No Joke

April Fools Day brought 12 - 14 inches of heavy wet snow to the Gunflint Trail's Banadad Ski Trail.

The Banadad remains snowed-in. The trail groomer is expected to begin opening the Trail on Friday, after the snow has settled a bit making it easier to groom. It is anticipated that about 5 or 6 kilometers of the east end of the Banadad and the Lace Lake Trails will be tracked by this coming weekend. According to Boundary Country Trekking which maintains the trails, it is anticipated that with the addition of this snow fall the Banadad should remain ski-able well into April.

Total measure snow on the ground at Poplar Creek Guesthouse is now 32 inches.

Spring Skiing Report

Snow on Ground – 24 inches- Crust with 2" of fresh snow on top

New Snow last 24 hours- 2"

New snow last 7 days - 2"

Groomed and Tracked
Banadad –5 km- March 27

Lace Lake –5 km – March 27

Knapp-3 km- March 27

Tall Pines (Westside) March 27

Crust skiing in Backcountry excellent. Trails-good to excellent ski condition. Snow should hold well into April.

Snowshoeing trails and backcountry open.


For lodging along the trail information go to- www.poplarcreekbb.com