Winter Trails®

EVENTS — MINNESOTA

(Updated 1/7/10) Listed below are some great places to try snowshoeing or cross country skiing during Winter Trails 2010. For more information on what these areas have to offer, please consult the venue's web site, send e-mail or make a phone call.

WINTER TRAILS ANCHOR SITE

Date: January 9, 2010
Time: 1 PM – 4 PM
Fort Snelling State Park Picnic Shelter A
Minneapolis/St. Paul, MN
Phone: 651-635-0211
E-mail: mkramer@rei.com
Web Site: www.rei.com/bloomington
Phone: 952-884-4315 x. 203

Program: Get outside to celebrate and enjoy winter!  Saturday, January 9th REI experts, Ft. Snelling State Park and local outdoor organizations will provide free activities that show how fun winter can be. Activities include: snowshoe demos, geocaching for beginners, naturalist lead hikes, cold weather camping information, and skijoring & dogsledding information. Bring the family out to meet the dogs, enter a sweepstakes to win a new pair of snowshoes, enjoy a big bonfire, sip hot cocoa and enjoy winter!

Date:  January 9, 2010
Time:  10:30am – 12:30pm
Midwest Mountaineering
309 Cedar Ave S
Phone:  612-339-3433
E-mail:  info@midwestmtn.com
Web :  http://www.midwestmtn.com

Program:  Celebrate Winter Trails Day with two of our snowshoe experts, Sam Usem and Brendan Collins. Join them for a fun filled morning tromping around the banks of the mighty Mississippi. Everyone from beginners to rugged north woods explorers is welcome. Come and get a chance to experience a sport that is truly made for Minnesota winters. Pre-registration recommended – limited to 20 participants. 612-339-3433. Meet inside the store, and dress to be outside.

Date: January 9 & 16, 2010
Time:  10:00 a.m.-4:00 p.m.
Shingobee Hills Recreation Area, Chippewa National Forest
      Located 8 miles south of Walker, MN off Highway 34.  Watch for the Shingobee Hills signs at the sledding hill.  
      Meet at the Shingobee Chalet at the Bottom of the Sledding HIll  
Phone: 218-335-8658 - Mary Nordeen, Env Ed Specialist, Chippewa National Forest
E-Mail: mnordeen@fs.fed.us
Web site: http://www.fs.fed.us/r9/forests/chippewa/

Program: This is a family day at our favorite winter recreation site!  Bring your sled for a wild ride down Shingobee Hill, or enjoy a cross-country ski trek along the 6-miles of groomed Shingobee Trail. Visitors are also welcome to try out a pair of our snowshoes for a quick loop though the snow.  At 1:00 p.m., we'll be leading a snowshoe hike out to the scenic bridge.  Hot chocolate, a warm fire, and good company await visitors to the Shingobee Chalet!  

Shingobee Hills is a historic Civilian Conservation Corps site.  The sledding hill was one of Minnesota's first down hill ski areas!  The chalet and the ski hill were both built by the CCC in 1940, and the "Shingobee Winter Playground" was active as a downhill ski area until 1982.   Today, the hill is popular with the local community as a sledding hill and for  skate skiing and classic.  The chalet is open on winter weekends for a warming shelter and programs.