Nowak's Nordic News

I know that there are a few of you who like to x-country ski, and there are many more who are interested in starting.  I've had a few people ask me about it and where they can ski, and where you can rent ski's from.  Here is a quick breakdown on that info with some links to websites where you can get more info.

Local places:
Most of the municipal golf courses will allow you to ski on them.  A few that I know of are:

Arrowhead GC (Wheaton).  Located on Rt 56 (Butterfield Rd) between Winfield Rd and Naperville Rd.  There is ski rental here and they do groom trails for classic and skating.
Bartlett Hill GC (Bartlett).  Located just west of Spin Dr. Cyclewerks.  Basic grooming for classic skiing.

Katherine Legge Park in Hinsdale is groomed by the people at King Keyser.  It is located on S. County Line Rd about 1/2 mile south of 55th St.  A short trail, but good grooming to skate and classic ski.

Dupage Forest Preserve Dist. also grooms trails.  However most of these are multi-purpose which means that people walk/run/snowshoe/bike on the trails.  The FP flattens the middle to skate on and then set a classic track on the edges.  Depending upon how much use and amount of snow we get, the trails can range from awesome to poor.  Some places that I have skied are Herrick Lake, Danada, and Tri-Counties St. Park.  There are a lot of places though that get groomed.  See the FP website for details.  They also have a phone number that you can call to get trail conditions.  Website: http://www.dupageforest.com/Recreation/ActivitiesAndFacilities/Winter_Activities.html

Cook County FP only grooms at Camp Sagawau (Rt. 83 and 111th St.)  I have never been there.  They also groom.  The place that I ski in Cook County FP is Deer Grove FP located in Palatine.  The "grooming" there is human powered, i.e. skied in classic tracks and then a few us have a groomer that we use to create a skate lane on a unused drive.  Parking is best at the far west lot which is located just east of the Rt. 14 (Northwest Hwy) and Rt 68 (Dundee Rd) intersection.  Access to the trails is best there.  Again, these are multi-purpose trails that can get beat up, but are generally very good.  Website: http://www.fpdcc.com/tier3.php?content_id=40

Rockford:
There are several places to ski in Rockford.  Most of the info can be found on this website: http://ninordic.org/ which is updated on a regular basis with trail conditions.  I have skied at Rock Cut and when it is groomed it can be very good.  However at times it is hit and miss.  From what I have heard Sinnissippi Golf Course is supposed to be very good but have never been there.

Joliet:
Woodruff Golf Course is groomed when there is enough snow and I believe that they also rent skis there but I would call before heading out.  Joliet Nordic has a website but it not updated regularly.  http://jolietnordic.homestead.com/

So. Kettle
For those of you who are willing to venture and challenge yourselves, the So. Kettle area west of Milwaukee has some of the best nordic skiing around.  There are several different locations with multiple trail options.  The two closest are McMiller and Nordic.  Nordic is located by LaGrange and McMiller by Palmyra.  These are maintained by the Wisconsin DNR so you will need a parking sticker and trail pass.  A one day pass can be purchased or you can buy a year pass.  Info can be found on the WDNR website:  http://dnr.wi.gov/org/land/parks/ski/  Also trail reports can be found here: http://www.laphampeakfriends.org/ViewSkireportsExpanded.php

A few other websites that have info are Bob Richard's blog: http://www.ninordic.blogspot.com/
and Skinnyski.com which is out of Minneapolis but has trail reports, etc. for the Midwest.  http://www.skinnyski.com/

See you on the trails,
Jim

UPDATE: Ski Herrick Lake at lunch. They have rolled it but there are no set tracks. People are skiing in a track. Took a look at Arrowhead GC and they have packed down a skate lane, but there does not appear to be any set classic tracks. Hopefully with the anticipated snow on Fri/Sat they will be able to do so. I'm headed up to McMiller tomorrow in the So. Kettle. I'll try to post a report when I get back. Enjoy the snow, you never know how long we will have it for...